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One minute we were in a glorious hot spring covered in bluebells and primroses, then suddenly the season flipped into high summer, with wildflowers that would normally be expected in three or four weeks' time. This remarkable somersault is all thanks to the tremendous heat and sunshine this spring.
Thistles and their close cousins the knapweeds are bursting out, and tall oxeye daisies have been waving around like mad in the wind this past week. The sweet smelling dog rose with white or pink flowers is scrambling around in hedgerows and trees, and is coming out as far north as the Scottish Borders.
Scotland is also starting to see sprays of creamy white elder flowers; these belong to the honeysuckle family, the flower heads smell of honey and make a wonderful cordial, wine or champagne. The flowers are best collected fresh and new when the tiny buds have just opened, but should never be eaten raw because they are mildly poisonous. The plant itself is easy to find, a coarse, shrubby tree often found around car parks, waste ground, hedgerows and other open spaces.
This spring has also been incredibly dry in southern and eastern England, and has hit particularly hard in free-draining chalk and limestone areas where wild orchids grow. The orchids have come into flower unusually early, but many have been half the usual size or withered or not flowered at all, all because of the lack of rain.
