This page is for us to share plants from the Glen The Creek and Utmarken
First flower up at the turn of the solstice in the Glen is Winter Heliotrope // Petasites pyrenaicus/fragrans // Plúr na gréine. A beauty with a lily shaped leaf and heavenly scent, of late much maligned as a neophyte, with its rhyzomatic propagation weaving carpets across all neglected bits of land, damp loving, shade tolerating and hardy it’s perfectly suited to our weather and its early canopy ensures there is little competition from other species in the areas it covers.
Old Man’s Beard Straggling still in late December, along the hedgrow on the northern edge of the Glen Park
Clematis vitalba also known as Traveller’s Joy and Gabhrán (meaning traveller) in Irish
Fox Glove Digitalis purpurea Lus mór rosettes appearing in the undergrowth in late December
… the foxglove is already sending out tongues in the leaf litter.
Foxgloves are biennial so this plant has grown from this year’s dropped seed, and it is growing leaves now to make it strong in 2021 and prepare for flowering in 2022….
Hairy Bittercress
Posted by@julforresPosted ingeneral, Glen Stories from blog, Plant Stories from blogEdit Hairy Bittercress
Cardamine hirsuta // Searbh-bhiolar giobach is sprouting out of the ground already. It is a native plant and member of the Brassica family. Like many of the plants in the Glen it is self seeded, and like many Glen plants it is widely considered a pest by gardeners. It claims its place, taking hold by growing a tap root deep into the earth and then, when mature, by propagating very efficiently, popping its prominent pods and launching its projectile seeds into the wider world beyond its reach.
Hairy Bittercress likes the cool early rains of Spring and will bloom from March, tiny 4 petalled white flowers on tall stems, the seed pods grow taller than the flower and will pop open and eject seeds far and wide in warmer weather to come.
