I have shared my love of (all) the spring flowers and how each one is my favourite as they come into bloom, but this week I have been mostly ‘loving leaves’. Tree leaves especially.

I particularly love the new, vivid, lime-green leaves of the beech trees on the contrasting dark barked boughs. They always remind me of those boiled sweets with a chocolate centre, aptly named Chocolate Limes, that we had as kids. The boiled bit always cut your tongue right at the end, just as you got to the chocolate centre.

Jehu’s in Crickhowell still sell them.

In the hedgerows, the spicy, garlicky leaves of Jack in the Hedge, are adding flavour to a salad or sandwich but please make sure you know what you are picking. The leaves of Honesty look very similar – although the flowers differ – and you will often find Dog’s Mercury in the same hedge as ‘Jack’, but it’s poisonous.

Wild Garlic is in all its glory at the moment, locally, too. Also known as Ramsons and Wood Garlic it is definitely another ‘favourite’ of mine. The leaves will add flavour to lots of dishes from quiches and omelettes, to stir fries and salads and I often come home with a pocketful of leaves from my walks now. I pick sparely from a woodland after asking the farmer’s permission to do so. Please be aware that the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 states that ‘It is legal in the UK to pick wild garlic leaves and flowers for personal use, provided you do not trespass on private property and harvest sustainably. However, it is illegal to uproot the bulbs or dig up the entire plant without the landowner's permission.’

You can buy Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) though, it is a wild relative to chives and certainly has a place in appropriate gardens, preferring a woodland setting – damp and shaded. As well as the tasty leaves, the white flower heads that look a bit like pompoms, are pretty too and will ‘lift’ a subdued shady area now. The leaves are used in the same way as a herb and are best eaten young (around now). The flowers are also edible and are a great addition to salads.

It is traditionally used as a ‘Spring tonic’ because of its blood purifying properties and it is also reputed to help reduce cholesterol. It is also thought that the smell will repel cats, although it’s worth remembering that it can spread quite quickly, so be prepared to be ‘strict’ with it if necessary.

Some people confuse wild garlic with the Three Cornered Leek, (wild onion, or Snowbell - or Allium triquetrum). In contrast to the wild garlic guidelines, it is actually an offence under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales to plant or otherwise cause to grow this species in the wild, as its so invasive. Although they smell the same, have a similar taste, and both have white flowers, it is easy to tell the two apart as the Three Cornered Leek’s stems are, as the name suggests, distinctively triangular, whereas the wild garlic’s aren’t. The leaves are also very different as the wild garlic has hollow, round, grass-like leaves, while the wild onion has flat, solid leaves.

The bell-shaped flowers of the wild onion are also pretty, and are produced from April to June. It’s worth remembering that even though it is cultivated intentionally, it can still become a nuisance very quickly as it spreads enthusiastically by both bulbils and seeds, quickly earning its ‘invasive’ title.