Early spring flowers

One Sunday in early March, Simon and I went for a countryside wander and it was cheering, after the winter, to see the early spring flowers starting to bloom. We saw snowdrops (above), which start to flower from February, and daffodils (below).

A flowering elm tree was also spotted. This was an interesting find as many of Britain’s elm trees were wiped out by a strain of Dutch Elm Disease, caused by bark beetles. In 1967, Rock elm logs were imported from the USA. No one knew the timber harboured the virus caused by bark beetles. By the mid-1980s, 25 million elms had died. So an elm tree these days is a much rarer sight than it once was although, over the years, there have been attempts to repopulate the elms.

Periwinkle (above) and common dog-violets were also spotted. Dog-violets flower from March to May and sometimes from July to September. They are seen in woods, hedgerows (where we saw it), and heaths in Britain.

Fact of the Day

Did you know that there is an area and tube station called Seven Sisters in London? It derives its name from seven elm trees which were once planted in a circle in that area.