Wetlands in Bloom
Our Chief Ecologist Richard Bullock has just given me a list of plants currently in bloom around the Centre. He (and I) had often thought of spring flowers here being predominantly yellow and white, with the blues and purples appearing later in the year - but from this list you can see that there's actually plenty of blues and even a few reds in evidence right now. Here's the list along with the colours - see which you can spot here this weekend.
(Download and print the list Flowering plants April 2013 (pdf, 58kb) and bring it with if you want to keep your own record of what you find)
Trees & Shrubs
Alder
Aspen: Greenish catkins (look out for the Light Orange Underwing flying by day in April, whose larvae feed on Aspen. This moth is Nationally Scarce, and in London is extremely local and apparently rare resident)
Blackthorn: White (often flowering peaks in March most years; this year peak flowering will be in April)
Cherry Plum: White
Cornelian Cherry: Yellow
Crack-willow
Goat Willow: Yellow-ish
Gorse: Yellow
Grey Willow: Yellow-ish
Hazel : Catkins yellow
Osier: Yellow-ish
Portuguese Heath: White
Silver Birch
Wild Cherry: White
Grasses & Sedges
Annual Meadow-grass
Herbs
Blue Anemone: Blue (with white forms)
Broad-leaved Grape Hyacinth: Blue
Butterbur: Pinkish-purple (RARE in Surrey; located in World Wetlands (White-winged duck exhibit)
Christmas Rose: White-ish
Colt’s-foot: Yellow
Common Chickweed: White
Common Field Speedwell: Blue
Common Lungwort: Blue
Common Whitlowgrass: White
Cow Parsley: White (in recent years flowers appear from late March into early April; this year flowers appeared mid April)
Cowslip: Yellow (in recent years flowers peak by late March / early April; this year peak flowering will be post mid April). Look out for exceptional displays on the Thames Bank (grassland facing onto Wader Scrape and Reservoir Lagoon)
Daffodil (garden varieties): Yellow (mostly)
Dandelion: Yellow
Early Crocus: Blue-mauve
Forget-me-not (garden variety): Blue
Snake's Head Fritillary: Purple-ish (with white forms; most recent years flowering starts mid March, but this year it has been mid April). Nationally scarce species; Rodney Burton (London Natural History Society plant recorder) mentions that historically populations occurred in the vicinity of the Thames in Mortlake during the 19th Century.
Glory of the Snow: Blue
Grape Hyacinth: Blue
Groundsel: Yellow
Guernsey Fleabane: Yellowish-whitish
Hairy Bitter-cress: White
Lesser Celandine: Yellow
Marsh Marigold: Yellow (early flowering noted in January most years; this year flowering seemed to start end March / early April)
Pansy (garden variety): Blue-yellow
Primrose: Yellow
Red Dead-nettle: Reddish-purple (look out for the White form in World Wetlands)
Siberian Squill: Blue
Snowdrop: White (largely finished, but this year flowered into early April!)
Spring Snowflake: White
Sweet Violet: Blue (look out for the white form in the ‘Slate’ Garden on South Route)
Sweet William: Reddish-purple
White Dead-nettle: White
Wild Daffodil: Yellow (most years peak flowering about mid March – this year mid April!). rare in London (restricted to woodland in Bexley); rare in Surrey (restricted largely to ancient woodland)
Winter Aconite: Yellow
Wood Anemone: White. Uncommon in London, mainly restricted to ancient woodland / long-established woodland sites and hedgerows
Ferns
Greater Horsetail
Find out more
See our latest Wildlife Sightings
Fascination of Plants Day walks - 18 May
Gardening for Wildlife walk - 20 May and 1 June
Sustainable Gardening walk - 2 June
Wild orchid walk - 8 June
Wetland plant walk - 15 June
