Roadside flora

The warm weather in the last few days has encouraged more wild flowers to burst into bloom and some are really stunning, like this patch of Honesty.

When the flowers finish and dry out, the seed pods are a translucent circle that looks a bit like cellophane. Popular with florists for interesting displays.

Another flower I have seen appear recently along the verges is the common vetch, a member of the pea family. It has nitrogen fixing nodes and is grown for animal fodder and as a soil fertiliser.

The glossy, arrow shaped leaves of the Lords and Ladies, also known by various other names, such as Adam and Eve, Cuckoo pint and Jack in the Pulpit, have flower spikes which are beginning to unfurl. The appearance of the unfurled flower has led it to have some quite bawdy names, but in the autumn the fruit is a spike of orange berries which are quite attractive.