After several months of work by Submarine in Guernsey, the Herm website is now live.  We hope you like the new look and soon learn your way around the site.  Photo of the week, plant of the week, island news and any other snippets of island life will now be published on the blog.  

The wildflowers are beautiful at the moment.  Walk along the east coast path from the south towards Belvoir and you will see swathes of primroses.  On the bank between Belvoir and Shell Beaches are violets and in the woods at the side of The Drive the bluebells are just beginning to bloom.  Sea campion and sea thrift are starting to flower and they will soon be in abundance on the south coast cliff paths.  It’s a lovely time of year to see Herm at its spring-time best.

Common Gorse

The most widely familiar species is common gorse (Ulex europaeus), the only species native to much of western Europe, where it grows in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils. It is also the largest species, reaching 2–3 metres (7–10 ft) in height. Common gorse flowers a little in late autumn and through the winter, coming into flower most strongly in spring. Between the different species, some gorse is almost always in flower, hence the old country phrase: "When gorse is out of blossom, kissing's out of fashion". Gorse flowers have a distinctive coconut scent. This Gorse bush is flowering on the Common on Herm and provides some bright yellow colour against the fantastic blue skies we are experiencing on Herm at the moment.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) grows widely on Herm in the wild areas. At the moment it is flowering profusely and makes certain areas look as if they are covered in snow! It is a deciduous large shrub or small tree growing to about 5 metres tall with dense stiff spiny branches. The fruit, called a sloe, ripens in autumn. The flavour is very astringent. The best use of them is making them into sloe gin!