Yesterday we were up and out fairly early in the morning and when we arrived at our usual place to take a walk we were the only people there.
It was so quiet and peaceful under the trees who'd have thought it was the first day of a bank holiday weekend.
The woodland birds were singing their little hearts out, pheasants called from nearby fields, buzzards mewled overhead and ducks on the nearby pond sounded as if they were laughing at a coarse joke or two.
Everything was lush and green.
Except where it was white.
Lovely dandelion clocks were everywhere all ready for the breeze to catch and distribute their seeds or fairies as we used to call them - in fact still do!
The towpath by the canal was glorious with its soft tones of green and white
There were many other plants to spot as we walked. Some of them I can easily identify others I can't without the aid of a reference book. Where I'm not sure I've put a question mark in brackets. Any help with identification will be gratefully received.
Yellow Dead Nettle - also Yellow Archangel - thank you Ragged Robin, Mrs Tiggywinkle and John Scurr.
At first I thought 'self heal' but it isn't like the 'self heal' in our garden so now I'm not sure. Apparently this is called Bugle - thank you John Scurr.
Wild rhubarb - there must be another name for this but I can't find it. I assumed the tall flowers were part of the same plant but I'm not sure. I now know that this is butterbur thanks again to John, I think somewhere in the back of my mind I'd found this out before but had completely forgotten.
Buttercups
Clover
Vetch
Wood Avens
White Dead Nettle
Horse Tail
growing at the sides of the canal towpath it looks a
very ancient looking plant.
very ancient looking plant.
Ash Keys
Hogweed (?)
Rhododendron
The heat of yesterday was cleared by a storm during the night, at one point loud rain and thunder woke me up. It is cooler and breezier today and as I type this post the rain has started again. At least the gardens will benefit from it.
How lovely, what a beautiful walk. Photos are great.
ReplyDeleteThank you lilibitbrit, glad you enjoyed the photos:)
DeleteOhhhhhhh happy sigh... What glorious photos...
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful place you have, to take a daily walk. I am just mesmerized. :-) So very, very, very English countryside. So very, very, very beautiful.
Dandelion clocks. I love that. And that is what I will call them, from now on. :-)
Thank you so much, for taking us, on your walk...
Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed the photos, everything was so lush and green, a most glorious time of year over here. We always used to call the seed head clocks and the individual little floating seeds faries when we were children and the names stuck with me:)
DeleteWhat a way to start the day, just my cup of tea. The storm seems to have missed us, although London has had a spectacular show. It's so hot and muggy here. 😊
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely morning for a walk. The storm came during the night but passed over fairly quickly, I think more rain is expected later this week:)
Deletelovely photos.I can't remember when I last saw vetch.It triggered all sorts of childhood memories.
ReplyDeleteThank you,Barbara, vetch is so pretty isn't it, lotsof the flowers remind me of the school nature table:)
DeleteGreat.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, Regine:)
DeleteSpring looks quite lush there!
ReplyDeleteIt does look splendid at the moment, such a lovely time of year:)
DeleteWhat a beautiful walk and lovely images. The countryside is looking so wonderful at the moment. I call dandelion seeds fairies too :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with white dead nettle and I think the yellow dead nettle is yellow archangel. I am not sure about the self heal type plant - there are so many of those that look similar and I always get them confused!
Lovely to see the horsetail too.
Thank you for mentioning the "Daughters of Time" book in your comment on my blog post. I haven't read that and have been naughty and bought it now for my kindle! I notice it covers the fascinating disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. Somewhere I have an article I cut out either from BBC History or History Revealed magazines on people who may have been responsible. Hopefully, one day I will remember in which box I put it!!
Yes, in my book it seemed to imply that the yellow nettle was a dead nettle and possibly an Archangel but I wasn't sure as some of the plants look very similar. The horse tail is wonderful especially the unfurled ones so unusual and primeval. I loved Daughter of Time when I first read it and have read it again a couple of times over the years. I hope you enjoy it, it does put events and people in context:)
DeleteIt's nice to get out before everyone else isn't it! Lovely photos :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam, I do like peace and quiet at the moment - it must be an age thing!:)
DeleteHow lovely :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Louise:)
DeleteI love your leafy walks by the canal Rosie. One thing I noticed while in the uk was all the different varieties of nettles we don’t have at home. Especially the yellow flowered variety. B x
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barbara. There do seem to different nettles around other than the ones that sting. The yellow ones are very pretty:)
DeleteI love this time of year. You are very knowledgeable about wild flowers.....and what a variety on your walk xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Lyn, I was lucky to grow up in a small village near woodland walks and our school were always out on nature walks so we learned a lot about wildflowers and plants:)
DeleteI love May for its lushness, all its shades of green and its wildflowers, and you've captured all of that here. What a lovely walk. I think the yellow dead-nettle is usually called yellow archangel and the white dead-nettle has one of my favourite stories attached: if you look inside the flowers, you can see the outline of the golden shoes the fairies wear when they go out dancing! x
ReplyDeleteOh, what a wonderful tale Mrs T, I must look inside on our next walk. I much prefer the name archangel. May is such a wonderful month isn't it?:)
DeleteLovely photos, the greens are so lush at the moment aren't they? And who can resist a meandering path beneath trees?
ReplyDeletewww.Norfolkscrbbles.blogsot.co.uk
Thank you for visiting Edwina and thanks too for your comment. I do love walking under trees especially at the moment when everything is so beautiful:)
DeleteNot something we would enjoy today after a thunderstorm during the night has left everything dripping wet, and once again, a foggy day here in Norfolk. We have a pathway in the garden that runs beneath and under a wild cherry and a Portuguese Laurel, dodge the drips this morning's game as we went to the greenhouse.
Deletewww.Norfolkscribbles.blogspot.co.uk
Rain again here this morning and predicted for tomorrow too, still the sunny weather was much appreciated and enjoyed whilst we had it:)
DeleteOh, thank you so much John. I did wonder about Bugle and I'd forgotten all about butterbur. I will update some of my notes on the blog later with your identifications. We always seek out quiet places over the bank holiday weekend or stay at home in the garden:)
ReplyDeleteMaravilhosas fotos. Que lugar lindo e relaxante. Mas que bela caminhada. Adorei as flores. Tenha um feliz dia Rose.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandra I'm glad you enjoyed the photos:)
DeleteGracias Sandra. Me alegra que hayas disfrutado las fotos:)