January February Winter weather Nature animals Nature plants

January + February Winter weather Nature - animals Nature - plants Food and farming Eco friendly actions. Recycle your Christmas tree. Recycle your Christmas cards.

January + February Plants holly & ivy berries snowdrops deciduous trees frost covered crab apples evergreen trees There are very few plants that flower in January. All the deciduous trees like the oak, ash and hazel have lost their leaves. However trees like pines, spruces and holly remain green all year round.

Snow drop – Lili Wen Fach, Eirlys, Blodyn yr Eira. Snowdrop or Lili Wen Fach flowers in January and February. They grow in hedgerows and in lightly wooded area. There about a 100 varieties of snowdrops. The botanical name Galanthus means milk flower.

Snow drop - Lili Wen Fach, Eirlys, Blodyn Yr Eira There is a famous poem related to the snowdrop: O Lili Wen Fach o ble daethost ti? A’r gwynt mor arw ac mor oer ei gri. Sut y daethost ti allan trwy’r eira i gyd? Nid oes blodyn bach arall i’w weld yn y byd. The poet wonders from where did this flower come from, as it is so cold, snowy and wintery outside. It wonders how it managed to flower from under the snow, as no other flowers seems to be present in the world at this time.

January + February When we go for walks in our patch looking for plants and we see wild flowers, should we pick them? You will need to think about a few things before picking flowers: 1. Picking flowers stops them for seeding next year and growing again. 2. The Wild Flowers Society tells you to pick flowers ‘with care and moderation’ but you must never uproot whole plants. For further details visit www. wildflowersociety. com

How to draw a snowdrop 1. When you are walking and exploring your green patch take a photo of a flower. Shown opposite is a snowdrop. 2. Trace around the leaves. 3. Trace around the stem. 4. Trace the main parts of the flower. 5. Colour in leaves, petals with care, try and use two tones of green and white to get a 3 D effect.

Winter colours and scenes Look at the winter photographs above and which colours do you notice the most?

Look at the birds, animals and plants below and select which ones are likely to be found in the winter months. robin butterfly holly snowdrop buttercup blue tit snowflake ladybird blackbird tracks in the snow