Brian's Nature Diary for February 2008
‘February fill-dyke’, meaning a wet month in store for us. That was the view of folk in the past, and the forecast tells us we are indeed in for a rainy time. But the days are getting longer, and between times the sun seems to be summoning just a little strength to warm my ancient bones. Snowdrops are widespread, and the spiky leaves of daffodils have long since thrust themselves clear of the leafmould. Before many days have passed they will burst forth into a sufeit of gold, a delight to all. Let us hope that no nights of severe cold come along to turn them to a shrivelled brown.
A walk along the lanes showed me the glossy leaves of wild arum or cuckoo pint in the shelter of the hedgerow. It will not be long before its strange flowers, wearing their protective sheaths, will be clear of the ground. The feathery foliage of Queen Anne’s lace has laid patiently in waiting since last autumn, and it, too, has started into growth. Its clear white, lacy umbels of flowers, from which it gets its name, will not wait for much longer. By the way, this abundant wild flower is known hereabouts as keck, and where that name came from I have no idea.
The incredibly beautiful flowers of aconite, burnished gold with an extravagant frill of green, have been out for some days in the local pocket park. Not strictly native, they have escaped or been planted in the wild for long enough for the identification guides to recognize them. Alongside them the much smaller yellow stars of lesser celandine hide amongst the new growth. To our ancestors this was the pilewort, because they thought the little white nodules on its roots signed its use in treating painful piles. It is not found in the excellent modern herbal by Dr John Lust, so I think it must be one of the many plants that have been discarded by present-day practitioners. But it is a neat pretty plant, well worth keeping an eye out for along the wayside.
Another plant that puts in an early appearance, especially in many gardens, is the bitter-cress. Only a few inches high, with tiny leaves and little four-petalled white flowers, it spreads like wildfire if given the chance. I make a token attempt to control it – by eating it. Being a member of the cabbage family it is perfectly safe to eat. It has a taste something like a cross between watercress and radish, and is a welcome if somewhat fiddly addition to spring salads.
This is an exciting time for Dave, Jane, and I at Country Eye. Not only are we in the throes of re-developing our website, for which we beg your patience, but we are soon to launch an entirely new series of greetings cards, in which we aim to revive the ancient language of flowers. Strict meanings, widely understood among our forbears, were given to all our common flowers, so a precise message could be delivered through its image. So we hope our new series will help our customers to convey their feelings in a very special and more personal manner.
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