At this moment, as spring moves on, the natural world outside our doors is going through one of its busiest times. From birds nesting to the leaves bursting, the world around us is buzzing with the promise of new life.
During spring, one of my favourite things to do is walk in the dappled light beneath an increasing canopy, between steadfast trees and amongst undergrowth blooming with colour. Walking through a woodland is an easy way to lose yourself for a little while and give yourself a much needed lift. To connect further, an easy way on a woodland walk is to pick out the plants and animals that you can recognise around you. This can often be more difficult than first thought.
So to help you be mindful of the wonderful world out there, I have put together a simple guide to some of my favourite woodland flowering species that are easy to find during spring. It is time to get out there and explore!
Well known flowers
Primrose (Primula vulgaris)
- Size: Low carpeter; up to 12cm tall
- Flowers: Pale yellow (there are pink-purple forms) with a deep yellow eye and honey-guides
- Stems and leaves: Long shaggily hairy stems with wrinkled and toothed leaves, that are hairless above and hairy below (up to 15cm long)
- When does it flower? March-May (heralds the arrival of spring)
- Where can it be found? Woods, hedgebanks and grassy places throughout Britain
Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)
- Size: Up to 30cm tall
- Flowers: Solitary with 8-12 glossy yellow petals and 3 sepals
- Stems and leaves: Hairless with leaves that are long-stalked, heart-shaped, and dark green. Sometimes bear dark or light markings
- When does it flower? February-May
- Where can it be found? Woods, grassland, hedges, waysides, bare ground and by fresh water throughout Britain
Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scriptus)
- Size: Up to 50cm tall
- Flowers: Azure blue (though sometimes pink or white) with cream-coloured anthers. Fragrant and bell-shaped with six turned-down lobes
- Stems and leaves: Long, narrow, strap-shaped, keeled leaves
- When does it flower? April-June
- Where can it be found? Carpeting woodlands, hedges, scrubland, on sea-cliffs and mountains in most parts of Britain
Common Dog-violet (Viola riviniana)
- Most common wild violet species in the UK
- Size: Up to 15cm tall
- Flowers: Unscented with petals that are blue-violet but variable, usually overlapping. Stout spur, curved upward, blunt, notched at tip and paler than petals (often creamy)
- Stems and leaves: Hairless or only slightly downy leaves and stalks. The leaves are long-stalked, heart-shaped, pointed at the tip, and as broad as they are long
- When does it flower? March-May and sometimes July-September
- Where can it be found? Woods, hedges, pastures, heaths and rocky areas throughout the British isles
- Size: Up to 15cm tall
- Flowers: Blue-violet, often white, occasionally lilac, pink or yellow. Only fragrant violet in Britain
- Stems and leaves: Leaves are heart-shaped, downy and enlarged in summer
- When does it flower? February-May
- Where can it be found? Woods and hedges over most of the British isles
Plants known to some
Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa)
- Size: Up to 30cm tall
- Flowers: Solitary white (sometimes tinged purple) that nod when closed
- Stems and leaves: About two-thirds of the way up each slender stem is a ring of three leaves (trifoliate), each divided into three toothed segments. Rising above the leaves is the solitary flower
- When does it flower? March-May
- Where can it be found? Carpeting woodlands in spring, as well as hedge-banks and occasionally grasslands throughout Britain
Greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea)
- Size: Up to 60cm tall
- Flowers: Deeply cleft white petals
- Stems and leaves: Stalkless, narrow and long-pointed leaves with a slightly grey tinge (15-60cm long)
- When does it flower? March-June
- Where can it be found? Across woodlands, hedgerows and scrub areas throughout Britain except some northern isles
Wild Garlic/Ramsons (Allium ursinum) 
- Most common and only native broad-leaved garlic
- Size: Up to 45cm tall
- Flowers: White star-like flowers
- Stems and leaves: Have leafless flowering stems. The leaves are broad, flat, lanceolate and distinctive smelling
- When does it flower? April-June
- Where can it be found? Often seen growing in large clumps in woods and shady places throughout Britain
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
- Size: Up to 30cm tall
- Flowers: White flowers with no gaps between the 5 unnotched petals. Produce reddish fleshy strawberries that have protruding pips
- Stems and leaves: Hairy. Leaves are trefoil on long stalks and are brighter green on top and pale below. Lower leaves form a rosette
- When does it flower? April-July
- Where can it be found? Woods, scrub, and grassland throughout the British Isles
Barren Strawberry (Potentilla sterilis)
- Size: Up to 30cm tall
- Flowers: Unlike wild strawberry, there are gaps between the slightly notched white petals. Produces unstrawberry-like non-fleshy fruits
- Stems and leaves: They are hairy, but unlike wild strawberry, they have smaller, shorter stems and blue-green leaves
- When does it flower? Earlier than wild strawberry, from February-May
- Where can it be found? Woodlands, scrub, hedgebanks and other dry banks
Less known plants
Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon)
- Size: Up to 30cm tall
- Flowers: Yellow and two-lipped, with the upper lip being helmet-shaped and the lower having three almost equal-sized lobes
- Stems and leaves: Hairy and patch-forming, with leafy and upright flowering stems. The leaves are long-stalked, oval in shape, dark green, irregularly toothed and borne in opposite pairs
- When does it flower? April-June
- Where can it be found? Woodlands and hedgerows in England and Wales
Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula)
- Size: Up to 40cm tall
- Flowers: Form a spike on a stout, upright stem. Usually some shade of purple, sometimes pinkish or white, and are three-lobed with three inner and three outer petals. The upper five petals are oval and form a hood; the lower petal extends into a long lip. Scent described as tom-cat-like
- Stems and leaves: Lance-shaped, varying from broad to narrow, and usually have round, purple-black blotches on their upper surface
- When does it flower? April-June
- Where can it be found? Frequently in woodlands, and is widespread throughout Britain
Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina)
- Also known as townhall clock and is the only species in its family
- Size: Up to 15cm tall
- Flowers: Flower heads greenish, almost forming a cube with one flower on each side (5 petals each) and one flower on top (4 petals). Scent is musk-like, likened to almond or elder blossom
- Stems and leaves: Hairless with long-stalked trefoil leaves, that are positioned in one pair on each flower-stalk
- When does it flower? March-May
- Where can it be found? Woods, hedge-banks, and rocky mountain places, locally common throughout Britain
Herb-robert (Geranium robertianum)
- Size: Up to 50cm tall
- Flowers: Strong smelling and deep pink, occasionally white, with rounded petals that are not notched
- Stems and leaves: Hairy with stems that are often reddish and leaves that are fern-like with 3-5 lobes
- When does it flower? April-November
- Where can it be found? Shady spots on hedgebanks, rocks and walls or in woods throughout Britain
All photos and drawings are my own
As the weather gets warmer and drier during spring and the countryside begins to bloom, I always like to set myself the goal of getting out into it as much as possible. I like to use these countryside walks as a way to calm my own mind and escape the stresses of modern day-to-day life. In particular, I am always drawn back to the woodlands and forests, with the tranquillity they breath to me. Growing up in Dorset I have always been able to disappear into the trees and appreciate such a habitat at any time of year.
In celebration of my love of the woods, especially during springtime, over April and May this year, I made 4 visits to one of my local ones to observe it as the season changed. On these trips I sat and wrote down my experience on my favourite log (see photo above), and took lots of photos with my new DSLR camera whilst walking through the woods. Check out below to see my diary entries and the photos that accompany them:
Spring bird calls and song provides the soundtrack to my trip, including everything from groups of foraging long-tailed tits to angry blue tits and charismatic chiff chaffs. I also hear the reminiscent winter squabbling of jays, and on a stop to my favourite log in the middle of the wood, I can hear the coarser call of a raven and the calls of male pheasants.
This morning I chose to get up at 5am to meet a 6.08am sunrise, and to make the most of the dawn light. At this time of day, on my walk to the woods, I had great sightings of roe deer and brown hare, and got to see a beautiful pink sunrise. The dewy grass added to my photos in this glorious light.
Snow white garlic flowers are now emerging in the wood, whilst early purple orchids are also beginning to sprout here and there. The bluebells are now starting to create a sea of blue, with their white counterparts dotted here and there amongst them. Soon the woods will be fully awash with purply-blue and patches of white.
You can definitely forget yourself among these trees, flowers and wildlife, which this morning included the bark of grey squirrels up in the tree canopy. Today, I have stayed awhile sat in the morning light of the woods, but I now know to make my way home from here, as the sun begins to burn through the trees a little too hot, and the midges begin to bite my neck more noticeably. This signals ‘the best part of the day has thus moved on’, as i must.
On my trip this time to the woods, I took my four-legged friend Cassie. At the ripe old age of 13, she is becoming weary on her legs, but is still up for an adventure. This is great as there is nothing better than sharing the wonder of the outdoors with another being, even if they are no more than 3 feet tall.
The days are getting hotter and the sun higher in the May sky. In the depths of the wood though, the canopy keeps me cool. The woodland floor is now a tangle of unruly vegetation. The dying bluebells, orchids, and spring flowers jostle with unfurling ferns, sticky goose grass and flowers that persist. These include stitchwort, herb Robert, and red campion, which are gems of colour in a sea of green.
Ash trees are finally fully in leaf and roe deer ramble lazily between the trees around me. Though this transition period may be more subtle than others, it truly signifies the changing of the seasons, as the important time for some species is replaced by the next. Thus, summer has now crept up on us!
Laura's Wild World 