Nature notes: lingering flowers

Among the flowers still in bloom on grassy roadside verges is one that seems to glow with mauve neon light. This is hedgerow cranesbill, a small flower of the geranium family. Its uncanny brightness draws one’s attention. The flowers grow in pairs among hairy, notched leaves, and the seeds have a long pointed beak. In older books, it is called mountain cranesbill, but it is not especially a mountain flower. On garden lawns, creeping buttercup is still creeping, and a few small yellow flowers can still be seen. It spreads by pushing white runners, or stolons, above ground through the grass. These take root, and new plants with leaves and flowers spring up from them. A colony of creeping buttercups can quickly take over a