Tag Archives: #FloralFriday

Spring messenger

16 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

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180216 Lesser celandine (1)

Not only was it the favourite flower of William Wordsworth (who wrote three poems about it) and considered to be a herbal remedy for haemorrhoids (due to the shape of its roots), but the pretty Lesser celandine (was Ranunculus ficaria, now Ficaria verna) is one of the first floral heralds of spring.

The flowers are supposed to appear around the same time that the Swallows arrive back in Britain (hence the name Celandine, which comes from the Greek chelidon, meaning Swallow) (flower and bird are out of sync this year, though) so we need to keep our eyes on the skies, as well as on the ground.

180216 Lesser celandine (4)

‘Like a flight of butterflies’

13 Friday Oct 2017

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171013 Cyclamen (3)

‘… a cyclamen that looks like a flight of butterflies, frozen for a single, exquisite moment in the white heart of Time …’ ~ Beverley Nichols, Down the Garden Path, 1931

As you may have guessed, this is not a wild cyclamen but rather one of my houseplants. I bought it in flower back in February and it has just started flowering again. I actually have two this colour – the other has buds but they’re not yet open, and another cyclamen that has white blooms, also in bud. I love the little burst of colour they bring to my bedroom windowsill.

Purr-plish

07 Friday Jul 2017

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For those of you who are not overly fond of yellow flowers – you know who you are! – I’ve been out and about looking for other hues, and the result this Floral Friday is a selection of blooms in shades of pink, lilac and purple. The flowers include Betony (Stachys officinalis), Bush vetch (Vicia sepium), Centaury (Centaurium erythraea), Devil’s-bit scabious (Succisa pratensis), Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica), Herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum), Red clover (Trifolium pratense), Common restharrow (Ononis repens), Rosebay willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium), Tufted vetch (Vicia cracca) and a couple of thistley thingies. Enjoy!

The phenomenal poppy

19 Friday May 2017

Posted by in flowers, nature, nature photography

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170519 poppy

For Floral Friday this week, a most remarkable flower. Did you know
> a single poppy seed head contains 1000 seeds and each plant can have as many as 20 heads?
> of those 20,000 seeds as many as 85% (that’s 17,000) seeds will germinate if conditions are right?
> prior to farmers using chemical weedkillers, a one-acre cornfield could potentially have contained 100 million dormant seeds?

Facts garnered from Richard Mabey, Weeds: How vagabond plants gatecrashed and changed the way we think about nature (Profile Books, London, 2010), a most fascinating read.

Hydrangeas and heartbeats

16 Friday Sep 2016

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I mentioned to a co-worker that I was going to Bute Park to take photos of hydrangeas after I’d finished my voluntary work and got this response: ‘Hydrangeas? Bleh! They’re so boring!’ Well, I beg to differ.

160916-hydrangea-1

Not only are they relatively hardy and widespread around the world, they also come in a range of gorgeous colours (whites, blues, pinks and purples and every shade in between) and forms (shrubs, small trees and even climbers).

They are much loved plants in Asian countries, where a tea made from one particular variety, Hydrangea serrata, features in celebrations for Buddha’s birthday on 8 April – the tea is both poured over statues of Buddha and consumed by those attending the ceremonies. And, as with many flowers, the pink hydrangea has a range of special meanings, the loveliest of which I think is ‘You are the beat of my heart’. What could be more special than that?

160916-hydrangea-8

 

Floral Friday: Waterlilies

01 Friday Jul 2016

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What a week of doom and gloom this has been! From the disastrous political events in Britain, which have in turn triggered economic and financial difficulties around the globe, to the tragedy of the bombings in Istanbul, it seems there has been little to celebrate. So, to finish the working week, I think we need a celebration of flowers. May their beauty bring a little joy, peace and tranquility to your world today.