Hey Blog! I’m back again. It’s just past the end of May, and as always, we have been doing No Mow May, or rather Too Lazy And Crazy To Mow All The Daisys, or whatever you want to call it. We like the garden messy and natural, but generally cut the grass in March and again in September, to get rid of the dead stuff and let the lawn grow. However, over the Summer, we leave it long (unless perhaps we have visitors coming to stay…).
We generally get a “crop” of Dandelions once in April and again in June; and while this is of some annoyance to the neighbours who have pristine gardens with no weeds that dare grow and perfectly planted flower beds, we love it! You may be interested to know that dandelions are named from the French Dent-de-lion, lion’s tooth, for the shape of the leaves. The real French name is Pisenlit, which when you know that lit is bed and en is in, reminds you of the laxative properties of this plant! There are a few clover plants that grow in the lawn, an endless summer attraction as you get to search for hours on end to find a four-leafed clover. I never have, as yet. In the former rockery, now an overgrown slope where primroses and wild strawberries fight for dominance and the right to show their flowers, we have the aforementioned flora, as well as several sapling birch trees, a large green bush which never bears fruit and we should probably remove in favour of a berry bush for winter birds. The Home Ed Shed takes up a portion of the garden, but even on the flint chippings we have three neat planters where vegetables might or might not grow, and a very large and heavy pot containing a rowan tree given me by Grandad, which is nearly as tall as I am and expected to grow even taller by the end of the summer. At the top end, there is a pond containing tadpoles from at least four clumps of frogspawn, surrounded by pea gravel and both natural plants and introduced native flowers. What was the area of bark chips when we moved in is now a large veg bed and an extraordinarily overgrown wild space, the one deliberate addition of which is a pine tree which for a few years was the Christmas Tree – before we moved on to mediaeval decoration and had holly and ivy branches up in bunches instead. At the final corner of the garden is Mum and Dad’s shed, with all the tools in, and the compost bins. As you can see, we have a “variety of habitat”!
However, there are a few flowers which we have not planted and have come into the garden later. There are five which are particularly beautiful, and these are they, in turn.
Flower number 1. The Orchid
This beautiful flower appeared last year in the lawn, underneath the bird table. It has long, pointed, spotty leaves, and a cone of flowers on the single stalk. The flowers are pinky-purple, and have three shallow lobes on the bottom part and a curving one on the top part. We think it could be a Common Spotted Orchid, but as they can easily hybridize with very similar species like the Northern, Southern or Early Marsh Orchid it is hard to tell for sure. It could even be an Early Purple Orchid. As the flower itself has not appeared yet this year, the picture is of the leaves.
Fun fact – ding ding – orchids rely on mycelium for vital nutrients; they cannot grow from seed without this symbiotic partner.
Flower number 2. Fox-and-cubs
This member of the dandelion family resembles its common cousin, but has a smaller flower head with squarer ends to the petals, and a thin hairy stem rather than the smooth, hollow stem of the dandelion. It is bright orange, and has several flowers on one stalk. The first flower to open, the largest and at the top, is the “fox” and all the smaller ones underneath it are the “cubs” – which is how they got their name.
Flower number 3. Cuckoo flower/Milkmaids/Lady’s-smock
This is a pale pink to creamy white flower, standing upright in the lawn, and has multiplied rapidly since we discovered it growing a few years back. It’s pretty to have in the garden, and is growing all over the place!
Flower number 4. Yellow Pimpernel
This relative of Scarlet Pimpernel looks almost identical except in colour, with small flowers on low-growing stalks which just brighten up the entire area. It has bright yellow flowers on pointed green leaves, and is a beautiful flower to cover the corner of the garden near the vole holes and around the pond.
Flower number 5. Granny’s Bonnet/Columbine
This flower migrated from next door, coming through the hedge and currently flowering all along the low wall where the small mammals live. It has blue-purple flowers on branching stems, which do vaguely resemble an old-fashioned lady’s hat. Flowers can be different coloured, especially as garden escapes. A quaint flower to decorate the garden border outside the window!
If you want to identify and learn about different flowers, I recommend Harrap’s Wild Flowers by Simon Harrap. This book is, in the words of Chris Pakham (nice job on Springwatch, by the way!) “an essential, concise, comprehensive yet accessible guid to our flora” – and it certainly is just that!