On Sunday 8 March Roy Vickery will be leading his first plant walk of the year –  Signs of Spring, for the Friends of Tooting Common.  Meet at the Lido car park, off Tooting Bec Road, London Borough of Wandsworth at 2.00 p.m.  All welcome; the route will undoubtedly be muddy, so please wear appropriate boots.

Report:  Despite a heavy rain storm just before the start eight people assembled and spent about 90 minutes slithering around the water-logged common.  Two species of violet – common dog violet (Viola riviniana) and early dog violet (V. reichenbachiana) were examined, but we did not venture far enough into Bedford Woods to see the sweet violet shown here.  Instead we examined a patch of dog’s mercury (Mercurialis perennis), said to be an indicator of ancient woodland,  first noticed in the Woods in 2013 and now rapidly expanding.

Image:  sweet violet (V. odorata) flowering in Bedford Woods, 1 March 2020.