What is this flower?

The yellow flowers are winter aconite, a small shade loving spring bulb. One of those that not many people seem to grow, I guess you need the right conditions and not to be too frenzied a digger!

Thanks, recognise the name!

Hi Andrea
iv these in my garden2 :D i planted them in Jan08! They came in small pots if you look on my pic`s ul see them, like yours my ACONITES are planted with SNOWDROPS :D

i do believe they are toxic tho, maybe the reason not widely grown, so keep your pets and kids away if i were you. but they do look lovely- i cant have them in my garden due to 2 1/2 year old monster! lol

The flowers only open fully in sunshine so it is best placed under a deciduous shrub so it gets shade later in the year

I have a close-up on my page. You can grow them from corms planted in autumn as well as buy them in flower in Jan/Feb.

Aconites they are, BUT Do not buy dried bulbs, they are dead. If you want them then go for growng plants. Do not buy seeds, they are also dead, they have a life span of about a month. If you know someone who has them then collect the seeds when still green and sow immediately. They can be hard to establish, but if they like your garden then watch out they can become rather invasive weeds. Finally, the poisonous bit. They are members of the Ranunculacae and almost every one of that family is poisonous from buttercups upwards. Aconites are no more or less baddies than any others of this family.

Thanks for all your replies! Think I`ll skip it, if its potentially poisonous due to cats!

Well, we have 3 cats of our own and 2 regular visitors and we have had as many as 7 resident and they have never suffered from aconite poisoning

are Buttercups poisonous too then Owdboggy? well i never knew that, and too think as children we are encouraged to pick them put them under the chin and around the mouth to see if we like butter. i gues some things are worse than others, and if your cats/dogs kids don't put things in there mouths all the time or chew and eat plants then i gues you don't have to worry. this toxic plant thing is something i am quite religious about myself having had a dog that used to eat everything site! he once ate a monks hood plant (Acconitum) or at least bits of it and low and behold ended up very sick and nearly died as a result. he also constantly picked things up in the flower shop i used to have and chewed on it, so i needed to be very careful about what was in his reach when he come to work with me! i now have a 2 year old little girl who also loves to put all sorts in her mouth, i think she is past the stage of picking flowers and trying to eat them but some times the sap on your hands is all you need for a bad tummy upset. i have had some very nasty tummy bugs over the years i have been a florist, just from what is on my hands even though i wash my hands before eating and obviously would'nt suddenly decide to eat a daffodil! lol i know that they say florists are mad but we are not that bad! lol so in my opion it is always better to be safe than sorry! - anything that is doggy i make sure it is in the front garden, right out of the way, or i just don't go there!

If a florist is mad, what does that make me, an ex-marathon runner? :-)

All ranunculus family members are poisonous, more or less. In most cases you would have to eat a lot of them for them to be fatal. I can find no records of anyone dying in Britain from buttercup poisoning!
Now is the season for Lesser Celandine to flower, poisonous, Wood anemone- poisonous.
The list of garden plants which are toxic is almost endless. We did not manage to kill any of our children or grandchildren or cats or even the stupid dog (He was stupid!)
There is a site online which has info on poisonous plants.

a complete looney Andrew! lol i do often visit the toxic plant web site, and as i said there are some things that are worse than others, some will just cause a mild tummy upset others can be fatal with very little intake eg Monks hood, Laburnum, Deadly night shade, foxglove ect... but quite a lot would make you sick if you were stupid enough to eat loads of it! - i actually know of a florist who died from acconitum poisoning! and speaking from first hand experience i have been really sick before now after a peak period eg (mothers day valentines) when working with this sort of stuff - so busy not always washing hands properly after use, you soon forget and shove a sweet in your mouth without thinking something so easierly done! so it does happen owdboggy. all i am saying is thoughs who have cats/dogs/kids it is best to be awear of anything that could be potentially harmful. in the shop i work we have to give out a warning card with certain plants - Solanum (christams cherry) is one that is supposed to be pretty bad, and yet widely popular.

I'm surprised Garden Centres are still allowed to sell daffodil bulbs without packaging - Health & Safety obviously haven't cottoned on yet

Eranthus hymalis I think is the botanical name

If u live near Eversham, Worcester, there is a beautiful display in the Abbey Gardens of this plant