Welsh Wild Flowers. Beauty of Wales, Purple Pink and Yellow and Blue Wild Flowers and Orchids!

The Principality of Wales is a small country but within its borders there are many types of habitat. These range from salt flats and dunes to mountains and meadows. Thus the flora is very varied and further differences are seen according to the seasons.

The westerly winds from the Irish Sea sweep the country and bring much rain so that meadows are lush and verdant. The Springtime hedgerows are decked with delicate flowers in soft colors. The soft lilac Cuckoo flower or Ladies Smock, which like the Cuckoo appears in Aprii

"The Cuckoo comes in April, it sings its song in May,

in the middle of June it changes its tune and in July it flies away"

(The cuckoo is that dastardly bird that lays its egg in the nests of unsuspecting song birds. When the chick hatches, it heaves out the other chicks and leaves the parent bird with the much larger cuckoo baby to rear.)

The Lesser Celandine with its cheerful, glossy yellow flowers early in Spring much more brash and shiny than the other yellow flower, the primrose. Tiny purple Violets nestle in the hedgerows too. By May, the pretty red Campion appears at the same time as the Bluebell. Although the Bluebell sprinkles the hedgerows, it comes into its full glory in the broad leaf woods such as the Beech. It appears in such density that the woodland floors look bright blue and their beautiful scent fills the air. Sweet Anemone, wild Garlic and the odd looking green Dog's Mercury pepper the woodland floor.

As June approaches the lanes are festooned with Queen Anne's lace so that the hedgerows are quite white. The hedgerows are also densely white with May blossom of the Hawthorn tree, One could almost imagine the trees are preparing for a wedding. Red Valerian renowned for keeping witches away grows strongly on stiff stems alongside walls and is used in folk medicine. By mid summer the sweet scented Broom and similar looking Gorse are showing fiercely yellow on the mountain sides and banks. High on the boggy mountain sides the carnivorous Fly Catcher may sometimes be spotted. Penny-wort grows on the stone walls in plenty. Pretty little pink Orchids can also be spotted growing on the sheltered hillsides and in the long grass of hay fields and neglected grass land alongside the tart red Sorrel, festooned with tiny red disc like seeds

On the watery salt flats, Sea thrift and Rushes appear. The well known Reed mace (mistakenly called Bull Rush) and the beautiful pink Flowering Rush grow in abundance alongside stately Purple Loose strife. Sea Samphire grows on the beach amongst the pebbles and sea Convolvulus twines its pink flowers clutching the Marram Grass that strives to hold the shifting dunes together as best it can.

In July the Biiberries flower, their insignificant bell like flowers which soon turn into tasty little berries on short bushes wherever the soil is peaty and acid. The Blackberry flower is pink and delicate followed by the luscious, juicy Blackberries, usually in amazing abundance, It grows every where, and it could be claimed that it is a pernicious weed if it were not for its copious harvest of tasty berries. Another hedgerow flower is the sweet Honeysuckle that decks the country lanes giving the air a heavy sweet scent.

This is just an overview of the delights that Wales has to offer. It is not meant to be a Botanica but just an insight into its delights.