Well February and the beginning March has certainly been cold with lots of snow that seemed to settle elsewhere in the country but not for long here. Despite the cold, a number of flowers are fully out like the Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus filicularia) and Primrose (Primula vulgaris). There is a country saying, “March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb”. Let’s hope with the lengthening of the days that the saying runs true and we have better, warmer weather at the end of the month. The frogs and toads have not really started breeding, but once the temperature warms up they will be laying spawn in ponds and soon, if you are lucky, you may see the mad March hares boxing. Spring officially starts this month from the 21st.

The sap will be rising in the trees and flowers this month and many leaves will emerge changing our landscape. The landscape will be turning from shades of grey and brown to green with the odd sprinkle of white blossom from Blackthorn.

If the weather turns cold again the farmers will be busy ensuring their livestock in the fields are getting enough water and nutrients and so they will be breaking the ice on the water troughs and supplying salt licks near the feeding areas.

Any farmer that has a conservation headland and is grant aided is prohibited from using insecticides on the headlands from the middle of the month. This ensures that many flowers can bloom and in turn attract numerous insects to pollinate them. It is also good policy if the farmer can possibly leave winter stubble unploughed until the end of March as this helps birds feed on any left-over seeds.

March is an important month for the hedgerows because the sap is rising and it is the last chance before summer to plant a hedge if it is to have a good chance to grow. Otherwise, the person planting a hedge will have to wait until October. It is also good practice not to cut hedges after mid–March to allow birds to nest. Another good practice is not to cut a hedge every year where it is possible, this allows more insects, animals and birds to find more food sources. Hedgerows enable livestock to graze safely and prevent them straying or trampling over other fields of crops. The hedge also provides shelter for crops and livestock from wind and snow. These windbreaks prevent soil erosion as well as the loss of valuable topsoil. In recent times many long-established hedgerows have been removed in order to make the land more manageable for large agricultural machinery. The danger is the topsoil is worn away and the landscape denuded as well as a lot of valuable habitat for fauna and flora being lost.

Ditches also keep the land drained but, with the use of tractors on soft mud, water-logging can become a real problem such as crops rotting and vehicles becoming stuck.

This month you may be thinking of digging the allotment or doing some planting. When digging you may disturb a centipede. There are some 45 British species to be found. They were given the name Centipede in the early Seventeenth-century because it seemed they had 100 legs but they seldom do. They do have a pair of legs per each body segment they have. Depending on the species, the leg numbers vary from 30 to 202. Centipedes are carnivorous and do possess poisonous claws on their head. Their bite is harmless to us in this country. However, in other parts of the world you can receive nasty bites from one or two of them. The commoner species are (Necrophloeophagus longicornis) and (Lithobius forficatus).

Another unusual beast to look out for is the Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa). They can be found wandering around towards the end of the month in a number of habitats but especially on Downland. This large black beetle has a remarkable defence mechanism. When they are attacked they discharge “blood” from all their orifices and this usually puts off the predator, who leaves them alone to live another day.

An unusual but early flowering plant that is out this month is Abraham-Isaac-Jacob (Trachystemon orientalis). This plant was first introduced to this country in 1752 as a garden plant but by 1844, it was first recorded in the wild. Where it has escaped it can be found naturalised in damp woods and lane side banks. It originated from Bulgaria and Northern Turkey.

Next month is traditionally associated with showers, which in turn will help a number of plants to grow, and I will tell you about which plants to look out for and much more.