Dear Readers, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) have been holding an annual plant hunt every year for the past thirteen years. All you have to do if you live in the UK is to get out between 30th December 2023 and 2nd January 2024, and record the wild plants that you see in flower (they have a handy spotter sheet of the twenty most common plants for you to tick off). The results are used to identify patterns in flowering plants in response to our changing climate and also to local weather conditions and other factors. Plus it looks like fun! And there are lots of resources if you’re new to plant identification. I shall be doing it this year, so here’s how to get involved.

1. Register your interest here.
2. Once registered, you will be sent a link to an online form once it’s ready.
3. There will be an interactive map, a daily blog, and once all the results are in, an analysis of what the data reveals.

Here are just a few things that you might see in flower, but there are always lots of surprises…

Chickweed (Stellaria media) Photo by Kaldari

Hazel catkins

Gorse

Snowdrops

Green alkanet

Let me know if you decide to do it, and maybe we can compare notes!