It’s early spring, so the blackthorn bushes are putting out their flowers before there’s any sign of leaf. Hawthorns, meanwhile, are beginning to develop their leaves, which will be fully open before the flower buds even start to develop.
Patches of tiny white flowers growing within inches of the road, Danish scurvy grass is a halophile (salt lover). It now grows where briny splashes from winter gritting land anywhere it can put down roots.
Up to the 1960s it was found in Britain, but only as a rare plant growing right by the sea. But gritting roads began to be done more systematically, and the slipstreams created in the growing of traffic helped spread the seeds of the plant, which is now common in early spring.
During the first COVID lockdown, four (!) years ago, urban wildlife got much more confident. I took these pictures just a couple of weeks after the restrictions were brought in, but I’m just getting round to uploading them. This robin was getting ready to burst forth on a display song, undisturbed by me sitting just a few feet away in the spring sunshine.
A front garden completely covered in tarmac, presumably aiming at the ultimate in low maintenance. If so, it hasn’t really worked. Each spring, the garden is dotted with coltsfoot flowers which have forced their way through.
More popular in front gardens from gardeners who want spring colour and ground cover are heathers, often in this purple flower / white flower combo.
Perhaps it’s just because I’ve been paying a bit more attention, but this year I’ve been noticing several front lawns which are completely carpeted with bright yellow from flowering lesser celandines.
Not sure exactly what’s meant to be going on here, but the monks seem to be fooling around with the great big bell. Doorknocker which was someone’s souvenir of a visit to Sherbourne, presumably.
Dandelions just before the flowers started to open. Pictures all in shades of green.
Fruit (or are they berries) showing on the same plant as the opening flowers which will produce a fresh years crop. Chinese barberry growing in a front garden.
Spring, so it’s time for flowering cherry trees to put out their flowers. I caught these on a morning when it wasn’t raining for once.
Watercress growing wild. Indeed, this watercress was growing so wildly that it was completely taking over the drainage ditch it was growing in.
Views over Exeter cathedral close and the cathedral itself on the night of the February full moon, or possibly one day away from the full moon. At around six o’clock there was still a faint light in the sky, which was completely dark by seven thirty or so.