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With such a dire spring so far they are almost no blooms out on the reserve at the moment. Coltsfoots is flowering in one or two places (especially on the Aveley Pool central bund) and is a welcome splash of yellow but there is only a few timid flowers from the Self Heal around the woodland edges and...

Some great frosty opportunities this morning with rather rectilinear ice crystals looking resplendent on the old Cardoon heads and Rosa rugosa hips so loved by the Greenfinches... 30-11-12

A walk round to open up yesterday morning not only allowed me to get close to four Bramblings, Stonechat, lots of geese and Goldfiches but a chance to see what flowers are still in bloom to support some of those late insects. Not a great deal of variety but still a few enticing yellows and blues. ...

Berries abound at this time of year but be aware that although the birds, animals and bugs may feast on them, some are distinctly on the inedible or outright poisonous side for us humans! Bramble Deadly Nightshade... there is a clue in the name! Hawthorn Elderberry Rosehip...

Not sure if these two plants are especially rare but I have always been told that they are locally uncommon. The first is Vervain with its tiny pearly white (with a hint of lilac) flowers and the other is the Wild Leek which lives inconspicuously in amongst all the grasses on the River wall. Vervain...

As promised here are some of my flowers from my walk yesterday evening... Enjoy! Bindweed Bramble Chicory Dog Rose Great Willowherb Common Knapweed Perforate St John's Wort Red Clover White Clover 6-7-12

Our Deadly Nightshade is now in bloom and the wonderful bell shaped flowers attract bees in particular to pollinate. Not quite sure why but this picture reminded me of Audrey II, the very hungry plant in the Little Shop of Horrors..... (DN by Jerry Hoare)

Our swathe of lilac Opium Poppies in the Wildlife Garden are only open so briefly before they quickly get pollinated, the petals drop and the seed ripens. Tony Houston timed it just right to capture them at their very best. 17-6-12

A brief interlude of sunshine this morning saw me outside taking some arty flower shots! Field Poppies Yellow Flag Thrift Unripe Strawberry Opium Poppy Scabious Foxglove Borage

Lots of rain, oodles of sun, buckets of warmth and then some more rain and whoosh! Everything grows like mad! Flowers everywhere along the river wall early this morning. Not quite carpets yet but getting there! Dog Rose Elderberry Goatsbeard Marsh Thistle Poppy and friend...

Not a term of derision or a light hearted jibe at someone with wayward morning hair but me getting up close to some fresh seedheads of Coltsfoot along the bank by the Shooting Butts Hide. Almost the first to flower and now over for another year with just the newly emerging leaves to show that it was...

A surprisingly cold and frosty start to the day and with blue sky, sun and no wind I took the opportunity to take some more shots of budding leaves and flowers. Shame the weather did not hold today... it was nice till midday but then got cold and dull again. Greengage blossom Hazel bud ...

and for my third installment of plants coming into leaf and flower I give you.... Whitebeam Bramble Dogwood Dogwood Big sticky Horse Chestnut bud Old Man's Beard - our wild clematis Bugle

Plenty of blooms out there is you look hard... Found these just by looking around the wildlife garden this morning... Cowslip mini Daffodils Daisy Lesser Celendine 25-3-12

There are still not many flowers around but the buds are bursting open and new green leaves are almost appearing before your eyes. I took these yesterday morning on a walk around the trails. Sloe buds and open blossom Hawthorn Dog Rose Dandelion Marsh Marigold ...

Our wildlife garden is still full of insect life with a few Honey and Carder Bees attempting to find the last nectar available. Red Admirals are still on the wing in the unseasonally mild conditions (15c today!) and there are lots of tiny flies and midges for insectiverous birds to find. Our giant...

Flowers at Rainham Marshes seem to come in swathes of colour, be it the rich purple of Tufted Vetch in early June, drifts of yellow Mustard later in the month, white Ox-eye Daisies in May or in the case of these two shots pale lilac Creeping Thistles and fired egg Scentless Mayweed . There is always...

and no it does not have a sense of humour although it may have a peculiar accent! What do you get if you cross... Continental Salsify ... with... English Goatsbeard ...?? The answer is quite stunning... Shall we called it Salsibeard?

and continuing my walk along the foreshore with some real seaside specialities... The commonest plants on the foreshore margins are Sea Aster (a coastal daisy), Sea Beet (a coastal spinach mmm... yummy!) and Sea Arrow Grass (not a grass at all!) All are fleshy and salt tollerent. Sea Aster...

Had a walk in the glorious sunshine yesterday morning and snapped a few of the plants flowering along our maritime shoreline. Interestingly the flora changes as you head west towards the landfill site where it becomes sandier. Vipers Bugloss - great name, stunning plant. Apparently the Bugloss...

Two yellow flowers are in full bloom around the visitors centre at the moment and both have names that hint a their previous uses. The first is Ladies Bedstraw and it has a wealth of human history attached to it... In the past the dried plants were used to stuff mattresses, as the sweet coumarin...

Not sure why it is called that but I will find out! Blogged a shot of the open Hawksbeard flower the other day (it was yellow) but this as yet unopened bloom really caught my eye as you can not see this vibrant firey red once the flower has fully unfurled.

Did you know that we have our very own wild clematis in this country. It goes by the name of Old Man's Beard as it's feathery, curly seed heads look like Santa's hairy chin! At the moment the slightly waxy flowers are in full bloom and although very small they attract many insects and are...

Some more flowers from the wildlife garden. Our Purple Loosestrife is just starting to bloom and had grown about a foot in the last week! The main two scents in the garden at the moment are from the profusion of Honeysuckle flowers and the Privet that grows around our composting bins. Delightful! ...

Both Red and White Clover are very important sources of nectar for insects and use these visitors (especially bees) to pollinate them. Some parts of the reserve are now covered in a tapestry of pink and white tufts. Fantastic!