Irish Wildflowers By Month

Season: February – March
Scientific name: Narcissus
Where: Hedgerows, roadsides, gardens

Daffodils

It’s true that you won’t spot many naturally occurring daffodils in Ireland. Don’t let that stop you, though; daffodils are one of the first blooms to dot the Irish landscapes, making it a popular choice with gardeners. You’ll spot them lining hedgerows, gardens, and roads throughout the country. Their dancing yellow petals are a welcome spot of colour in an otherwise grey wintery landscape. When the daffodils arrive, you know spring is on its way – which makes sense as daffodils arrive in February, the start of spring on the Gaelic Celtic calendar (learn more on our St Brigid’s Day blog here).

Lesser Celandine

Another yellow February bloom is the Lesser Celandine. With its narrow, highlighter-yellow petals, lesser celandine is a cheerful sign that spring is approaching. Look for these low-growing plants in damp, shaded areas such as woodland areas or thick hedgerows. Lesser celandines can bloom as early as end of January through May, but February is the best time to enjoy them as they are a sure sign that spring is on its way.

Season: April – May | April – July
Scientific Name: Hyacinthoides non-scripta | Armeria maritima
Where: Broadleaf woodlands | Coastal regions

Bluebells

April is famous for the brilliant, violent-tinted bluebell carpets that flood Ireland’s ancient woodlands. The older the forest, the richer and more impressive the patches of bluebells, and truly, these breathtakingly beautiful blue-purple seas are a sight to see. Bluebells thrive in shaded areas with rich, moist soil but prefer deciduous and broadleaf forests over pines.

Wild Garlic

A flower that often appears alongside bluebells is wild garlic. With a strong, rich odour and distinctive, easy-to-spot thin leaves combined with clusters of tiny white blooms, wild garlic is as pretty as they are strong-smelling! You’ll often see seas of white mixed in with seas of blue-violet on a backdrop of emerald green. A portrait of a landscape you’ll never forget!

Irish Sea Pink

If you’re spending your April on the coast rather than in the forests, another spectacular flower awaits: the Irish Sea pink. Carpeting coastlines, these low-spreading plants explode into bursts of pink. Grouped closely together and blooming in tight balls of petals, the Irish Sea pink is a vibrant site for the seashore.

Season: June-August
Scientific name: Digitalis purpurea | Cirsium dissectum
Where: Woodlands, moors, low mountains | Meadows, hedgerows

Foxgloves

With their tall, dancing spikes adorned with purple, bell-shaped flowers, foxgloves are unique to any other flowers on this list. A highlight of early summer is when you start seeing foxgloves on your hikes in Ireland; you know that summer is well underway. They often grow in woodland clearings and along roadsides.

A lesser-known fact about foxgloves is that they are actually poisonous, with poison found in the flowers, leaves, stems, and seeds of the foxglove plant. Poisoning from digitalis is rare though, and on the flip side, digitalis is also used as medicine to treat certain heart conditions.

Meadow Thistle

Another popular June wildflower is the meadow thistle, which, true to its name, grows predominantly in meadows. A spiky purple bloom atop a high, bristly stalk, you’ll often spot thistles dancing in the wind. While they look beautiful from a distance, touch them with caution. Beloved by bees, thistles are a prominent part of the popular “no mow” campaigns pushing to let Ireland’s hedgerows, roadsides and traffic circles go wild.

Season: July – October | July – September
Scientific name: Calluna vulgaris | Angelica sylvestris
Where: Acidic soil i.e. bogs and moors, and hillsides | Damp and marshy habitats

Heather

Blanketing Ireland’s rougher terrain in a vibrant purple, heather is one of Ireland’s iconic wildflowers and plants. When viewed from afar, the hills of Ireland seem to stretch into carpets of purple. Up close, heather is associated with off-the-beaten path hiking and walking.

Low scrub bushes growing in large swathes, heather plants love acidic and boggy soil. Heather blossoms purple from July onwards, and even once the blooms fade from the hills, they are replaced with a dusky golden colour that is equally as majestic.

Wild Angelica

Alternatively, look out for the clusters of tiny white or pinkish blooms of Wild Angelica, particularly in damp habitats like marshes and riversides. While you might spot them from July to September, their lovely swathes of white make a pretty contrast to August’s purple heather.

Season: July – October
Scientific name: Centaurea nigra
Where: Fields, meadows

Common Knapweed

With its final floral display in early October, the common knapweed – sometimes confused with a thistle – has stalks of single purple flowers that are the favourite of bees and butterflies. Dancing in the wind on thick stalks, the knapweed’s narrow, spiky violet petals grow in abundance across the Emerald Isle.

It thrives in meadows, grasslands, and roadside verges, blooming later than most wildflowers into the autumn.

Buttercups flower most of the year, too, finishing up in October, so keep your eyes open for these small, delicate, yet stunning Irish wildflowers.

Season: November-March
Scientific name: Petasites pyrenaicus
Where: Damp soil, shady spots, roadsides, cultivated soil

Winter heliotrope is a fragrant, pale pink flower that blooms in the heart of winter. It’s one of Ireland’s most widespread winter blooms and is a welcome breath of life and fragrance in mid-winter. Often found along roadsides and riverbanks, it brightens up the colder months.

Tall, thick stalks up to 25 cm high are topped with miniature pink and white bouquets of narrow petals. While not a native species, its use in winter gardens made it popular and has since spread beyond garden walls.