2nd April 2009 (Thursday)
Venturing a bit further afield today, I headed north to the Oxfordshire border in search of a couple of rarities which, for once, I found with no problems whatsoever!
St Giles' Church, in the attractive little village of Great Coxwell, looked to be a great place for a whole range of unusual plants; several specimens of
Spurge-laurel (
Daphne laureola) grew next to the main path,
False Oxlip (
Primula x polyantha) was mixed in with the many
Primroses (
Primula vulgaris) &
Cowslips (
Primula veris) and there was a fine clump of
Spotted Dead-nettle (
Lamium maculatum) by the entrance gate to the churchyard, plus a few [b]Grape Hyacinths (
Muscari neglectum) and a clump of
Reflexed Daffodils (
Narcissus x monochromus).
What I was really looking for, though, were a couple of anemones; the beautiful
Scarlet Anemone (
A. x fulgens) & perhaps equally attractive
Yellow Anemone (
A. ranunculoides)... and wandering around the churchyard, there they both were!!
#
I'd never seen either of them before, and apparently this could well be the only site in Britain for
A. x fulgens - they're only just coming out, so anyone who gets a chance to maybe visit Great Coxwell over the next few weeks, it's well worth the effort!!
I didn't do so well nearby at Sparsholt, where after getting totally lost I only managed a patch of
Creeping Comfrey (
Symphytum grandiflorum) and some lovely clumps of
Giant Kingcup (
Caltha palustris ssp. polypetala), whilst photographing the latter I was attacked by a very aggressive white goose and almost fell into the village duckpond, to the great amusement of a mother & toddler out for a walk!
(Creeping Comfrey,
Symphytum grandiflorum)
There was no sign of any of the Wild Tulips that I'd really been hoping to see here - but never mind; those Scarlet Anemones more than made up for it!