Walked out to two more Bluebell woods today, not far from Hitch Wood which I wrote about last week. Wain Wood is of ancient origin and home to a number of species characteristic of ancient woodland including Hyacinthoides non-scripta in great profusion.

 West Wood is also carpeted with Bluebells but coniferous plantation dominates a considerable area i.e. must be more recent afforestation, presumably twentieth century. I suspect ancient woodland was cleared for conifers and the Bluebells survived the transition.  

Apple blossom in the garden.

 A Bluebell wood (and a pub). The 1140 bus from Hitchin to St. Albans stops right outside the Strathmore Arms in St. Paul's Warden at midday- opening time. So a pint then a short walk across fields on the Chiltern Way to Hitch Wood, a great place to see Bluebells.

 These are the native Hyacinthoides non-scripta in one of their natural habitats. Hitch Wood like many woods in the UK can be characterised as ancient, semi-natural. Oak, Beech and Hornbeam are found here as well as some more recent conifer planting. 

 I say habitats in the plural because I have seen H. non-scripta growing in many different locales. The geology round here is calcareous and free draining, then again they carpet areas of Dartmoor which are acidic and boggy. We associate Bluebells with woodland but they grow in open ground too. Often as not these will be populations that remain long after the woods they grew in were chopped down.

 I ambled through Hitch Wood then briskly through the lanes back to Hitchin. There are two other notable sites nearby -Wain Wood and West Wood- which I will aim to visit in the next few days. I have a route in mind that will include both of them and the Red Lion in Preston. Three Bluebell woods, two pubs- what's not to like?

 The Fritillaries I saw on Portholme Meadow yesterday are a rarity. Dandelions less so but there were plenty of them. And the grasses were speckled with the pale pink flowers of Cardamine pratensis, sometimes called Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock.

 Postscript I may have done a disservice to these Dandelions. Doing further research on Portholme I learn that the rare Marsh Dandelion (Taraxacum palustre) grows here. When I visited the meadow yesterday I hadn't fully understood just how important a habitat it is. For example it is reckoned to be the largest floodplain flower meadow in England.

 An expanse of grass but a particular kind. This is Portholme Meadow between Huntingdon and Godmanchester in Cambridgeshire, an alluvial flood plain still managed as a Lammas hay meadow. I went in search of a rare species in a rare habitat.

 Snake's Head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) grows in meadows that flood in winter and drain in summer. I read they can be found on Portholme but finding them among two hundred and sixty acres of grass was not easy.

 I was alerted to their location when I spotted a chap in the distance wearing fluorescent cycling gear lying flat on the ground taking photos. As I approached I perceived a patch of Fritillaries dotted around one of the marshier areas in the heart of the meadow.    

  Typically the drooping flowers are burgundy red with a distinctive checkered pattern. Specimens of pure white provide a striking counterpoint. F. meleagris grows from a bulb and it's worth trying them in the garden but they need a very moist soil to flourish. Wild colonies persist in a few places. They may be native to this island or perhaps an ancient introduction, no-one really knows

 The meadows of Magdalen College, Oxford are smaller than Portholme but renowned for Fritillaries in their thousands [see entry dated 17th. April 2017]. I note that both are enclosed by rivers that run right round them hence their tendency to flood. 

 Whilst researching this topic I was struck by the fact that Portholme now represents seven per cent of the total area of alluvial flood meadow in the UK. Unimproved lowland hay meadows are few and far between.

 So I was very happy to see these Fritillaries in their natural habitat. Obligingly the sun broke through and illuminated the scene.

  The exquisite Smyrnium perfoliatum. In the wild it is a species of the woodland edge found in Southern Europe as far East as the Crimea. Also found in my back garden in South London as far East as New Cross Gate. 

 Spring blossom illuminating the countryside. We have pre-industrialised farming to thank for that. Stock proof hedges were created with native species like Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). Both are viciously thorny and their flowering overlaps somewhat. Blackthorn flowers then comes into leaf, Hawthorn comes into leaf then flowers.

 Barbed wire made stock proof hedges redundant. In many areas the patchwork of small fields and mixed agriculture was grubbed out for prairies of arable monoculture. Even so the remnants of hedgerows continue being beautiful and vital for wildlife. 

 Church Hill is a bulge of chalk on the edge of Therfield Heath near Royston, Hertfordshire. From a distance chalk grassland looks to be grass and not much else. Up close there are treasures in the turf. I saw many Cowslips along the length and breadth of the heath, a classic wildflower of chalk escarpments. But I was seeking something altogether rarer...

Church Hill is one of the best sites in the country to see the Pasqueflower.

 The Pasqueflowers were dotted all around. Possibly less prolific than the last time I was here [see entry dated 26th. April 2018] and perhaps a little shorter; wildflower populations can vary considerably from year to year. Nonetheless Church Hill is one of the few locations where they can still be found in their thousands. 

 Pulsatilla vulgaris requires a very specific habitat: undisturbed, short sward calcareous grassland preferably on a slope. At one end of Church Hill there is a depression that looks like it might have been a chalk pit. This edge gives a sense of the soil profile of the area- note how shallow the soil is. The Pasqueflower is a niche species whose habitat has largely disappeared from our ploughed, "improved" and industrially farmed landscape. 

 It is also said they grow on ground where Viking blood was shed. Pulsatilla vulgaris persists on Church Hill though there hasn't been any bloodletting in recent times as far as I know. 

 This cultivar of Melittis melissophyllum is called 'Royal Velvet Distinction'. In the wild it is a woodland species (known colloquially as Bastard Balm!). The label says Royal Velvet has PBR i.e. Plant Breeders' Rights which is in effect a form of copyright.

 The website of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a section devoted to PBR with an interesting description of the propagation process:   

 "Origin and & Breeding history: 'Royal Velvet Distinction' was selected in Oudelande, The Netherlands in 1996 from a seed bed of hybrid Melittis melissophylum seedlings that were produced from a cross of two unidentified Melittis melissophylum selections. It was selected on the basis of unique floral characteristics and plant habit".

 I saw these two healthy looking specimens on a market stall for £7.95 each. I don't want to be a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing but the cost of plants from garden centres, mail order etc. seems to have gone up very steeply in recent years. Pots of this size that were commonly £8-10 a few years ago are more like £13-15 now.

 I prefer to propagate my own but where good plants are good value I'm happy to take a short cut and buy them. 

 The American cultivar Erythronium 'Pagoda' is becoming more readily available in the UK though not a staple of autumn planted bulbs as yet. Said to be the hybrid of E. tuolumnense and E. revolutum, good for the semi-shady woodland garden.  

 The Common Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

 The activity of gardening provides sudden glimpses of small things. Like this collection of snails when I gathered up some slats of wood a few days ago. Today I yanked out some sprawling stems of Periwinkle which revealed a Common Lizard about the size of my little finger. We were probably both equally surprised then it scuttled deeper into the undergrowth.

 Caterpillar feeding on White Deadnettle (Lamium album). The flowers of White Deadnettle are important for pollinators; it's a widespread "weed" i.e. wildflower that flowers early and for a long time. Native species like Lamium album are also important as food plants. 

 The point is well made that many non-natives are a valuable source of pollen and nectar but caterpillars feed mainly on native plants.

 Whenever I walk in the folds and undulations of the Pegsden Hills I am always struck by certain features. For example the many ant hills that dimple the hollows. And the living palimpsest of the rolling hillsides. Above all the play of light and shade across the landscape.

 Dog Violets (Viola riviniana) pop up all over the place in sun or shade, town or country. Like Red Deadnettle mentioned a few days ago they seem to be especially prolific this year. It might be my imagination but I think there is a greater variation in colour than usual- many hues of blue/purple/mauve. There is also a pure white form.

 The unscented V. riviniana was probably called 'Dog' Violet to imply it is inferior to the fragrant Sweet Violet (Viola odorata). That's a bit harsh!

 The blue flowered Comfrey Symphytum caucasicum is coming into flower. Says Beth Chatto: "invasive in the wrong place, but where allowable one of the delights of spring". I have allowed it in several places and if it proves to be invasive that will delight me even more.

 A flower for Easter. The Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) blooms in April, its common name derives from archaic French ("pasque" or "pasques" meaning Easter) or perhaps the Hebrew "pasakh" meaning Passover.

 I was thrilled to see these few when I took a walk over the chalk hills near Hitchin earlier in the week. Not only are they rare in Hertfordshire they are very, very rare in the country as a whole. They persist in only a handful of sites and several of the best are in Herts. 

 Some wildflowers are generalists but Pulsatilla vulgaris requires a very specific habitat: sloping chalk grassland undisturbed but grazed to a short sward. Lore has it they grow in places where Viking blood was spilled. Perhaps that happened here though I haven't seen any Vikings recently. 

 Like Easter the arrival of the Pasqueflower varies by a week or two from year to year. More will follow; a hillside of Pasqueflowers in bloom is a wonderful thing to see.

 Red Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) seems to be particularly prolific this year. I'm seeing large patches of it in sunny, grassy areas and it's generally taller than usual. A humble weed/wildflower but important for emerging pollinators.

 The thirty or so species in the Lamium genus are often referred to as Deadnettles (or Dead Nettles or Dead-nettles!) for their passing resemblance to Stinging Nettles but with no sting. 

 The countryside is full of blossom. This track near Pirton in Hertfordshire is marked on some maps as 'Green Lane' and on others as 'Wood Lane'. What remains of the ancient hedgerow puts on a beautiful display in spring. At first glance I thought this might be more Blackthorn [see last entry] but no thorns so probably Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera)? 

 I saw many honeybees on the blossom and this critter which looks to be a bee fly rather than an actual bee. The Bombyliidae are sometimes referred to as bee mimics.   

 

 Unlike a bee it hovers over the flowers to forage. Note the long tongue! 

 Blackthorn in bloom. I thought this was a dense thicket...

 Walking around the other side reveals it to be a tree sized Blackthorn fallen on its side that carried on growing. A number of smaller ones are clustered around, probably self-seeded. Prunus spinosa can be a large shrub or a small tree depending on habitat and management (or lack of).

 Hawthorn and Blackthorn were the principal components of stock-proof hedges. In the form of trees they are often remnants of old hedgerows, perhaps that is the case here? Or perhaps this one was originally planted to produce a crop of sloes? There are other fruit trees nearby.

 A collection of bee hives stands in an adjacent clearing. Today has been the sunniest day of the year so far and the bees were buzzing in and out. Blackthorn is one of the earliest of our native species to flower; the mass of blossom provides a great source of pollen and nectar.

 Somewhere I have a copy of an old book on botany book called "Wayside Weeds and Wildflowers". That title has always stuck in my mind when I'm out and about. The wayside is indeed a good place to spot those plants which may be called weeds or more accurately wildflowers.

 White Comfrey (Symphytum orientale) seems to be becoming more and more prolific in that regard, at least in North Hertfordshire. This form of Comfrey is native to the Eastern Mediterranean originally so the recent dry summers may have helped; likewise the calcareous/sandy soils hereabouts. Actually it is worthy of a place in any garden though I'm happy to see it by the wayside.