Blackthorn is the source

  And sloe gin is the final result!

The flowers are making a great show this week. I'm trying to make a mental map of the positions of all the blackthorn bushes on my local patch.

The sloes will swell through the summer but will not be ready until October. Then the sloe gin can be made and matured for Christmas.

I kept my 2010 vintage till February before starting on it but, sadly, it's already two thirds gone.

A is for apple --

B is for bee!

On an apple blossom near the Steyning bypass.

The bees are quite active this week. There have been some big black bumble bees in my garden with red abdomens that I don't recollect seeing before.

More flowering trees

Both of these trees are in the wood walk. On the left is a pussy willow catkin, photographed a week ago. On the right is a cluster of flowers on a field maple, taken yesterday. It's easy to miss the small maple flowers but they create a bright yellow cloud around the trees at this time of year.

Early butterflies

I found this male speckled wood butterfly just on the edge of the Steyning bypass yesterday. It's the earliest I've ever seen one.


And that was the case also for the five orange tip butterflies I saw on Friday. None of those would sit still for photographs though.


It seems that the unseasonally warm spell we are having has brought these species out earlier than usual.

More strange names.

Ground ivy (left) is nothing like ivy!

And red dead-nettle (right) is not a nettle!


But on some pieces of ground the dead-nettle is stunted and looks very like ground ivy!

By the stream

I thought this was a snowdrop when I saw it but my flower book  tells me otherwise. It's a wild plant called spring snowflake. The plants are much bigger than snowdrops and the leaves bright green rather than greyish. It's classed as rare in Britain. Certainly it's the only one I've ever seen! And there's just one primrose on my walk across the fields. It's nestled in a corner down by the stream. It was quite difficult to get near enough for the picture!


Update April 2012: Further research has shown that the plant above is summer snowflake rather than spring snowflake. The three or more flowers in the flowerhead are the indication. Spring snowflake only has one or two. I found one of them in March 2012.

The blossom falls

The cherry blossom petals have fallen in the wood walk,
carpeting the ground like winter snow!