#223 - St. Benedict's herb

These are the flowers that belong to those wonderfully spiky burrs in scarlet and green. I love their starriness - the five sharp pointed sepals with the neat diamonds of gold in between. An emphatic looking flower, nothing tentative or blowsy here, I keep seeing their starry faces in the hedgerows looking somehow regal despite their diminutive size.

#219 - Wood avens burrs

I noticed these burrs back in the autumn when they were dark brown, they are beautifully spherical and savage looking with their hooked spikes. Growing next to the star-like, Wood avens flowers they are even more striking now with their blood-red barbs and emerald green centres.