Plants both wild & cultivated now beginning to bloom

Each day as I travel around Dublin city & suburbs there are many plants that catch my gardening focused attention. Especially as it's now the beginning of summer & the plant kingdom is really firing on all cylinders. Obviously wild plants (sometimes labelled weeds) are ahead of their cultivated cousins. Why? Wild plants are basically tougher & have evolved to survive in the most extreme conditions; which is the reason they come into bloom that bit earlier. Cultivated plants have been somewhat diluted by the intervention & manipulation of science. This is not necessarily a bad thing. If we didn't have the advances in plant cultivation that exist today - the human race would have disappeared. Remember: 'Plants are the miracle of life' - they are organic & provide essential ingredients in both the human & animal food chain.
Cultivated plants which will be discussed in future posts include:

• Buddleja davidii - the Butterfly Bush
• Viburnum davidii - collected some of the female tiny, oval, metallic-blue fruits
  
• Viola 'Jackanapes'
• Cornus controversa 'Variegata' - The Wedding Cake Tree
• Iris
• Heuchera
• Ceanothus - Californian lilac will flower much better in a sheltered, sunny, south-facing aspect
  
• Pansy
• Imperial Lily
  

Wild Flowers:
Centranthus ruber [Red Valerian] has been coming into flower over the past 3 weeks. This perennial belongs to the same plant species as Valeriana officinalis [Common Valerian]. Habitat: grassy places, scrub; mostly damp soils. Plenty of specimens exist: at the 14A terminus in Dundrum & along stone wall sections of the Dodder River.
Plantago lanceolata [Ribwort] is a perennial & is now flowering. It's flowering period is April - August. Habitat: grassland; all but most acid soils. Narrow-leaved Plantains grow by the coast or in sandy & rocky places inland. A fine specimen can be seen next to some house steps close to the Teachers' Club in Parnell Square West, Dublin city.