Where have all the coltsfoots gone?

What a very good question. I haven't seen one since childhood. They are indeed lovely, as are celandines.

Plenty of coltsfoot in Argyll.

A good way to find out what's flowering where and when is to follow the Twitter hashtag #wildflowerhour. On Sunday evenings between 20:00 and 21:00 people posts pics of wildflowers they've seen that week and which part of the country they're in.

I didn't know what coltsfoot was. Just googled it. Will be on
the lookout now!

I know coltsfoots is right, just like mongooses but isn't there a little bit of us that wants to say coltsfeet and mongeese?

I just say coltsfoot for both singular and plural but I am just clouding the issue.
I had not thought about it but agree I haven't seen any for years.

I used to love coltsfoot rock as a child. You can buy it on-line but never see it in shops. Not that I go into sweet shops these days! Wonder why it's called coltsfoot?

Your last sentence prompted me to try to find out, Gagagran, and I found this on Wiki: The leaves, which resemble a colt's foot in cross section..... Here's Wiki's accompanying photo.

Thanks Indinana - I wondered if it was something like that!

It is odd, I was thinking just the same thing the other day. I haven't seen any for years, not even in the areas where I saw them as a child. I didn't recognise the leaves in the picture above, but think the flowers probably came before leaves appeared.

Coltsfoots (feet?) flowering along the canal towpath near Stourbridge (Black Country).

A memory about coltsfoot. Just after the war, tobacco was in short supply, so my father, who smoked a pipe, decided to grow his own. H e obtained some seeds, and grew some tobacco plants, which had enormous floppy leaves.
He then decided to supplement these with coltsfoot leaves (also very big) which grew on our local railway embankment so we were despatched to gather a basketful. All the leaves were hung up until they were dry and brown, then soaked in a mixture of molasses and some sort of alcohol. They were then
rolled tightly into a "plug" and bound with twine and left to mature. Dad had learned to do this in the Navy in WW1. After some months he shredded the plug with a penknife and smoked it in his pipe - I remember it smelled quite aromatic and certainly better than cigarette smoke!

the Jura mountains, straddled over the Swiss-French border, are very similar to Derbyshire and Yorkshire Dales - real limestone and Dales country. Coltsfoot are everywhere at the moment- 1000s and 1000s.

Could it be the salt affecting them? Here everyone is equipped with snow tyres - and they grit but never salt anymore, as it wasaffecting biodiversity too much?

A lot healthier, as well, MrsEggy, for you and your dad.

coltsfoot are still an important part of cough herbal teas here

I really like those coltsfoot sticks. You can still get them at Beamish.

I can imagine the resulting tobacco was better than ordinary, MrsEggy. What a great story! Interesting to know that I'm not the only one who hasn't seen them lately- there must be some reason. Looks like I need to go a bit further afield. Great picture shysal- brings back memories. And I'd forgotten about coltsfoot rock . Did it taste slightly aniseedy?

Yes, that's the one.

Maybe it's an excuse for a trip to Beamish- not been for years. My OH loves it. Bit off- topic but one of the cottages there was recreated from a cottage where his friend lived as a boy so he always finds it rather surreal.

That's interesting, aprilgrace.
There is a lot more going on there at the moment, whole streets being built, a hotel, pub, windmill. You should check the website to make sure you do not go just before something new is opened.
On the other hand, tickets are valid for a year now, anyway, so you can go at least twice.

Chickweed used to grow everywhere but much less common now.
Some wild flowers have increased here, like harebells, celandines and mallows.
Tiger moths and their stripy caterpillars gone, thrushes gone, hedgehogs nearly gone. TV is full of programmes on foreign wildlife and most people know nothing about our native species.

From the Guardian Feb 2009:

Road salt can also damage, or even kill, trees and vegetation growing close to the verge, according to reports in Canada. And it can also impact on the health of migratory birds.

lots and lots of articles re salt damage on the internet.

There seems to be plenty of chickweed on my allotment! And guess what I saw today? Near the Ladybower Reservoir. It made my day!

OK Aprilgrace, give us a clue what you saw. If it's in the picture, it's lost on me.

Coltsfoot, yes? I was out at Ladybower a couple of weeks ago but was too busy looking for fish - I would have been better off looking for the flowers!! We had a walk today, and celandines, wild garlic and wood anemones everywhere; bluebells in the woods and patches of dog violets. No coltsfoot though! Lots of butterflies about too today.