A visit to Priestley Wood in spring or early summer should test even the most knowledgeable plant-identifier. Some 130 flowering plants have been recorded in the woods, which have been designated a site of special scientific interest. There are relatively large populations of the twayblade orchid, the common spotted orchid, wild garlic, broad-leaved helleborine, herb Paris, primrose and the ever-popular bluebell. Most of Suffolk's nettle-leaved bellflowers and woodruffs can be found here. Tear yourself away from the flowers for a moment to look at the trees and, scattered among the ash, maple, oak, cherry, hazel and hawthorn, you may spot some important specimens of small-leaved lime and hornbeam. More notable still is a single wild pear, one of only two in the county. Don't try any of the small brown fruit. They are not edible.
Be prepared to exert yourself if you decide to explore the steep pathways through this valley woodland just outside the city of Derry, but all the bluebells, wood anemone, wood sorrel and wild garlic make the effort worthwhile. The name Derry comes from the Irish word for oak grove, so it's not difficult to guess what the dominant tree here is. Less expected, perhaps, are the wild goats that roam the valley and shelter in the woods. Look upwards for a chance of spotting a purple hairstreak butterfly, one of the rarest butterflies in Northern Ireland, which is most likely to be seen flitting around in the tree canopy, and listen out for the screaming call of the jay, a clue that this woodland bird with a distinctive white rump is about to take flight.
Renowned for the spectacular display of bluebells that covers the woodland floor every May, Carstramon boasts a number of other native flowering plants characteristic of old woodlands. Look beyond the dazzling sea of blue to enjoy other spring-flowering beauties such as wood violet, primrose, honeysuckle and wood sorrel, with its small white flowers streaked with pink. Flowering amid the bracken, you may see another spring bloom, the climbing corydalis, which is the only food source for a rare weevil that lives here and which was once thought to be extinct. Carstramon is the largest of four oak woodlands in the Fleet Valley and is a remnant of the ancient forests that once covered the whole region. Remember to stick to footpaths to avoid damaging the flowers, many of which are endangered species.
Duncliffe Wood near Shaftesbury has been designated a site of nature conservation interest, largely because of its rich variety of ground flora. Visit in springtime and you'll find the woodland floor covered in a thick carpet of bluebells. Other notable spring-flowering species include yellow archangel, early purple orchids and the long-flowering wood speedwell, whose tiny lilac flowers provide important early nectar for bees. At dusk, you should detect the faint musky scent of moschatel, also known as the Good Friday plant. Among the rich mix of trees, look out for the small-leaved lime. In summer, this now rare species buzzes with insects enjoying its creamy-white, sweet-smelling flowers. Historically, this is the wood that morris dancing sticks were made of, chosen because of its unusually tight grain, which doesn't splinter when struck.
Come spring, Lumb Brook Valley is brought to life by swathes of bluebells, lords-and-ladies, white wood anemones, sunshine-yellow lesser celandine and candy-pink dog rose, all taking advantage of the extra light reaching the woodland floor before the canopy closes over with newly opened leaves. In parts, the ground flora has been crowded out by dense areas of rhododendron, but a phased removal of these has started, to allow more breathing space for less aggressive native plants and to increase light levels around the brook. There are also plans to fell over-mature pine, sycamore, horse chestnut and beech, and restock the wood with local species such as the pedunculate oak, wild cherry, rowan, birch and ash.
Given that Coed Cefn is known locally as Bluebell Wood, you can be fairly sure of a stunning display of these flowers every spring. Look out for drifts of wood violets in April and, as the bluebells start to fade, the dark pink-red flowers of red campion and gold-tinged yellow archangel. Most of the woodland canopy consists of oak and beech, with self-sown ash predominant on the southern side. In the heart of the woods is a low circular mound, the site of an Iron Age fort, which was cleared of conifers in 2003 and restocked with native broad-leaved species. Felled trees were left in stacks to rot down, providing valuable habitats for the many insects that live in dead wood and in turn feed much of the bird population.
Right on the northern edge of Runcorn, wedged between the Daresbury Expressway and a slender canal, Big Wood is a peaceful wildlife haven in an intensely urban environment. Its colourful, 900-year history, as part of the adjacent Norton Priory estate, features medieval Black Canons of the Augustinian order and Brooke family barons until the 1920s. Today it is a roughly rectangular stretch of woodland, comprised mostly of pedunculate and turkey oak, sycamore, silver birch, yew, willow, poplar and Scots pine, with a historic sandstone ha-ha (a ditch bordered by a wall) along the eastern border and a planted pond in the middle. Though beautifully pink and crimson, the rampant rhododendron has been progressively thinned out in an effort to nurture the hundred or so other species of plants that carpet the glades, including bluebells, liverwort, bramble and bracken.
Near St Albans, a mere 40km (25 miles) from London, the Woodland Trust has started work creating England's largest new native forest. For now, much of the site's 347 hectares (858 acres) is still being farmed but there is already plenty to explore, including four pockets of ancient woodland that are covered each April with drifts of English bluebells. If you visit earlier in the year, look out for blankets of tiny white wood anemone and the yellow lesser celandine, sometimes called the spring messenger, which provide essential pollen for bumblebees as they come out of hibernation. Plans for Heartwood include planting a total of 600,000 native trees, a community orchard (local schoolchildren helped plant the first fruit trees in 2010), wildflower meadows and miles of footpaths. Given the scale of the project, volunteers are always welcome.
In Victorian times, the gigantic boulders of Eridge Rocks played host to theatrical woodland dinner parties. If you are an experienced rock climber, you might like to scale the face of this long sandstone cliff – but note, the rocks are dangerous and many parts are out of bounds because of the host of ferns, mosses, liverworts and lichens that grow in the nooks and fissures, notably the extremely rare Tunbridge filmy fern. More than 70% of the High Weald's woodland is classed as ancient – at Domesday in 1086 it was the most densely wooded area in England – and come spring you can enjoy primroses, green-winged orchids, sweet vernal grass, yellow archangel, wild garlic, common dog violet and cuckoo pink. Scan the bluebell drifts for coralroot, a scarce woodland orchid that flowers at the same time and is found naturally only in the Weald and the Chilterns.
Only 20km (12 miles) south-east out of Edinburgh, you can stroll along the 9km (almost six miles) of marked pathways that meander through the tranquil woods and parklands of Vogrie Country Park. Native oak, alder and rowan trees rub shoulders with exotic imports such as western red cedar and sequoia, a throwback to the estate's Victorian heyday, and the woodland floor blooms continuously from spring, when the anemones and bluebells show their heads, through to late summer. Even a visit in the depths of winter will offer up snowdrops and aconites to brighten the view. If you prefer a wilder feel to your woodland, take one of the steeper paths to the Tyne Valley, where you will be further away from the bustle of the park's cafes and play areas, which get particularly busy in the summer.