I walked out to a couple of Bluebell woods yesterday. The woodland floor was a shimmering sea of violet-blue. They flowered early this year and will wane soon. I understand why the Japanese practice 'shinrin-yoku' which translates as 'forest bathing'.

 I could have gone sun bathing as well; the temperature was more like flaming June than late April. I was pleased to see a good many butterflies where the footpaths ran next to hedgerows. I spotted half a dozen of our common butterfly species, especially Peacocks.

 Last year's cold damp spring was a disaster for butterflies and insects generally. That will have had a knock-on effect so the warm dry weather we're having thus far is most welcome. 

 

All aglow in the hedgerows and woodland margins: Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea).

 The Bluebells and Cowslips of my recent entries can still be thought of as "common wildflowers" at least in their surviving habitats. Less so the Common Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) which I also saw on my walk on Tuesday; a plant with no chlorophyll parasitic on the roots of trees notably Hazel, Alder, beech and Elm. There is a colony growing among a stand of Hazel in Wain Wood, Hertfordshire.

 I was daydreaming as I walked that section of the path and would have forgotten to look. However a friendly chap ambling along stopped to chat and made mention of them. Indeed I first became aware of their existence in that same spot a few years ago when I saw another chap peering intently at the base of a tree. 

 I find that botanical enthusiasts are very willing to share their knowledge. Others have mentioned these Toothworts to me. If they can be found in any other locale in the area I've never heard tell of it. Perhaps this is the one and only?

 Not so common then but the Kew's 'Plants of the World Online' states that the range of L. squamaria covers Europe to north Iran and Himalaya so it is widespread. And includes Wain Wood. 

 

 

 My Bluebell walk on Tuesday began with Cowslips. The Chiltern Way runs through the churchyard of All Saints, St. Paul's Walden which is full of them. A pleasant place to linger awhile...

 

 The native Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) is flowering early this year. So today I did one of my favourite Bluebell walks. I started at St. Paul's Walden- with a pint at the Strathmore Arms. Then I followed a stretch of the Chiltern Way to Hitch Wood then passed through the village of Preston to Wain Wood then through the fields to Hitchin. Both woods are noted for their Bluebells.

 In fact I was particularly intrigued by a smaller pocket of woodland on the Way between St. Paul's Walden and Hill End Chalk Pit. A week or two can make a big difference in the wildflower calendar. Ordinarily I do this walk in late April/early May. Because I was a bit earlier than usual I discovered this locale is also a Wood Anemone wood. Anemone nemerosa flowers a month or so before the Bluebells and is usually fading by the time they appear. 

 That was a great find because I have assumed up till now that Wood Anemones are not widespread or abundant in the area. Like Bluebells they are a woodland species but they need light. Open woodland, sunlit glades and coppiced woods are ideal for them. Bluebells can cope with deeper shade so Wood Anemones do not feature in every Bluebell wood. Nonetheless they co-exist if the habitat is right for both. 

 This is a bumper year for White Deadnettle (Lamium album). It's a familiar wayside weed/wildflower but I have never before seen so much of it growing all along the hedge bottoms and indeed all over the place. 

 Like other members of the Lamiaceae family the flowers remind me of a clam shell. Bumblebees are able to shoulder their way in and drink the nectar with their long tongues. An alternative family name is Labiate in reference to the flowers having an upper and lower lip (Labia meaning lip in Latin) which is another way of putting it. 

 Our native Bluebell (Hycinthoides non-scripta) is in flower already in the hedgerows. Typically I would expect to see them in late April/early May. I have yet to walk out to a Bluebell wood- it's possible that hedge populations are exposed to more sunlight which has bought them on sooner. After the cold winter spring has been notably warm and bright. Be interested to see if woodland Bluebells are similarly early.

 Looking from Knocking Hoe towards Knocking Knoll on the horizon, thought to be the remains of a long barrow. Features and artefacts from the general area date from the Iron Age onwards. William Ransom undertook a dig of the Knoll in 1896 and found pieces of pottery believed to be Saxon. NB he it was who commissioned the country house known as Fairfield in Hitchin which is now home to Benslow Music School where I garden regularly.

 On the Hoe itself Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) are starting to bloom. They flower around Eastertime -hence Pasque- though I think their peak is still a week or two away. Knocking Hoe is one of a handful of locations in the UK where they grow in significant numbers.

 The day was bright but very breezy. A sloping chalk hillside is their ideal habitat; trying to photograph Pasque Flowers between gusts is a familiar experience. The species used to be designated as Anemone pulsatilla which is apt. Anemos is the Greek word for wind and plants from that genus are commonly known as Windflowers.

 Lore has it that Pasque Flowers only grow on ground where Danish blood was shed; Dane's Blood is another colloquial name. They are associated with a number of sites where barrows and earthworks are found. I would think the rational explanation is that these are habitats that have survived to this day by virtue of their history whereas others have been lost.

 Or perhaps this fragment of an ancient landscape was indeed soaked with the blood of Danes who fell in battle...  

 

 Cowslips (Primula veris) are in flower. In fact these are in Hitchin cemetery rather than the countryside beyond. Perhaps they were planted here but it seems reasonable to imagine that they were present in the locale when it became consecrated ground and have persisted. 

 Churchyards and cemeteries are grasslands of a sort and the mowing regime may favour certain species. I know that local conservation volunteers take an interest in the flora and fauna of Hitchin cemetery. Certain areas are clearly managed with that in mind.

 As I have noted before there is a fine display of Cowslips among the gravestones of All Saints church in St. Paul's Walden [see entry dated 3rd. May 2023]. Sheep are grazed there in winter so it seems a conscious effort is made to create the short sward that suits P. veris [see entry dated 25th. January 2025].  

Apple blossom time.

 

 Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea). Not an Ivy but a member of the Mint family. Spreads vigorously by creeping stolons in sun or shade, town or country. Dainty aromatic leaves with tiny flowers much favoured by bees and butterflies. 

 Wayside weeds and wildflowers are flourishing in the warm spring. Here are two of my favourites growing in close proximity: Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) and White Deadnettle (Lamium album). Both are manna for bees.

 

 Travelling back and forth by train between London and Hertfordshire I observe the onset of spring across thirty miles of countryside. The aforementioned Cherry Plum and Blackthorn are much in evidence with Hawthorn to come. As noted they are frequently the remnants and relics of hedgerows. 

 Consider the vista above. Scenic in its way but basically one huge field that would have been a patchwork of fields divided by hedgerows and tracks. Something of a hedge still exists alongside the railway line hence the blossom. Not much for pollinators across this swathe of open country.

 In some locales more hedgerows have survived or at least pockets of shrubs and trees that were formerly part of a hedge. Happily these three species form thickets quite readily so can perpetuate themselves to some extent.

 The window of a train can be a good vantage to picture a disappeared landscape by observing the bursts of blossom dotted here and there.

 

 The beehives at Benslow in their glade of blossom. The British landscape bursts with white blossom in the springtime.

 The first to flower is Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) in early March [see entry dated 21st. March]. Later in the month Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) shines brightly into April as seen above. The two species look very similar. A few weeks after that comes Hawthorne (Crataegus monogyna) sometimes called the Mayflower.

 All three were commonly used to form hedges between fields. Those we see in the landscape are often in surviving hedgerows or survivals of hedgerows that are gone. Left to their own devices they grow from large shrubs into small trees. 

 When I was a few years old I was toddling through Ransoms Recreation Ground with my father. I saw a man with a fork on the adjoining allotments and I asked my father what he was doing. "He's digging his allotment" he replied. Today there was another man digging on those same allotments- it was me.

 Every autumn I plant a few more bulbs of Erythronium Pagoda in the shady 'woodland' area of my back garden in London. They're accumulating nicely, forming a gentle drift. The flowering is brief but beautiful.