Cuckooflower

The rides and ditches in my local wood are lined with Cardamine pratensis, for me the flower of mid-spring. As one of its common names suggests, it is supposed to flower around the time cuckoos return to this country and make their presence known with that other, audible sign of mid-spring. In my experience, the flower is always found a week or two before the birds is heard. However, this year, with many flowers held back by the very cold early spring, the two have more or less coincided.

This is one of our relatively common wild flowers that has other expressive names - Milkmaids, Lady's smock, May flower - depending on where you live.