SPRING is a time to celebrate the hardier wildflowers in the countryside – those species that can brave the occasional snowstorm in order to take advantage of the wide open spaces that exist before other, more lightweight, plants get going.

Some, such as winter aconite and lesser celandine, will have been flowering for a while, but others will be appearing this month.

Although bluebells are top of most people’s list of dramatic woodland wildflower extravaganzas, carpets of wild garlic or ramsons can be just as spectacular.

Ramsons can be found in damp woodland or along the banks of streams and rivers, and, if you walk through a patch, there will be a strong and characteristic aroma given off.

This plant belongs to the allium family, along with onions, leeks and cultivated garlic – indeed, allium is the Latin word for garlic.

The full scientific name is Allium ursinum – based on the, possibly apocryphal, fondness of bears for the plant’s bulbs (ursa being Latin for bear). A more realistic benefit to wildlife is that, being an early-flowering plant, it provides valuable food for spring pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

The flowers form rounded clusters of white, star-like, six-petalled blooms, which are carried on leafless stalks. Each cluster can carry as many as 25 individual flowers. Whilst these produce the characteristic smell, it’s the fleshy, oval-shaped leaves that really give off a whiff.

Wild garlic has been used in cooking and folk medicine for hundreds of years. It is very versatile and can feature in salads, sauces, on pizzas – or pretty much anywhere; assuming you like garlic, that is.

In some places, other alliums may also be present, adding to the whole olfactory experience.

Few-flowered leek is a species which was introduced from Asia in the 1820s.

It was first noticed in the wild a few decades later near Edinburgh. Since then it has become very invasive, out-competing native species such as ramsons, bluebells and primroses.

Few-flowered leek has a superficially similar appearance to wild garlic but has, unsurprisingly, fewer flowers, whilst the leaves are thinner and more strap-like. The flower heads produce hardly any true flowers, often only one on each plant. Instead, they form into tiny bulb-like features called bulbils. These small white balls are a common sight in areas where the plant grows and can be found both in the soil and strewn across the surface.

Their abundance, combined with their being easily moved by passing animals (or humans), is part of the reason why this species is so invasive. As a result, few-flowered leek appears in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, along with others such as giant hogweed and Himalayan balsam. This is essentially a long-winded way of saying that it’s illegal to plant this species in the wild.

So, there we have it – one allium species to be celebrated and one to be concerned about.

Let’s focus on the positive and admire wild garlic for its simple beauty, its lovely flavour (I know, some people don’t like garlic) and its value as part of local ecosystems.