Walking out of Hitchin towards the hills to the west there were plenty of wildflowers to be seen. They have been eliminated from the large arable fields hereabouts but the lanes and footpaths are repositories of flora. Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) was much in evidence.

 Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria hollostea) threads its way through shady hedge bottoms. It forms larger patches in spots that catch the sun.

 I was thinking only a few weeks ago that I've never seen Ramsons (Allium ursinum) around here. I assumed the free draining soils in this part of the world don't suit them. A friend happened to mention that she had seen them growing along a certain track and I went in search of them. 

 The track becomes a sunken lane that slopes down past a natural pond of stagnant water. Clearly a damper locale than the surrounding area and here the Ramsons are to be found. They look to be a day or two away from flowering.

 Note the presence of native Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) of which there were many weaving through the banks and hedges. In fact such boundaries are sometimes remnants of ancient woodlands. When the woods were cleared for agriculture field boundaries were defined by leaving strips of woodland rather than planting actual hedges.

 This may explain why the Bluebells are so prolific and account for this isolated pocket of Ramsons. The track is marked as a lane on the OS map, arguably a surviving "green lane" that was never made up into a road.   

 I walked back through Wain's Wood, well known locally as a Bluebell wood. They are early this year and stunning despite the rather dry winter we have had. Most of the woods in the area are abundant with Bluebells. I suspect the numerous colonies and outliers are survivals from pre-history when the whole territory would have been covered with trees and carpeted by Hyacinthoides non-scripta in spring.