Greater Stichwort

Red Campion

Star of Bethlehem

 

 The wildwood is gone -the primeval forest that covered much of this island- but some species of the forest floor remain. In a damp tree-lined dell near Hitchin there are thousands of Ramsons aka Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum). 

 This colony would have flourished under the canopy of the wildwood. And persisted as our ancient ancestors created a landscape of woodlands and clearings. The dell is now surrounded by large arable fields where no Ramson could grow. Nonetheless the pungent smell of garlic fills the air of the dell as it would have done in the wildwood. 

 

 The presence of Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon) is an indicator of ancient woodland. I made my annual pilgrimage to look for tiny Toothworts on the edge of Wain Wood. Not one did I find but there was more Archangel than usual.

 

A particularly handsome stand of Solomon's Seal.

The heat today is more like summer and the bees are buzzing.

 White Deadnettle (Lamium album) flowers early in spring and keeps on flowering through summer, autumn into winter. A prolific weed/wildflower much visited by bumblebees. 

 Made a start in planting the herb garden at the music school. The  tallest plants (Fennel) in the middle, low growing herbs for picking round the edges (Mint, Lemon Balm, Thyme, Chives and Garlic Chives), interspersed with various annuals (Borage, Nasturtium, Calendula). More to come.

 The circles are crushed eggshells to keep slugs and snails at bay; they don't like dragging their slimy bellies across the jagged edges. Actually I've seen hardly any this spring. The days have been too sunny and dry, the nights have been too cold and dry. However there may be another problem in this setting: deer. Muntjacs regularly come into the grounds to forage, they may or may not like culinary herbs. 

 

Apple blossom.

 

 Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) in its natural habitat which botanically speaking is sloping calcareous grassland. From the perspective of folklore Pasque Flowers grow where Danes' blood was spilled in battle. Seen here at Knocking Hoe, one of the few remaining sites in the country where they grow in abundance. Chalky for sure, blood-soaked I don't know.

 

 One of my favourite flowers in my back garden: Smyrnium perfoliatum. A busily self-seeding biennial or perhaps triennial. I bought one in a pot, let it self-seed and now it pops up here and there every year. Does well in dryish soil in half sun/half shade corresponding to a woodland edge habitat. 

 

 Wood Anemones (Anemone nemorosa) emerge from the leaf litter in deciduous woodlands, generally before the Bluebells though sometimes overlapping when Bluebells are early. Having said that A. nemorosa is less widespread than H. non-scripta despite the similar habitat.  

 

 Speaking of wildflower walks what is more glorious than walking through a Bluebell wood in spring? My home town of Hitchin is blessed with several in the surrounding countryside notably Hitch Wood (above), Wain Wood and West Wood. The Bluebells are early this year, mid-April and they are in full flower.

 With spring well and truly underway wildflower walks will be bountiful. Cowslips proliferate in the churchyard of St. Paul's Walden so that was a good place to start...

 

 Making a kitchen garden. A couple of days hard graft earlier in the week reviving a neglected veg patch at the music school. It will indeed provide some produce for their catering but I designed it be pleasing on the eye as much as edible.

 First step was to hard prune some shaggy Rosemary bushes and open up the space by transplanting them to run north-south rather than east-west. Then construct a raised bed using four chunky 'sleepers' that have been lying around for years. The bed was filled with compost (made on site) to be planted with herbs. I planted a line of Munstead Lavender alongside the paving and retained part of the grass by the hedge and the flowery margin opposite. An 'A' frame for growing runner beans was the final touch.

 A satisfying project, I'll post a few more entries about it but here is the end result:

 Native and non-native. The felling of a dead tree has let in more light resulting in an eruption of Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens). The former is native, the latter not. 

 There is a certain amount of angst about 'foreign' invasive species but many of our natives are equally opportunistic. And don't they look good together?

 

 Two kinds of Honesty...

 In the foreground is the perennial species Lunaria rediviva which has the merest blush of pink in the flowers.

 In the background is the biennial Lunaria annua var. albiflora with flowers of pure white. To this we may add the third kind: the purple flowered biennial Honest which is the most common.

Busy bee on a Judas Tree.

 

 The remnants of hedgerows are vital for pollinators in an expanse of arable monoculture. 

 

 Spring come early will probably be a theme of this diary in the weeks ahead. Today was more like summer come early with temperatures in the mid twenties.

 I saw Bluebells in the hedgerows at the weekend; I would expect Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) to be out late April/early May. Having said that the ones I saw looked more like the hybrid 'Garden Bluebell' (H. x massartiana) which is a cross of H. non-scripta and the Spanish Bluebell (H. hispanica). Our native Bluebell has arching stems with downward nodding bells. These are taller, more upright with bells facing stiffly out and up. Garden and Spanish Bluebells flower earlier.

 It is supposed that hispanica genes can cross pollinate with wild Bluebells and perhaps that has happened here? I will have to walk further out to several ancient Bluebell woods in the next few days because they are definitely non-scripta.

 

 A couple more flowers of the purest white in my back garden: Narcissus 'Thalia' and Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa). I would like to say I have carpets of them but in both cases the conditions don't seem to suit. Only a few of the original plantings have stood the test of time, nonetheless they come back year after year. 

 

 A white theme among the green shades in my back garden at the moment, though I didn't plant with that in mind. Above is Three-Cornered Leek (Allium triquetrum).

Intermediate Periwinkle (Vinca difformis)

Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)

White Comfrey (Symphytum orientale)

Honesty (Lunaria annua var. albiflora)

 

 Once upon a time my back garden in London was a particular theme of this diary. Life changes and other topics have come to the fore but it's still there and will continue to feature from time to time. 

 

Starting to see plenty of "weeds" and bees now that spring is well underway.

Postscript 4/04/26 Interesting article in today's Guardian noting that various indicators suggest this is our earliest spring on record (nesting birds, frogspawn, emergence of caterpillars and butterflies etc.) We have had several early springs in recent years so if this year is the earliest that is early indeed.

 

Into the distance.

 

Beehives and blossom.

 First butterfly I've seen this year. This is quite early to see a Red Admiral- they migrate from North Africa and the continent during spring and summer. Butterfly Conservation notes "There is an indication that numbers have increased in recent years and that overwintering has occurred in the far south of England".

 I suspect this one has indeed overwintered. The wing edges are rather raggedy which is characteristic of butterflies late in the season. And this one was decidedly sleepy, basking in the sun and not flitting away as I drew closer. Seen in Hitchin, Hertfordshire which is not that far south.

 

  We are having a particularly good spring for blossom which in March is mainly species in the Prunus genus. I don't know what variety of Plum this is but I know exactly what the plums will taste like. 

 A plum tree grew in our garden as a child, laden every summer with delicious fruit. As the years went by it slowly succumbed to age until only a hollow stump remained. Eventually that too fell over. But the root stock lived on and a decade or two later a spindly sapling appeared which prospered.

 One summer's day I noticed it bore a few plums and I plucked one. To my astonishment the taste and texture took me back in time and for that moment I was a child again. 

Feeling vernal: today is the Spring Equinox.

 

On a train to London, I want to be walking in those fields, hills and woods.