British wildflowers

[johnralphcarpenter]

Flowering today on a roadside verge in Hogben's Hill, North Downs, Kent, this looks like White Butterbur, Petasites albus. Flowering in January?

[Stan da Prato]

Is it not winter heliotrope Petasites fragrans?  White butterbur flowers tend to appear later in the spring and ahead of the leaves which  are not as rounded as these. Both plants are invasive aliens  which can swamp  native species.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Could well be, although it wasn't fragrant. Certainly invasive, it covers the road verge for some 100 yards.

[fermi de Sousa]

Winter heliotrope is even a pest in parts of the Dandenongs east of Melbourne where it can form an impenetrable verge along the roadside! I remember mistaking it for Colt's Foot and introducing it into my parents garden when I was a teenager - thank goodness it is susceptible to Glyphosate!
I once saw a planting plan made by a "highly respected" landscaper for a friend's new garden in Williamstown, a bayside suburb, where she'd recommended using Petasites fragrans as a groundcover!
cheers
fermi

[Anthony Darby]

British Rail were going to spray weed killer to get rid of the white butterbur's larger relative along the railway embankments in Falkirk, until an ecologist pointed out that perhaps the roots were helping to keep the embankments stable.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Very wet and windy walk on the North Downs yesterday, but lots of snowdrops.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Bluebell time is early here in Kent; Nooketts Wood near Goodnestone.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Allium ursinum, wild garlic, growing in Loverswalk Wood, Goodnestone, Kent. Leaves make excellent soup, on the hob at the moment.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Took a walk in the woods near Appledore, Kent yesterday. In Rushfield Wood the bluebells were magnificent.

[johnralphcarpenter]

More...

[Maggi Young]

Bluebells really do give  blue "haze" don't they. Perfect.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Let's see if this works: video of bluebell wood -

[Maggi Young]

yup, that works just fine. 

[fermi de Sousa]

yup, that works just fine. 

Almost like being there
cheers
fermi

[johnralphcarpenter]

"The World, according to the best geographers, is divided into Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Romney Marsh".
(Rev. R Barham, writing as Thomas Ingoldsby, in The Ingoldsby Legends,1840s). Here is wild yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) growing on The Marsh.