Despite some rather variable weather of late ranging from sun to mist to gales to rain and back to sun again, Cornwall in the late spring and early summer is a wonderful time to visit.

Over the May Bank holiday an unusual but immovable sea mist blew onto the North Cornish coast and so our proposed splash in the sea was replaced by a coastal walk.

The lack of visibility meant that looking at the scenery wasn’t an option so we looked more closely at the paths and cliffs and discovered world of pretty and colourful flowers:

The slopes and cliff tops are flecked with yellows, pinks, whites and blues and we took photos to help identify the various varieties. Thrift and cowslips we knew but sought the help of a website to recognize the others so here is a list of the twelve most common coastal flowers to be seen at this time of year:

• Bulbous Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus)
• Cat’s-ear (Hypochaeris radicata formerly Hypochoeris radicata)
• Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
• English Stonecrop (Sedum anglicum)
• Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria)
• Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
• Rock Sea-spurrey (Spergularia rupicola)
• Sea Campion (Silene uniflora)
• Sea Carrot (Daucus carota subsp. gummifer)
• Sheep’s-bit (Jasione montana)
• Spring Squill (Scilla verna)
• Thrift or Sea Pink (Armeria maritima subsp. maritima)

Here is more information on these websites:

Coastal wild flowers in Cornwall

http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife/species-explorer/wildflowers