Inspired by Carmen’s soothing blog about her daily walks, I thought I would go for a walk of my own – round my garden. Usually, I’m so busy doing things to my garden that I rarely notice what is in it! So, I took a gentle stroll along the borders and found a few surprises!
A snake’s head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris). Who knew? I found it squeezed behind some other plants. I can’t remember planting it or indeed seeing it before. How could I have missed such a delight? A little research into this plant told me it is also known as, chess flower, frog cup, leper lily, Lazarus bell and it is the official flower of the Swedish province of Uppland, where it grows in great quantities.
The next surprise was a Red Admiral butterfly on a clump of primroses (Primula vulgaris). Other names for the primrose include butter rose, Easter rose, lent rose and it symbolises femininity, youth, new beginnings and innocence. Apparently, the 19th of April is, Primrose Day. Oh, and the butterfly? The Red Admiral is definitely out and about in early spring.
A splash of blue drew my attention and I was pleased to see that last year’s indoor hyacinth bulbs, (Hyacinthus asparagaceae) were actually flourishing out of doors. I had more or less flung the bulbs in, not really expecting anything to come of them. How wrong I was. If you know your poetry, you’ll be familiar with the hyacinth girl who makes an appearance early on in T.S. Eliot’s, The Waste Land. The Greek myth tells of the flower having grown up from the blood of a youth by the name of, Hyakinthos, accidently killed by the god, Zephyr.
I had to look really closely to notice the delicate white blossom on our plum tree (Prunus domestica). The variety is Rivers’ Early Prolific and we chose it because it doesn’t grow very tall, does well in shade and can tolerate most soils. The blossom is good for bees and I did hear one near the tree but my skill with the camera wasn’t good enough to catch it on film. Bees, of course, are to be encouraged in our gardens so it’s good to know our plum blossom can provide some early pollen.
Possibly my favourite flower, the forget me not, (Myosotis sylvatica) was known in Ancient Greece as the ‘mouse’s ear’. I was given this plant by one of my friends and it reminds me of her, and her lovely Edinburgh garden. She has creatively made part of her plot over to a Sissinghurst-style white flower garden. I think, swapping plants with pals are lovely mementoes of our shared friendship.
My stroll, complete with cup of tea, of course, was a lovely distraction. Now it’s back to ‘doing’. My tatties and onions have been sprouting nicely in egg boxes on the garage window sill and as my dear old farmer dad would have said – they winna plant themselves!
Lovely post Kathleen. Great to share the joys of someone else’s spring garden. Jessie