The flowering cherries (Prunus spp) are manna for early foraging bees. It was unseasonably warm and sunny today and they were out in force. Surprisingly I didn't see many bumblebees. They tend to be the first to emerge because they are are furry creatures and can cope with cool spring temperatures. I did however see many honey bees- they need temperatures above ten degrees celsius to take to the wing.

 And I really wasn't expecting to see this butterfly sipping nectar with its long tongue...

 

 

 I haven't written much about London living this year but the garden is coming to life. It was exceptionally mild and springlike today. The Snowdrops at the back are starting to fade but the daffs bring a splash of sunshine.

 

 In praise of Ivy. I have noted before that Ivy is one of the most important plants for wildlife. For example Ivy in flower is said to attract around 140 different insects. It also provides shelter for insects, birds and small mammals all year round.

 One important characteristic of Ivy is that it grows where not much else would. This thicket is in the stony heart of London in the deep shade of surrounding buildings.

 

 Narcissus 'February Gold' coming into flower on the allotment.

 

 I noted several days ago that Snowdrops proliferate in a pocket of scrubby woodland in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. There must be thousands of them in the area known as Woodside. I speculated they were probably introduced when the wood was part of a large garden. Looking again today I feel sure that is the case because every single one I examined is a Double Snowdrop i.e. the double flowered form of the Common Snowdrop Galanthus nivalis F. pleniflorus.

 Gardeners have long had a penchant for double flowered forms of various plants. Mostly they are cultivated varieties hybridised by plant breeders. This diary is mainly concerned with wild species so I don't recall having mentioned double flowers before. They tend to look rather "frilly" because some or all of the stamens are mutated into extra petals. 

 The double flowered form of the Common Snowdrop is in fact a naturally occurring mutation and perhaps one might expect to find a few among a large colony of G. nivalis. In the case of Woodside where they are all pervading I think the likely explanation is that only Double Snowdrops were planted in the first place.

 I'm not a fan of double flowers on the whole. Many cultivars seem gaudy by comparison with the single flowered original. Flowering plants co-evolved with pollinators but if a cultivar is 'Flore piano' the flower head is generally too complicated for a pollinator to access. And the extra petals are at the expense of the anthers meaning there is little or no pollen to collect.

 I'm happy to say however that the Snowdrops at Woodside are beautiful en masse and exquisite up close. I would suggest that is because Galanthus nivalis F. pleniflorus is a natural variation. As such I would think pollinators do forage on it- I spotted yellow anthers among the frilliness. I doubt nature would evolve to negate pollination (or beauty??).  

 

 The ice has only just thawed and already frogs are hanging out by the pond.

 

 Here are some more Snowdrops but you can never have too many photographs of Snowdrops at this time of year. These are in the same small area of woodland where I saw the Butcher's Broom, subject of yesterday's entry.

 This wood was once part of the garden of a big house and I suspect that the many Snowdrops in it have run wild from ones that were planted back then. NB see also my entry dated 4th. February for further thoughts on whether Snowdrops are native or naturalised.

 Having said that I think the garden assimilated an existing woodland. The wooded area is on one side of a hill and is known as "Woodside" which probably predates the garden as a description of the locale. I wouldn't be surprised if the Butcher's Broom is truly wild. Its presence can be an indicator of ancient woodland and I doubt it has ever really been planted as an ornamental.

 

 I wasn't expecting to see much walking through a pocket of scrubby woodland behind a car park. So I was pleasantly surprised to spot a large clump of Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) among the ubiquitous ivy.

 R. aculeatus is a stiff, spiky, spiny plant. Bundles of stems were indeed used by butchers to sweep their chopping blocks.

 

 This clump has to be the female of species because it bears the bright red berry. Like Holly it produces male and female flowers on separate plants i.e. it is dioecious. 

 Butcher's Broom is quite rare. I once spent a day wandering around Epping Forset in search of it and eventually found some. Today I came across it by chance in the middle of Hitchin about ten minutes walk away from the house I grew up in!

 

 There has been a week now of sub-zero temperatures. In southern England it has become rare to have an extended period where the thermometer never rises above freezing. So this big chill is no bad thing- a cold spell is the reset for nature in our seasonal cycle. 

 

  Snowdrops in the woods.

 

 More snow and sub-zero temperatures with the thermometer set to drop even further. This must be the coldest spell for five or ten years. Horticulturalists talk about "hardy" and "tender" plants. Of course all plants are hardy in their natural habitat but tender in the UK context generally refers to tropical plants that can be grown here in mild conditions i.e. not less than several degrees above freezing. 

 There are further distinctions like half-hardy, frost hardy etc. but this diary mainly concerns species that are most definitely hardy. These Narcissus 'February Gold' are starting to form flowers and will simply be "put on ice" so to speak by the current weather. This variety of Daffodil is a cross between two wild species N. pseudonarcissus and N. cyclamanineus and can be relied upon to live up to its name.  

 

There's snow on the roof but the birds won't go hungry.

 

 Snowdrops a plenty in London Town. My upstairs neighbour Keith took this nice pic of the many Snowdrops now flowering in the garden. 

 

 

 The Snowdrop season is always a joy because they are the first plants to flower en masse as late winter heads towards spring. Others like Hellebores and Winter Aconites are also early bloomers but not on the scale of large colonies of Snowdrops. Bees come out of hibernation to forage on them.

 Galanthus are tough, enduring the worst winter can throw at them.

 The Common Snowdrop (G. nivalis) is the most widespread and is generally thought of as one of our woodland wildflowers. Gardeners have introduced other species to the UK; in fact there seems to be a strong case for saying that G. nivalis is an introduction that has spread into the wild.

 When I see a colony of Snowdrops it is generally in the vicinity of habitation. For example the copse shown above contained the remains of an old cottage. A stream runs beside it and Snowdrops grow along the bank for several hundred yards downstream. I wonder if some cottager once planted a few bulbs and they have persisted long after the cottage has gone?

  There is a theory that Snowdrops were brought over from the continent to be planted at monastic sites in Norman times. The Snowdrop was associated with Candlemas Day on February 2nd. and the purity of the Virgin Mary.

 That may be borne out by the colony of Snowdrops at Ankerwicke Abbey in Berkshire. One of Britain's oldest trees stands there- the Ankerwicke Yew, estimated to be somewhere between 1500 and 2500 years old. Magna Carta was signed nearby. Snowdrops proliferate around the grounds among the ruins of the abbey.

 

 Spring is in the air. Early February is a bit soon perhaps but there is a definite freshness on the breeze which wakes the senses. And the days are getting longer; twilight is a good hour later than the depths of mid-winter.