There's a distinct lack of wild flowers around the village this spring so far. The long ditch all down the lane that had primroses has been dug out to help with drainage off the field.
Hopefully they'll come back sometime. Other places are just so muddy or splashed heavily with water from the roads that nothing much is growing.
All I spotted last week was a tiny patch of Celandines
Anywhere else I've lived these would have been too common to mention as they usually grow profusely on the edge of ditches.
In my book about the folklore of plants it says they were an human eye remedy. Pliny believed swallows used celandine to improve the eyesight of the young birds and it was sometimes called swallowwort.
Here's the Celandine fairy painting by Cecily Mary Barker from her Flower Fairy books
and her poem
Back Tomorrow - probably
Sue
It's sad that there is a lack of flowers. Hopefully they will grow back. I love the flower fairy image.
ReplyDeleteI love those flower fairy images too.
ReplyDeleteHere in rural Wales we are very fortunate that we still have lots of hedgerow flowers.
Alison in Wales x
It’s been very wet here in Lancashire. I’ve only seen one celandine flower so far…not even a clump. But a number of trees and shrubs are budding up and my rose on the porch has lovely fresh green leaves. Soon be Spring 🌷
ReplyDeleteI've always loved celandines. When we were little, there was a copse close by, just a little cluster of trees really with a few pathways through, and we children called it Celandine Wood because of all the celandines that flowered in the spring.
ReplyDeleteIt was perfect for playing Robin Hood and had a little natural 'den' at the back for a camp.
It's long since gone, sadly, and there are houses there now but such fond memories. xx
I too have noticed a distinct lack of our usual pretty visitors as yet around these parts...hopefully they will resurface soon.
ReplyDeleteThings do seem to be later this year.
ReplyDeleteI spotted the first Celandines of this year on yesterday's walk, such a joy to see them:)
ReplyDeleteI would guess they will come back along that ditch side. I don't go out now but there are a few under the hedge.in my garden. I wouldn't think of pulling them up - they are such a wonderful sign of Spring.
ReplyDeleteSuch pretty little things...
ReplyDeleteLovely flower fairy illustration and hope the celandines recover on the edge of the ditch. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI have sweet violets and a few daffodils blooming right now. It's such a treat to see a pop of color in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI don't know celandine. They're pretty and I love the illustration and poem!
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for all the comments above, I'm turning off the lap top early at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe disappearance of roadside flowers is disappointing. I remember seeing foxglove growing wild along roadsides in England and Scotland. The important ditch digging probably disturbed the wildflowers. Hopefully they will return next year. I struggle to grow many flowering plants due to deer over population and their voracious appetite. The forest wildflowers are nearly gone entirely. We need a natural predator to help manage the deer population. This combined with some hunting would save the deer from starvation and the wildflowers would continue to grow.
ReplyDeleteThat is sad to think that you're losing your wildflowers. For Colin and Cara's Christmas, I was able to order them some wildflowers seeds from a British Wildflower seed company.
ReplyDelete