You might be able to smell the sweet scent of the lilac flowers before you can see the tree! They are small trees or large shrubs, often growing in hedgerows. Their leaves are heart shaped and their flowers grow in “panicles” – a rounded pyramid made up of lots of little flowers. The flowers are usually “lilac” in colour – a pale pastel purple, but you might find a deep pink one or other colours – these are garden varieties that have escaped into the wild.

Hawthorn trees are sometimes known as “May” trees because they are covered in lots of little white/cream flowers round about now. The flowers start off like little snowballs then open out with five very round petals. The leaves are very distinctive with symmetrical rounded lobes that often end in a little point. Hawthorns are small trees or large shrubs, often planted to make hedges. They are very important for wildlife – the flowers feed insects with nectar, they feed the larvae of many butterfly and moth species, and in winter their berries are a food source for birds.

This enthusiastic plant creates clouds of white flowers along hedgerows, besides roads – more or less anywhere it is allowed to! It usually grows between 60 – 170cm tall and has ferny leaves, with the flowers carried above on hollow stalks. The lacey flowers grow on “umbels” – a series of short stems coming out from a central point, with clusters of tiny flowers at the end of each stem.

It’s not too late to see Bluebells in our local woods – but it is getting to the end of the season so be sure to hunt for them soon! You are most likely to see them in woods. They grow from bulbs with thin strap like leaves coming out of a central point, up to 50cm high.  They spread to carpet large areas. The flowers are very slender with a sweet scent, all hanging down from an arching stem.  They are easily confused with Spanish Bluebells (see below).

The domineering cousin of our native Bluebells, you can tell the difference because Spanish Bluebells are more upright, have bigger leaves and their flowers are also larger and they can lift upwards to face the sun. The flowers also have a weaker scent than our native Bluebells and come in shades of pink, purple and white as well as traditional blue.

This dainty pretty wildflower can often be seen in open grassy areas. They don’t mind damp soil. They carry clusters of pale lilac to white flowers at the top of a tall thin stem (around 20cm high).  The flowers often show pink/lilac veins on each petal.  They are called cuckoo flowers because you can expect to see them starting to flower around the same time that you can hear the first cuckoo of spring.