Shimmering purple carpet of bluebells in a woodland.
Welcome to our new Nature Wellbeing Calendar series. Each month, you’ll be treated to 10 easy and enjoyable ways to get your regular dose of nature. How many can you do this month? 🙂
Let nature help you feel better!
Month 4 – April
1. If you go down to the woods today, look out for Bluebells rather than teddy bears! These magical purple beauties grow in most wooded areas around York. You may need a special trip out, though, to find that legendary shimmering Bluebell display. Try the woods in the grounds of Beningbrough Hall. You can reach the woods by bus from York to nearby Linton on Ouse or by bike on a green traffic-free route.
2. What’s that lovely smell? Follow your nose in the woods to look for yet another treasure! You may discover a carpet of Wild Garlic plants too, with their broad green leaves, star-shaped white flowers, and deeply aromatic smell. Pause, breathe deeply, and feel yourself relax.
Woman smiles as she touches a branch of green oak leaves and flowers.
3. Get to know a tree! Can you see a tree from your window? Or do you have a favourite tree on a regular walking or cycling route? Keep an eye on it this April. Watch buds swell and burst into flowers and leaves gracefully unfurl. Perhaps sketch them in your Nature Journal. Notice which birds visit for food, shelter, nesting, or just for spring frolicking. 🙂
4. The butterfly of the month is the Orange Tip. True to its name, the male has an orange tip on its white wings. Learn more about Orange Tips. If you go for a walk on the Ings flood meadows in York, you may spot one a-flutter! See if you can spot its caterpillar food plant too – a dainty pale pink flower called Cuckooflower. You’ll delight friends and family (and us!) if you take a picture, and share it online or in our Nature WhatsApp Group.
5. Introducing Jack-by-the-Hedge. This wildflower has a tall spike of jagged leaves with tiny little white flowers. It grows in shady spots beside hedgerows, hence the name! Find a young leaf and rub it in your fingers. What can you smell? Hint – it’s main common name is Garlic Mustard. 🙂
Blushing pink apple blossom buds.
6. Blossom keeps on coming! April is the month of fruit tree blossom. Apple, crabapple, pear, or plum, these beautiful trees are now a haze of pink and white, buzzing with insects. You can find fruit trees in many green spaces around the city. Or why not grow your own? Some grow well in pots too! Learn more from #TeamWilder’s Yards and Small Gardens Toolkit.
7. Keep your eyes and ears on the sky! House Martins and Swallows return to the same nesting spots every year this month, having spent the winter in Africa. That’s an amazing 6,000 mile journey. Welcome them home with a cheer! Learn to tell the difference between house martins, swallows and swifts.
Bright yellow dandelion in grassland.
8. Can you find a friendly Dandelion close to home? Take a moment to wonder at its cheery yellow flowers like miniature suns. Look closely at the leaves. Do you think they resemble the lion’s teeth the flower is named after? Lion’s teeth is ‘Dent de lion’ in French. Do let dandelions grow – they are a valuable early nectar source for pollinators.
9. Feeling competitive? The City Nature Challenge is an international competition to see which city can record the most species over an April weekend. To take part, just head out and about in York from 25 – 28 April 2025, and upload photos of your nature discoveries to the iNaturalist app. York was one of the winners in 2024. Can you help York win this year? Join the York City Nature Challenge.
10. Grow your own pollinator friendly flowers! Chives, oxeye daisies and nasturtium are easy to grow from seed. They thrive in pots too. Or choose from a wide variety of other flowers attractive to bees, butterflies, or hoverflies. To start, simply fill a pot with peat-free compost, scatter seeds, cover with more compost, water and place on a sunny windowsill. Learn more from this RHS growing guide. Marvel as seedlings appear and steadily grow. It’s guaranteed to keep you smiling for the whole month! 🙂
Tiny green seedlings in a windowsill pot.
York Bike Belles 