Signs of Spring

It may be January, but nature is being to stir. Hazel catkins are elongating, getting ready to spread their pollen in the hedgerows and the woods.

Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum multiforum) is now flowering in great profusion in the local woods. This is the wild variety and not one of the many cultivated varieties. With all the recent rains and slightly warmer weather there are many wild flower varieties starting to flower.

Cuckoo flowers ( cardamine pratensis) are blooming in fields, hedgerows and the edges of woods, but where are the cuckoos? One reason they are called cuckoo flowers is that they bloom in April and May when the cuckoos return from Africa. However cuckoos are quite rare in East Meon these Read more…

Wood anemone (anemone nemorosa), also known as windflower, is now in full flower in a number of woods in the Parish. Duncombe Wood has a very good show. Particularly, it is to be found in ancient and deciduous woodlands. It has a sharp, musky smell.

The rather peculiar flower toothwort (lathrarea squamaria) is coming up in Duncombe Wood. They are parasitic on the roots of trees, usually hazel, feeding on their sap. However they must not take too much or the tree will die. They are also known by their county name of ‘corpse flower’ Read more…

A sign that spring is now well on the way are the bright yellow star shaped flowers of lesser celandine (ficaria verna) that are appearing all over the Parish, but most noticably at the moment in the bottom of hedges. This plant should not be confused with greater celandine (Chelidonium Read more…

Spring is definitely on it’s way. The snowdrops beside the pond at Lower House Farm, Frogmore are looking a treat. This is one of the best shows of snowdrops in the Parish.

If you look carefully the signs of spring are starting to appear, even though the days are short and it is wet, gloomy and cold. The picture shows some tightly formed hazel catkins. It won’t belong before they lengthen and expand and let their male pollen flow free.