Swarm! Gardening at the music school today we became aware that one of their hives had swarmed. In fact we heard it before we saw it- the collective buzzing of thousands of bees. A cloud of very active bees was massing adjacent to the hives and starting to cluster on the branch of a nearby pine tree.

 Ashley -Benslow's beekeeper- was called in to take stock of the situation. The branch was too high for him to be able to gather them up. He was pessimistic that the swarm was about to depart with its queen to find a new home. His slim hope was that it might be a mating swarm whereby the queen bee leaves the hive briefly in search of a mate followed by her loyal subjects. And it so it was! The cluster began to dissipate and the bees returned en masse to the hive they came from. 

First walk of the year over the Pegsdon Hills.

Sunny, breezy and a dramatic cloudscape.

Cowslips (Primula veris) in profusion.

 When I find myself walking down a 'holloway' I know I'm on an ancient track. This one is in Hertfordshire and cuts through large arable fields on either side. Along the hedge banks Dog's Mercury, Greater Stitchwort and Bluebells are indicators of another landscape from another time. 

 Even more so the presence of Ramsons aka Wild Garlic. The path slopes downwards towards a "soggy bottom" (so to speak). Not a marsh as such, more a damp sump. The pungent smell of garlic begins to fill the air.

 And this is remarkable. Ramsons grow by the millions in damp and shady places in the westerly parts of this island. There are valleys and hillsides in the West County and Wales that reek of them. But I know of nowhere else in this locality where they can be found. 

 The soil hereabouts is generally dry, chalky, free draining. Due to some fluke of geology this pocket of Ramsons likely took hold after the ice age ended (circa 9,500 BC!) and has been here ever since. Moreover their muddy hollow has escaped the ravages of modern agriculture. 

 Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a self-seeding biennial that seems to be particularly prolific this year. The leaves do indeed have a mild taste of garlic and mustard. 

 Thrives in the semi-shade of woodland glades and margins and along hedge banks. Equally at home in town and city in corresponding conditions.

 Three Bluebell woods (and two pubs). I began by following the same route as Wednesday's walk starting in St. Paul's Walden. At the Strathmore Arms to be precise. Today was sunnier and I knew the Bluebells would be glowing even brighter.

 Hitch Wood (above) is one of three great locales for Bluebells all within a few miles of each other. Each has a different character. Hitch Wood is sloping and the blue haze rolls across it.

 I walked on to Preston and stopped for a pint at the Red Lion. Then on to Wain Wood, carpeted with Bluebells, not so open as Hitch, very atmospheric.

 Then over to West Wood for a staggering display. But here is a curiosity: Bluebells are found in ancient woods whereas West Wood is a plantation (i.e. twentieth century) albeit with some semi-natural woodland on the margins. I reckon it was formerly an old wood which was felled and re-planted for timber production. The ancient trees are gone but the Bluebells remain. The sea of Bluebells among rows of conifers makes for an interesting contrast.

 So, three of my favourite places to see Bluebells and two of my favourite pubs all in the same walk!

Bugle (Ajuja reptans) is a common wildflower but not all that common in North Hertfordshire in my estimation. I came across a rather fine display yesterday when I walked through Hill End Chalk Pit on the way to Hitch Wood.

 A. reptans spreads by means of rooting runners. The flower spike is only a few inches tall with a rosette of oval leaves at the base. Various cultivars are available, often recommended as ground cover plants. The wild form weaves its way through grass and other low growing plants popping up here and there.

 Postscript 26th. April. I walked this way again and photographed the Bugle in brighter light:

 It always thrills me to catch the first glimpse of Bluebells in flower. My starting point today was St. Paul's Walden in Hertfordshire. From there I walked a short stretch of the Chiltern Way to approach Hitch Wood from the south. I soon spotted a violet-blue haze in a clearing at the edge of the wood.

 In fact my first sighting of Bluebells was last week from the window of a train between Hitchin and London. The line passes a pocket of woodland near Brookman's Park which I noticed was carpeted with Bluebells. Ordinarily I would expect to see the peak flowering at the end of April/beginning of May so they are two or three weeks early this year.

 The sight of Bluebells cheered up my commute but needless to say I wanted to immerse myself in them (forest bathing?) and Hitch Wood didn't disappoint. Even on a cloudy day the drifts of our native Hycinthoides non-scripta glowed among the trunks and bracken.

 Interesting how the growth habit of plants varies from year to year. For example the stems of these Bergenia cordifolia at the music school seem particularly tall and sturdy compared to previous years. Probably due to the wet winter and early spring?

 

 Nectar guides are patterns that direct pollinators into a flower to feed and thereby pollinate. In the case of Lamium orvala the guide looks rather like a leering tongue! It attracts bumblebees into the clam-like flower; indeed only bumblebees have the size and strength to shoulder their way in. 

Red Campion (Silene dioica)

 Glorious in the garden down South London way over the weekend...

Apple blossom

Star of Bethlehem

Bluebells

White Comfrey and Green Alkanet

Lilac

Greater Stitchwort

Honesty

 Speaking of Honesty -the plant that is- here is another variation. The white and purple flowered forms mentioned in my previous entries are biennial despite their Latin name Lunaria annua. 

 The species seen here is the perennial Lunaria rediviva (with some white and purple L. annua to the right of the frame). The flowers of perennial Honesty are in hues of pale pink as if white with a purple blush which highlights their delicate veining. 

 The purple flowered form of Honesty (Lunaria annua) is more common than the white [see last entry]. Originally from southern Europe, it has naturalised widely. John Gerrard's 'Herball' of 1597 noted that it could be found "wilde in the woods about Pinner and Harrow on the Hill, twelve miles from London".

The white flowered form of Honesty (Lunaria annua). Biennial, self-seeds busily.

 Interesting that "naturalistic" planting seems to have become the default aesthetic in urban planning. Case in point I was walking through London's new 'Embassy Quarter'. A large industrial area that stretched from Vauxhall Bridge to Battersea has been erased to create a different kind of concrete jungle. The blocks and towers are interspersed with landscaped sections and large herbaceous borders. 

 NB the edifice in the background which looks like a multi-storey car park is in fact the American Embassy. Along one perimeter of the building there is a good example of how to combine naturalistic planting with a bleak and dystopian vision of the future. 

The English countryside from the window of a London bound train.