Tag: wildflowers

February 26th – Another blustery, wet day and although I had plans, I shelved them and had to be content with a spin around Chasewater. That wasn’t so bad, as I was weary and hadn’t scoped the place out for a while. I checked out the recent dam works, which contrary to local conspiracy theory seemed to make sense, and also noted that the dam road is now closed, which is something that should have been done long ago – only the residents and rangers have business down there and hopefully the locked gate will prevent further outbreaks of fly tipping and ASB.

I had a snack at the cafe, then arced around the lake over a very wet and muddy north heath – I was looking for deer, but saw little wildlife except the burgeoning grebe population and a very depressed looking kestrel on his usual pylon perch. 

Looking for something – anything – to make the ride better, I remembered the cemetery and St Anne’s Church, just over the bypass, as surely the crocuses must be in bloom. I wasn’t disappointed.

I commend visiting this cemetery in the next week or so to any locals – my photos don’t do this veritable carpet of blooms justice and it’s thoroughly captivating. 

I left sometime later in a punishing, rain-soaked headwind, a much happier man.

February 2nd -Spring is easing inn slowly, and unlike the seasonal transitions from Summer to Autumn and Autumn to Winter, this one makes me very happy indeed. I’ve been finding myself almost in the light commuting to and from work – it won’t be long now until the darkness is pushed back enough to feel truly alive again. And in the meantime, isolated pockets of early flowers, like the cheerful yellow acolytes spotted in Victoria Park in Darlaston.

Won’t be long now. Just have to keep the faith!

January 26th – On a particularly bitter day, pulling up at my destination in Telford and pushing the bike through the complex, a flash of white and yellow caught my eye.

Tiny, on it’s own and in the shade of a tree, a single, presumably somewhat confused daisy.

Hello there, little flower: in the cold and grey, this morning you made my day.

August 27th – The rain held off while I visited the Festival of Water at Pelsall, photos of which are on my main blog here, but I caught the warm rain on the way home, and didn’t really mind.

I explored the North Common which I hadn’t done for years, and for an ex-industrial wasteland, it’s a beautiful place with great biodiversity. Rabbits, mustelids and birds are flourishing here, wild sweetpea still in flower, while willow herb and butter and eggs added additional colour. A huge crop of crab apples hangs from branches, although due to the nature of the ground, I wouldn’t prepare anything edible from them.

A rare treat and well worth exploring, even on a wet day.

August 9th – Bind weed is everywhere at this time of year. With the almost pure white flowers and large leaves, this climbing plant is prodigious and often regarded as a nuisance.

That’s a shame really, as it’s another one of those plants that if it was rarer, it would be cherished. It attracts and feeds lots of bugs and bees, and is particularly beautiful.

I was fascinated in the way the one flower had been so selectively nibbled.

July 29th – I’m not entirely sure what this plant is spotted growing near Wednesbury. It’s like cow parsley, with a flat flowerhead made of many tiny little flowers, but it’s way too short, and with a curious seed head.

There’s absolutely loads of it along the fences and verges here. Can anyone identify it?

July 22nd – Lots of this gorgeous purple flower about at the moment, chiefly in ditches and damp areas. At first I thought it was an orchid of some sort, but thanks to help from twitter, it turns out to be purple loosestrife.

It’s gorgeous, and there’s lots of it this year, complimenting the foxgloves, buddleia and willow herb beautifully.

Purple really is the colour of high summer…

July 19th – I’ve been largely ambivalent about the odd project to resurface the canal towpath between Walsall Town Wharf and the Bentley Mill Way aqueduct. It’s a decent enough job, I guess, but I don’t feel the surface is that much of an improvement, and the loose gravel and untreated under bridges are problematic. But there is something that’s beautiful.

When the contractors remade the retaining walls to the steps at the Scarborough Road Bridge in Pleck, they planted wildflower seeds down the embankment, and at other spaces on the towpath.

This has resulted in stunning little urban patches of sunshine like this, so wonderful on what was the hottest commute of the year so far.

Thank you to whoever, for the act of beauty and foresight.

July 18th – I like this a lot. On Catshill Junction Bridge, just on the Walsall Wood side, there is a very healthy teasle plant growing from the brickwork.

It’s now tall, and in bloom. It looks fantastic, and slightly alien, as these plants always do.

A migrant from the wild sowing of nearby Clayhanger Common, we never would have seen these kind of plants here in my childhood. A wonderful, life-affirming thing.

July 16th – This curious flower was found in the reed bed at the edge of the canal at Newtown, near the Castings factory. I’ve never seen anything like it before, and it seemed to exist in isolation.

It turns out it’s a common reed: branched bur-reed, and the flowers – little spiky gloves about the diameter of your fingernail – are remarkable. It’s an apparently common canal plant, so I must have seen loads of it and never realised.

I really should open my eyes more!