7th March 2009
After a generally awful weather forecast of rain & heavy winds moving in, I hadn't had high hopes for today; things started off sunny, though, and stayed that way long enough for a morning wander around the Eastville & Horfield suburbs of Bristol.
Royate Hill, with a nature reserve, allotment & cemetery in close proximity, had been a productive hunting ground last summer (largely because the locals seemed in the habit of chucking their garden rubbish over the first wall they could find
); maybe there'd be a few things of interest in early Spring, too?
Heading through Eastville Parks, a carpet of what I eventually identified as
Lesser Daffodil (
Narcissus minor), of the bright yellow variety
conspicuus made a fine sight under a bank of trees; though no doubt originally planted, the size of the trees means they must have been spreading for at least thirty years
There was also what looked to be a self-seeded conifer sapling in amongst this lot which, as of yet, I've failed to name - I've posted it up for ID, so hopefully some suggestions will be forthcoming soon
Meanwhile, the flowerbeds in the park were home to some interesting spring ephemerals;
Shepherd's-cress (
Teesdalia nudicaulis) was a surprise since I thought it only grew on limestone or dry, sandy ground, and
Annual Nettle (
Urtica urens) was confirmed in slightly painful fashion by gripping a shoot in both fingers
Shepherd's-purse (
Capsella bursa-pastoris) &
Sticky Mouse-ear (
Cerastium glomeratum), though, probably needed another day of sunshine before they'd be in full bloom.
Unfortunately Royate Hill cemetery was locked up, me having forgotten it was a Saturday (and not being fit enough for wall-hopping duties
); there wasn't a lot around the allotments, either, bar for a bush of
Forsythia (
Forsythia x intermedia) & clump of
Caucasian Snowdrop (Galanthus caucasicus); one coming into flower, one going over and both obvious garden throw-outs
As was a lovely patch of
Garden Arabis (
Arabis caucasicus) - but who cares? Not me, anyway...
Later, in mid-afternoon, I headed off for another look at the
Frenchay Hospital area, rapidly becoming one of my Spring hot-spots
Growing through a thick carpet of ivy in the hospital nature reserve, I was pleaseed to find a
Garden Hyacinth (
Hyacinthus orientalis) in bloom, with dozens more in leaf nearby; obviously well established, it's striking how different they were to the large-flowered types we're used to seeing in spring gardens.
The
Balkan Anemones (
Anemone blanda) & Spring Crocuses (
Crocus vernus) were still out; in the nearby churchyard I managed to find a
Ployanthus (
Primula x polyantha) amongst the many Primroses, whilst on the daffodil front I managed to identify
Pyrenean Daffodil (
Narcissus nobilis),
Spanish Daffodil (
Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. major) &
Head-to-Head Daffodil (
Narcissus x cyclazetta), as well as a double-flowered thing that's apparently a cultivar called "Double Smiles". So far, ID'ing it hasn't exactly made me smile...
All in all, then, I'd added nine new species to the photo list (ten, if/when I manage to name that mystery conifer
) - not a bad day at all! Especially since, as I write this, the rain's absolutely hammering it down outside...