White and red

The flowers of a Swedish whitebeam tree are out in St Cuthman's Field. Red berries should set after the flowers have faded. The berries need to "blet" before they become edible. (That's halfway to rotten) I tried some last year when they were at that stage on the tree. They made a palatable titbit but not one that I would walk far for!

These are flowers of red valerian, growing from the bank in Jarvis Lane. They are related to, but not the same as, the plant valerian which is used as a help to sleeping at night.

Red valerian is a foodplant for the angle shades moth which I see around here occasionally. It is classed as an introduced species in Britain though it is fairly common in the wild now.