Mid to late March
Although the weather hasn't always been brilliant (apart from that fine spell a week or so ago...) and my travelling abilities are still restricted, March has actually been a pretty satisfying month as far as my plant-hunting exploits are concerned; with April due in tomorrow, I've now added 81 species to last year's totals since January 1st, making a round total of exactly 900 in the photo folder
Quite a few of the month's finds came from the [b]Avon Gorge[/i], where although I struggled to find some native rarities, a whole series of unexpected aliens more than made up for the disappointment!
Bristol Rock-cress (
Arabis scabra) was flowering well on limestone along the River Avon towpath, together with
Spurge-laurel (
Daphne laureola) & Toothwort (
Lathraea squamaria) in nearby Leigh Woods nature reserve; all three were new, as was the
Round-leaved Cranesbill (
Geranium rotundifolium) growing by the entrance to Leigh Woods church, but as I said it was the introduced species providing most of the interest...
I'm not sure where they all come from, but both
Turkish Squill (
Scilla bithynica) &
Greek Squill (
S. messeniaca) were naturalised in grassy verges of the quiet residential (posh!) streets of Leigh Woods, plus
Creeping Comfrey (
Symphytum grandiflorum), Garden Tulip (
Tulipa gesneriana), Garden Hyacinth (
Hyacinthus orientalis), Two-spined Acaena (
Acaena ovalifolium) & Nonesuch Daffodil (
Narcissus x incomparabilis). Over the other side of the Gorge, it took a couple of trips but I eventually managed to find the
Perennial Candytuft (
Iberis sempervirens) that's supposedly been established here for over twenty years!
The star find, though, was undoubtedly a beautiful red specimen of
Lenten-rose,
(Helleborus orientalis), at the top of the Leigh Woods nature reserve, right next to the main North Road!
Stinking Hellebore (
Helleborus foetidus) is also established in this area, but I've had no success (as yet...) in finding the
Green Hellebore (
H.viridis) for which the reserve's well known!
As you cross the Bristol Suspension Bridge the council have made attempts at planting flowerbeds on either side; whilst the shrubs here are obviously planted, there are a few interesting naturalised species to be picked out.
Chinese Bramble (
Rubus tricolor) is taking over on the Leigh Woods side of the bridge, where there's also a well-established clump of
Star-of-the-Veldt (
Osteospermum hyoseroides);
Bulbous Comfrey (
Symphytum bulbosum) & Purple Rock-cress (
Aubretia deltoidea) were also found here, and I re-visited the
Waterer's Cotoneaster (
C. x watereri) &
Sweet Bay (
Laurus nobilis) bushes I found last summer naturalised near the Observatory.
Since I started photographing plants last June, I've found the suburban lanes of Bristol to be home to an often fascinating variety of escapes - Spring's proved to be no different, with
Corsican Hellebore (
Helleborus argutifolius) being the real shock find (enabling me to abandon plans for a difficult-looking trip to the well-known locality at Stow-on-the-Wold
) I've also managed to come across another couple of plants of
Lenten-rose (
Helleborus orientalis), of the green-flowered form this time, plus
Grape-hyacinth (
Muscari neglectum) making a nice & distinctive change from the
Garden Grape-hyacinths (
Muscari armeniacum) that seem to add a splash of blue to just about every patch of waste ground!
The site of a former estate at Pur Down, near the M5 motorway, allowed me to add [b]Wellingtonia[/b[ (
Sequoiadendron giganteum) & Atlas Cedar ([i]Cedrus atlantica[/i[), both ancient plantings, plus
Wrinkled Viburnum (
Viburnum rhytidophyllum), though I'd also come across a couple of seedlings of the latter species in flowerbeds around the city. The woods around here make a fine sight at this time of year, with drifts of
Wood Anemone (
Anemone nemorosa) mingling with the yellow of
Lesser Celandine (
Ranunculus ficaria); there'll also be masses of
Bluebells (
Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in a few weeks time!
In the centre of town, amongst plenty of naturalised daffodils along the banks of the River Avon were a couple of "rarities",
Paperwhite Daffodil,
Narcissus papyraceus, &
Poet's Narcissus (
Narcissus poeticus), with
American Winter-cress (
Barbarea verna) coming into flower. Plus the
Peach tree,
Prunus persica, I posted in the "Flower of the Day" thread yesterday and a couple of plants of
New Zealand Flax (
Phormium tenax), presumably garden throw-outs.
Finally, the St. Werburgh's area of Bristol is an unlikely haunt for unusual plants (being more famed for drugs & muggings...!) but it proved profitable last summer, and a spring exploration turned up a few garden & allotment escapes - in the form of
Garden Rocket (
Eruca vesicaria),
Creeping Speedwell (
Veronica peduncularis) &
Hidcote Comfrey ([i]Symphytum "Hidcote Blue"); I wish I could find a proper scientific name for the latter species!