April is a great month for wildflowers and with the warm weather we’ve had this month, it’s a perfect time to learn about some of our native wildflower species. After a long winter, April comes as a great relief and it’s the month when nature really springs into action. Leaves rapidly populate empty branches and begin to green up our landscapes.
Ancient woodlands produce the most dramatic displays of wildflowers in April. A succession of colours carpet the woodland floor. Starting with yellow lesser celandine through to white wood anemones and finally to spectacular bluebells, which are at their peak now. Keep an eye out for yellow archangel, bugle and early-purple orchids if you’re walking through the woods.
Did you know..? Half of the world’s bluebells are found in the UK. We are very lucky to experience such dazzling displays of colour.
Along hedgerows, blackthorn bushes produce white blossom which will eventually develop into sloe berries. In the undergrowth, greater stitchwort clambers along hedge banks between primrose and cowslips.
Dandelions and daisies pop up overnight and bring life to garden lawns and road verges. With all these flowers popping up, bees and butterflies emerge. If you would like to learn how to identify insect species which you may find in your garden our PhD student Abigail Lowe has produced excellent ID guides to hoverflies, bees, butterflies and moths, which you can find here.
We’ve put together this handy guide to some of the most common and beautiful wildflowers you can find in April, which you can download below. Hopefully, this will give you a starting point from which you can go on to identify even more species.
The variety of plant species can seem daunting at first but once you get your eye in you’ll be able to see much more around you and you’ll spot these plants everywhere you go. We’ll be publishing more guides throughout the year and giving you more tips to help your identification skills.
You’re welcome to tag @BiophilicWales or @WatersElliot into photos of wildflowers on twitter that you’ve seen, or you need help with identifying!
Download: April Wildflower Guide
