Work in progress. The allotment is taking shape. Actually I took this photo a few days ago- drizzling with rain today. No bad thing, the recent spell of warm and sunny weather was very pleasant but dry. As the saying goes: April showers bring May flowers.

 White Comfrey (Symphytum orientale) seems to have been particularly prolific and long flowering this year. Plants have good and bad years according to conditions and something must have suited S. orientale- the dry summer last year perhaps or the wet winter or both.  

 This is Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus, a selection from the wild with a long history of cultivation. I don't usually write about daffodils this late in the season but this is a late flowering species.
 I tried them in the garden, too shady. So I planted a number on the allotment last autumn which suits them better. Not edible of course but the soul needs feeding too!
 I have seen photographs of thousands upon thousands of N. poeticus growing in alpine meadows on the continent. That really is poetry. 

 Laburnums are a common sight in streets, parks and gardens. It's easy to see why when the golden blaze of flowers is upon them. There are two species in the genus: L. anagyroides and L. alpinum both from central Europe where they also form a natural hybrid L. x watereri. The dangling flowers are characteristic of the Pea family Fabaceae (though Laburnums are poisonous!).
 I wasn't able to capture it in these photographs but numerous bumblebees were foraging among the flowers.

 I have a number of Camassia leichtlinni growing in containers on the patio. These are the blue form but there is also a white variation. C. leichtlinni hails from the States and grows to about three feet/one metre.
 The lower growing C. quamash was once prolific on the plains and meadows of America. I have read that the bulbs were gathered by Native Americans and roasted in pits to make them edible. As the continent was colonized this harvest was decimated by the spread of European style agriculture.

 Planted the first row of Broad Beans on the allotment having started them off in pots.

 Just about the right time to plant them out: nice leafy growth on top and a good mass of roots below. If I'd left it any longer they would have become 'potbound' but I was able to gently tease out the clump of roots at the bottom of the pot.

 Earlier in the year I trench composted for three rows. Hopefully the combination of organic matter, regular watering and sunshine will produce a good yield. As mentioned in a previous entry these are a reliable Victorian variety called Mr. Bunyard's Exhibtion first introduced circa 1835. Thank you Mr. Bunyard.

 Cowslips (Primula veris) are abundant in a section of Butts Close, the town common in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. The area was used for archery in Medieval and Tudor times- the butts in question being archery butts.
 Like a good many municipal parks there is now a policy of managing part of it as a grassland ecology. I don't know if the Cowslips are a relic population that has made a comeback or a more recent introduction for biodiversity. Certainly one still sees wild colonies of P. veris here and there on chalky grasslands in Hertfordshire though this is a much diminished habitat in the county.
 Around the margins of the park there is plenty of Cow Parsley, White Deadnettle, Garlic Mustard and Stinging Nettle. These wild things don't need much encouragement; it's more a case of not discouraging them.
 Thankfully the municipal mania for spraying and flaying weeds aka wildflowers is on the wane. Even more so now the country is in a state of lockdown- possibly wildflowers and wildlife will benefit from the present emergency.

 As I was having a cup of tea with my father he noted that a nearby Holly bush had come into flower. Moments later a butterfly came nectaring on the flowers- appropriately it is a Holly Blue [worth clicking on the photos to enlarge for a better view].
 Perhaps it should be called a Holly and Ivy Blue because both plants are important in the life cycle of this butterfly. Each year there are two generations. The first generation appears in spring and Holly is both the larval food plant and source of nectar for the butterfly on the wing. The second generation appears in late summer/early autumn and Ivy serves the same purpose.

 Soloman's Seal is the common name applied to a number of plants in the Polygonatum genus. Three are native to the UK: P. multiflorum, P. odoratum and P. verticillatum. These and others have long been grown in British gardens. The one shown above is one of the three natives but to be honest I can't remember which I planted and they look similar. They are a woodland plant so tolerate some shade but they prefer a chalky soil. 
 The guru of forest gardening Martin Crawford says the young shoots can be eaten like asparagus though I haven't put that to the test. I wouldn't want to want to miss out on the graceful stems and flowers by eating them before they grow!

 Two sure signs that spring has sprung: blossom on the apple tree and the Hawthorn.

 A delightful combination: White Comfrey (Symphytum orientale) and Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens). They have rather similar leaves and among this mass of greenery are flowers of pure white and electric blue.
 They both grow wild and free in London and the home counties but I deliberately paired them in the garden. Some years ago I saw a long border at Kew which had been given over to a mass of S. orientale and P. sempervirens. I don't know if it was by accident or design but the effect was stunning.

 A good example of self-seeding. The neighbouring allotment is covered in Forget-me-nots. Self-seeders perpetuate themselves by depositing copious amounts of seed; disturbed ground is an ideal seed bed.
 Forget-me-nots are of the Myosotis genus in the Boraginaceae family. These are most likely to be the Wood Forget-me-not (M. sylvatica) or the Field Forget-me-not (M. arvensis) which look very similar. Given the locale I would think they are the latter. They have a prolific but brief life span and the capacity to behave as annuals, biennials or short lived perennials according to the conditions.

 Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) springs up all over the garden. This self-seeding biennial is commonplace in hedgerows but thrives in shady gardens too. I'm happy to let it fill in any patches of bare soil and weave in and out of other plants. The leaves do indeed taste of both garlic and mustard.

 I aim for a layered, successional planting in the garden. In this area the lemon drop flowers of the groundcovering Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon) are starting to fade but the mauve flowers of Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major) are still going strong. Rising above them are tall stems of the white flowered form of Honesty (Lunaria annua var. albiflora).

 Blue flowered Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) adds to the tapestry of colour.

  Purple flowered Honesty is mingling with the white. 

 White Honesty is the rarer of the two and very striking. Actually I didn't know it was going to be white until it came into flower!

 The garden is looking lovely. April sees a mass of blooms and everything knits together. The Lilac is in full flower...

 There are numerous selections and cultivars derived from the Syringa genus. This one was here when I moved in, not sure which it is. In fact it barely flowered until some tree felling in adjacent gardens a couple of years ago- the extra light has made a big difference.

 A carpet of Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) illuminates the ground around the Lilac. One of my favourite wildflowers, its natural habitat is the part sun/part shade environs of the hedgerow or woodland edge.
 Effectively this garden corresponds to the conditions of the woodland edge. Like many town gardens it is shaded by surrounding trees and buildings. It gets a blast of sun from mid-morning to late afternoon which suits a plant like S. holostea. I planted a few sprigs of it a number of years ago and it has run rampant.

 Nothing is wasted. About this time last year I amputated a section of a deck I built for my father. I made it a long time ago and one side had become rather rotten. So I lopped it off with a jigsaw; the rest was sound enough.
 I was left with a quantity of sawn off decking planks; I put aside those which were not too decayed thinking I might find some use for them.

 Today the thought occurred to me that it would be useful to have a raised platform on the allotment to put pots on. Those planks were just the ticket.

 I stand corrected. Several days ago I posted an entry noting that a grape vine (Vitis vinifera) scrambles across the porch of my father's house. True enough but I included the above photo of the clusters of flowers and remarked how they already resembled the bunches of grapes that would follow.
 Only problem is: they're not the flowers of a grape vine! I looked closely at them again today and there was something new to see...

 ... another flower had appeared from the same stem. Then I remembered that a Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata) grows through the Grape Vine. These are the flowers of A. quinata!
 And they provide a very good illustration of a plant that is monoecious i.e. it has both male and female flowers. The large single flower seen above is female, the smaller flowers are male. This is in contrast to plants that are dioecious i.e. male and female flowers are on separate plants (e.g. Hollies)
 Furthermore some monoecious plants have 'perfect' flowers- each individual flower has both male and female parts. But the Chocolate Vine is 'imperfect': the male and female parts are separate.
 As I have said before I don't know if flowers have a sense that they are male, female or bisexual but that is how humans refer to them! They probably don't consider themselves to be perfect or imperfect either.

 I mentioned Lamium galeobdolon in a recent post [3rd. April] and also Lamium maculatum a couple of weeks ago [26th. March]. Lamiums are characterized by square stems and double lipped flowers. The two just mentioned have clam-like flowers which are typical of a number of species in the genus.

 Bumblebees stick their snouts between the "jaws" of the flower to get at the nectar and pollen. The smaller bumblebees fit in quite easily but the larger bumblebees will not be deterred...

 White Dead Nettle (Lamium album) is a prolific weed/wildflower from spring onward which is good news for bees.

 Seems like I will have rather more gardening leave than I anticipated this year. Still, it gives me time to focus on important matters like sorting through the bamboo canes to make wigwams for the runner beans.

 Walking along the perimeter of the allotments today I saw that the bare tangle of the Blackthorn hedge has burst into flower. Prunus spinosa flowers first then comes into leaf then is laden with Sloes in autumn (should you wish to flavour your gin).

 Green shoots. I sowed some Broad Beans (Vicia faba) in pots a few weeks ago -a Victorian variety called Bunyards Exhibition which has stood the test time. Mr. Bunyard's Exhibition (to give its full title) was introduced circa 1835. I wonder who Mr. Bunyard was?
 The mild spring days have slowly warmed the moist compost awaking each bean from dormancy. Below the surface the hard shell will have split and the beginnings of the stem are unfurling and reaching for the sun. This variety grows to be about 4 feet/120cm tall.
 I'll let them grow a bit taller and stronger in the pots then plant them out as the first row on the allotment. In the meanwhile I have sowed some more pots which will form the second row. Planting in succession extends the harvest over a longer period. I'll aim for three rows, about 30 plants in total.

 Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon) is a widespread garden plant and garden escape. Nice plant to have in the garden- will grow in dry shady spots, has an attractive frosted white marking on the leaves and bright yellow flowers that open clam-like (as is the case with other Lamiums). Bumblebees shoulder open the flowers with great gusto. It's a good groundcover plant (or invasive depending which way you look at it).
 The variegated form commonly found in gardens is an introduction from continental Europe and is generally referred to as subsp. montanum or subsp. argentum and several other synonyms which seem to refer to basically the same plant i.e. with variegated leaves.
 There is however another Yellow Archangel with similar flowers but plain green leaves. If you find yourself in an English wood among Bluebells, Stitchwort and Ramsons you may see it. This form of L. galeobdolon is native to the UK and its presence is an indicator that the wood is ancient.

 There is a grape vine growing all over the porch at my father's house. I see it has just come into bloom and the clusters of tiny flowers are already suggestive of the bunches of grapes that will follow.
 The wild ancestors of Vitis vinifera were climbers and scramblers through trees and valleys in Asia and the Mediterranean. This one has reverted to type.
 It produces a fairly decent crop most years and when the summers are hot and long the grapes are fine to eat though small and sharply acidic.

CORRECTION: There is indeed a grape vine on the roof of the porch. But the flowers in the photo belong to another plant altogether. See my subsequent entry dated 9th. April. 

 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.