When I spotted this wild flower growing in the meadow a week or two ago, in full sun, I was somewhat surprised as I thought it was a Corydalis.
They are very similar, but after looking it up in my trusty wildflower book, and checking with my wildflower App, I found it is Fumaria officinalis. Or Common Fumitory. Well, I had never seen it before, so it can’t be that common around here!
It is about 20 cm tall, with candle-like pinky purple flowers that stand out in the surrounding greenery of the meadow. The feathery dark green foliage has a distinct bluish tinge to it, which sadly doesn’t show on my photos.
Apparently it likes such open positions in fields and gardens, or disturbed ground around building sites or embankments, etc.
Is it common where you live? Perhaps I have just never noticed it before.
A bonus flower this week is this lovely meadow sage, Salvia pratensis, which I wanted to feature before it goes over. I am hoping it will flower again!
Meadow Sage, Salvia pratensis.
There is nothing ‘weedy’ about this flower, which is a perennial, so hopefully it will be here to stay and spread some seed this year. There are in fact several cultivars sold in nurseries and garden centres and I nearly bought a white one yesterday!
As its name suggests, it prefers meadows or open ground, especially where it is dry. It grows at the roadsides here, and will flower on and off for most of the summer, even in heatwaves. Bees and other pollinators love it too. So all in all, a very welcome wild flower.
Do join me if you would like to share a wild flower or weed that grows in your garden or nearby. Just leave a link below if you do. I am aiming to post every Wednesday through the summer. Thanks for visiting and have a good week!
Words and Herbs 
Well spotted, I need to go meadow walking soon!
Oh yes, now is the time! 😃
Lovely find! Hope you aren’t getting very wet feet on your meadow rambles!! I’ve just planted half a dozen meadow sages in our wild patch 😉
The sages are beautiful aren’t they! And we do indeed have constantly wet feet here this spring with all the rain! 😆
You might enjoy my old post about weeds Cathy, including fumaria.
Thanks Jude! I’ll take a look.
Interesting to see we share some of the same weeds. I looked at the following week’s six too, and we also have that pretty cranesbill. 😃
Both are beautiful, but I can see how Fumaria might self-sow a lot!
Will be interesting to see if it does spread. The meadow is changing constantly from year to year. 😃
Nature does that! Change is constant. 🙂
I love the salvia!
Thanks Tracy!
You have a remarkably diverse collection of wildflowers, Cathy! Both of these are very pretty.
So many Kris – which is why I squeezed in two this week!
No, I see it only in pictures. It is supposedly naturalized down south, but I have not encountered it yet.
It was new to me too.
We have a lot of the fumitory around us which I find very attractive. I am very fond of the sages and have gathered a lot of different sages in the garden but I have never seen a wild one here. I will keep an eye out now, knowing that such a thing exists. Amelia
The meadow sage grows in all kinds of soil, as long as it is poor and well-drained. I had never seen fumitory before so was pleased, although I have heard it can become invasive.