28 January

Podcast: The trouble with meadows

On this latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman interviews Trevor Dines from Plantlife about why those well-known brightly-coloured ‘wild flower’ mixes are so misleading and potentially bad for our countryside.

We also hear from Venetia, a #wildflowerhour member who has managed to find ten wild plants in bloom each week during the winter, and follow Adam Cormack from the Wildlife Trusts around as he goes on a #herbologyhunt with his 5 year old daughter.

If you want to take part in the Herbology Hunt, which is the junior section of #wildflowerhour, then the spotter sheet for January is below. Just click on the image to download the sheet.

from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2018/01/28/podcast-the-trouble-with-meadows/

#thewinter10

What a lot of clever wild flower hunters we have amongst us. When we launched our challenge for the winter months, #thewinter10, a fair few people wondered if it was really possible to find ten wild plants in flower each week. But it turns out that this is easily possible. Here are some of your finds in this challenge, which will run until the end of February:

Spring heralds: Lesser Celandines (Ficaria verna) with Primrose (Primula vulgaris) and Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). 8-10/18 for #thewinter10 #wildflowerhour pic.twitter.com/5uZsv6kGVQ

— Cathy Wilson (@CathywWilson) January 21, 2018

#thewinter10 #wildflowerhour 6, 7 &8: Lesser celandine, Hogweed and ragwort. pic.twitter.com/GPQovgjUv4

— Hester (@pittypomm) January 21, 2018

Bedfordshire wildflower offerings for this week's #thewinter10; groundsel, cyclamen, double feverfew, snowdrops, periwinkle, butterbur (I think?), red deadnettle, daisy, speedwell and winter aconites. #nature #wildflowerhour pic.twitter.com/mKkxsfOkyg

— VenetiaJane's Garden (@VenetiaJane) January 21, 2018

The last 2 of my Winter10 were Pineapple Mayweed and Common Whitlow Grass #wildflowerhour #thewinter10 @bsbi @iRecordWildlife – all submitted. My first winter 10 pic.twitter.com/vbUbXYesMo

— Janette (@smurfett722) January 14, 2018

And you can also listen to Venetia Barrington, also known as @VenetiaJane, talking about how she found completing #thewinter10 on our latest Wild Flower (Half) Hour podcast:

from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2018/01/28/thewinter10/

Saturday quiz

Do you recognise the plants in these beautiful botanical illustrations? They all grow wild in Britain and Ireland and as it’s a wet and windy day, snuggling up with your wild flower books and trying to identify them sounds like a much better option than anything else.

Post your answers in the comments below, reply on our Instagram, comment on our Facebook page, or tweet at us. Answers tomorrow.

from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2018/01/27/saturday-quiz-14/

Fly orchids

Herbology hunters

Excitingly, we have our first Herbology hunters! Eloise, 8, and Arlo, 5, found all five of the flowers on our #herbologyhunt spotter sheet for January and are the first to complete the hunt.

Hi @herbologyhunt, a chickweed in flower on the way home from school today means Eloise (8) and Arlo (5) have finished their January #HerbologyHunt! pic.twitter.com/vEGpp4bSww

— Hester (@pittypomm) January 22, 2018

Arlo told us that his favourite flower was gorse, because it has the prettiest flowers and is very spiky, while Eloise liked the chickweed best because of its leaves and flowers.

There’s still time to download this month’s spotter sheet and have a go with your children or class:

from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2018/01/23/herbology-hunters/

21st January

Aside from the poor #wildflowerhour members who found everything hidden under snow this week, tonight was surprisingly flower-filled, given how cold and wet it has been. Well done everyone!

This week’s star image is by Sali:

Not a lot around this week (and I haven't been out much), but here's some frosty gorse for #wildflowerhour pic.twitter.com/HwtPEfiOmm

— Sali (@skillswayland) January 21, 2018

Before the highlights, a quick bit of news. Most #wildflowerhour members will have heard about what happened to Joshua Styles, one of the most enthusiastic people in our community. In case you haven’t, his flatmate vandalised the rare plants he was raising for reintroduction into the wild. Joshua has had to move, and wonderful #wildflowerhour member Linden Hawthorne has been running an appeal for money to help him get a new tenancy and start his North West Rare Plants Initiative over again. They’ve nearly reached the £5,000 target: please do donate to help this wonderful young botanist get back on track.

And here are the highlights from this week:

#wildflowerhour 21st Jan

from #wildflowerhour http://www.wildflowerhour.co.uk/blog/2018/01/21/21st-january/