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Skelton is a village on the northern edge of York where the River Ouse meadows meet the Vale of York arable plain, best known for its almost perfectly preserved thirteenth-century church — one of the finest early Gothic churches in Yorkshire. The village is surrounded by willowherb-rich riverside meadows and oilseed rape fields stretching north towards Shipton; the older orchard gardens of the village provide apple blossom in May, and hawthorn on the field boundaries follows through to the lime trees of Rawcliffe just to the south.

Oilseed rape on the Vale of York arable fields around Dunnington, Poppleton and Skelton opens the season from early April. Hawthorn is dense on the field-boundary hedgerows all around the city fringe. York city centre is defined by its lime flow in June — Museum Gardens, Dean's Park, the Knavesmire lime avenue and the Victorian residential streets of Bishopthorpe Road and Bootham all contribute. Bramble is prolific on the railway embankment and Strensall Common edges; willowherb and himalayan balsam follow on the Ouse riverside. Bell heather on Strensall Common gives a modest but genuine late-July supplement. Ivy on the City Walls, churchyard walls and older suburban gardens closes the year.