I will have to visit my favourite spots for wildflowers in my mind in the months ahead- and in the form of photographs from past years.
 Sometime in April I would have visited the water meadows of Magadalen College Oxford. Here Snake's Head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) grow in their thousands. They can be found in a few other parts of the country but they need a very specific environment to flourish i.e. hay meadows that flood in winter.

 The meadows at Magdalen are a surviving example of this now rare habitat. They have long been noted for their astonishing abundance of Fritillaries.

 F. meleagris are largely of a bergundy hue but there is also a white flowered variation.

 The whites make a charming contrast but the bergundy form is exquisitely patterned.