Common bistort
Look for the delicate, pink flowers of Common bistort in wet meadows, pastures and roadside verges. It is also known as 'Pudding Dock' in North England because it was used to make a…
Look for the delicate, pink flowers of Common bistort in wet meadows, pastures and roadside verges. It is also known as 'Pudding Dock' in North England because it was used to make a…
Great mullein is an impressive, tall plant of waste ground, roadside verges and gardens. Its candle-like flower spikes rise from rosettes of furry, silver-green leaves.
Star-of-Bethlehem' and 'wedding cakes' are just some of the other names for greater stitchwort. Look for its pretty, star-shaped, white flowers in woodlands and along hedgerows and…
Look for the pretty, star-shaped, white flowers of Lesser stitchwort in woodlands and meadows, and along hedgerows and roadside verges in spring. Its flowers are smaller than those of Greater…
Meadow crane's-bill has striking violet flowers that pepper hay meadows, verges and grasslands with colour in summer. It is also a popular choice for gardeners and attracts a wide variety of…
A common thistle of roadside verges, rough grassland and waste ground, the Musk thistle has large, purple, nodding flower heads that appear in summer. It is attractive to a wide range of insects…
Just as the bluebells finish flowering in our woodlands, the rose-red blooms of red campion start to brighten up the woodland floor. Look for this pretty plant in hedges and roadsides, too.
As its name suggests, Red bartsia does have a red tinge to its stem, leaves and small flowers. Look for it on roadside verges, railway cuttings and waste ground in summer.
Soft brome is a tall, annual grass of roadside verges, waste ground and meadows, and is a 'weed' of arable land. It has long, grey-green leaves and loosely clustered flower spikes.
With tiger-like stripes, red fins and a humped back, the perch is a striking fish. It can be seen in lowland waterbodies and waterways across the UK, often in shoals.
The rare Adonis blue can be spotted on sunny chalk grasslands throughout summer. Males are a dazzling sky-blue in colour, while females are duller brown.
The tiny firecrest vies with the goldcrest for the title of the UK's smallest bird. Once just a visitor, the firecrest can now be found breeding in woodlands in the south of England.