Seeking Spring Flowers
With the official start of spring on the 20th of March, it’s approaching the time to see a seasonal spectacular of flowers in gardens and green spaces. Hampstead Heath and Highgate Woods are perfect places to come to see colour return to the landscape.
The finest floral visions can be seen in the Heath’s Garden spaces. Kenwood House has firecracker displays of intermixed Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camelias, along with blooming Magnolias and spring bulbs along the tree-lined avenues and Kitchen Garden. You can also head to Golders Hill Park for colourful carpets of crocuses, cyclamen and later tulips, many of them planted by Heath Hands Volunteers. The Hill Garden also has a patchwork of flowering shrubs, heathers and hellebores and the tranquil space of Whitestone Garden has an array of spring bulbs.
Azaleas and Davidia at Kenwood
Wildflowers will be putting on a show too. Spreads of delicate white wood anemones can be seen in the woodlands around Kenwood, as well as the Sphagnum bog in West Meadow. These flowers are slow to spread and indicate ancient, undisturbed habitats. The ancient woodland of Highgate Wood is also a great place to find them. Pale yellow Primroses can also be found near Kenwood House and the Dairy, whilst brighter Wild Daffodils put on a show in South Meadow and Highgate Wood’s Field of Hope. Brighter still are the sprays of Marsh Marigolds, or Kingcups around the Heath’s ponds.
Wood Anemones at the Sphagnum bog, Kenwood and Wild Daffodils at Highgate Wood.
Look around woodland edges all around the Heath and Highgate Woods for gleaming yellow Lesser Celandines, an early-flowering relative of buttercups. Above them, the blue and white flowers of Green Alkanet are starting to bloom. Although non-native, this abundant plant is loved by bees and butterflies as an early source of nectar. Back out in the open, the humble Common Daisy and Dandelion add a splash of spring joy to the Heath’s grasslands.
If you’d like to find out more about enjoying the spring highlights of the Heath, you can join our free guided spring walk and our weekend Wildlife Interpreter sessions. See our events page for details. From 31st March you can visit our new Wildlife Interpretation Centre at the Dairy to find out more about the Heath’s Wildlife and pick up spotter’s guides to the sights of spring.
Primroses at the Dairy
