I have been seen Winter Heliotrope for some weeks now, it is always the first to flower often it starts in December. It is not native and is quite invasive so to my mind it does not count as a forerunner of the Sprig Wildflowers. I know some folks like it and it does smell nice, and I suppose its good for the early bees that might be quite hungry but later in the year their leaves completely obliterate everything else. So its not for me.

Moving on we have the Snowdrops which again are not native but have been here for centuries and one can say they are naturalised, more to the point they do not outcompete everything else. They know their place! These have been in flower for a couple of weeks now down in the Wye valley which is on average a couple of degrees warmer than Ninewells wood.. I do not have any Snowdrops in the wood but some properties in the area do have them but they are yet to flower up there. I have also seen two yellow crocuses in flower and one daffodil again down in the valley.

What I do have flowering in the wood is Hazel Catkins, so that is the first sign of Spring in the wood and not before time! One thing I cant understand is why the catkins which are the male flowers always develop before the female flowers. The female flowers are easily overlooked, they are like the leaf buds only somewhat fatter and they have tiny red stigmas sticking out. I would have thought it would be best if they were both out at the same time to effect cross pollination but I normally see the female flowers just as the catkins are on the wane. I expect nature knows what it is doing though.

Of course at this time of year what you need is a good book to identify and find out lots more about all the shade loving plants. Woodland Wild Flowers, through the seasons is just such a book and covers not only Woodland plants but also Hedgerow species and it has lots of interesting stuff about the history of our woods their management and the ecology of woods.