Apricot Sweet Violet

A chilly couple of hours, with several brief snow flurries, was spent walking round Etton village with a small group from the Parish Council and the Langdyke Trust, looking at ideas for their Nature Recovery Plan. The churchyard has great promise, as do some of the verges, and we found some interesting plants that just needed to be allowed to flourish, including Lady's Bedstraw and Marjoram.

On my way home I dropped into Bainton Churchyard to catch up with the unusual apricot-coloured form of Sweet Violet, often sold as Irish Elegance, which has long been established here and seems to be spreading around the village. I was only just in time and struggled to find many in good condition. I stopped again at a small area of woodland on Heath Road, where swathes of Wood Anemone were looking glorious, soon to be joined by sweeps of Bluebell.