Plant of the week: Beech tree

I always forget about Beech trees (especially in winter when they're quietly all around me with their smooth bark that leads me to confuse them with Sycamores (a heinous crime)). But now there's been a couple of days of sunshine and a couple of days of torrential downpours and their deliciously fresh green, satisfyingly sturdy-shaped leaves have burst forth in my little corner of north west England and I am in awe.

Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Plant of the week

To begin what will hopefully be an every Wednesday occurrence (procrastination dependent); I'm going to write about my favourite flower; 

Snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

My 1963 Readers Digest Complete Library of the Garden Volume 2 says:

Fritilliaria meleagris, curious, hanging flowers patterned in purple and white squares like a chess board. Plain white and reddish-purple forms frequently appear in naturalized colonies

They are my favourite plant because:

• They flower in April and May so can be found on my birthday
• They are a native wildflower and make me proud to be British  
• There is some scepticism on their native-ness due to there being a century between records of them being in gardens and in the wild - a plant with a dramatic back story! 
• They like being in the light shade of a woodland, which I would also always choose over direct sunlight 
• They're also known as the guinea-hen flower, which is an adorable name
• I like playing chess

 
Sadly they can't be found in florists and so I'll never be truly satisfied when presented with a bunch of flowers...