Becky’s Squares photo challenge has returned.
This month’s theme is Renew. Or Burgeoning. Or Moving Forward. Or Reconstructing.
You get the idea.
Seeing the garden awaken after months of deluge made me think that maybe seeing how nature renews itself might be my theme. My garden is my happy place and it will, I’m sure, help me to move forward.
At the very back of my garden is a large area used for parking and where the oil tank and septic tank reside. Being in the countryside you have to accept that mains sewerage systems and gas are not available along with very slow broadband. Alongside one edge of this area is a Cornish hedge which when we moved in was simply full of grass, weeds such as brambles and nettles. Over the last few years I have attempted to reconstruct it with the hope of eventually getting more of the local wildflowers to establish themselves there.
This year I am happy to report that Red Campion and Cow Parsley have made it their home. I just need to relocate a few wild foxgloves now.
Folklore tells that red campion flowers guard bees’ honey stores, as well as protecting fairies from being discovered. Red Campion has long been a symbol of love and beauty. It has a wonderful range of old names, including plum pudding (Essex, Somerset and Suffolk), red Jane, or red wolf (Somerset) and the wonderful gramfer-greygles (Dorset).
As for cow parsley which is burgeoning in the lanes now in May, the tiny white flowers feel gentle and feminine as they float gently in the breeze. In Somerset, it used to be known as Gypsy curtains or Gypsy lace, and in Wiltshire it was known as moonlight. However there is a dark side to it. In Yorkshire cow parsley was known as Mother’s die, possibly because it is similar in appearance to the deadly hemlock and may be picked by mistake. My mother would never allow it in the house.
‘Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass.
All round our nest, far as the eye can pass,
Are golden kingcup-fields with silver edge
where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn-hedge.
‘Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass.Dante Gabriel Rossetti, (1828-1882).
Cornwall in Colours 
It’s interesting to read something of the back story of your garden. It really seems a fabulous place!
It’s been challenging. I just need to keep my eye on the hedge so the brambles don’t take over again.
Great post, I enjoyed it.
Thanks Andrew.
I could imagine you having all the silence you could want there, Jude. Yes, a couple of foxgloves would set it off nicely. Perhaps you’ll find some on your travels. Have a wonderful few days!
Plenty of foxgloves in the lane and even some wild ones in my garden, just need to scatter some seeds! As for silence…
🤔💜
Cattle, tractors, dogs, diggers, chainsaws, crows, rooks, doves, gulls…
Perfect peace, then! 🤣🩵
Great to hear about all the work you’ve done to make your garden so lovely.
I left this area to its own devices last year, seems to have paid off.
Hard work has it’s rewards Jude, fabulous.
Or no work in this case. After the sheep ate most of the plants I lost enthusiasm for the hedge and left it to its own devices.
That’s how I garden, except for the sheep bit. I have the occasional Wallaby grazer
It’s all coming along nicely. You’ve done a great job.
Mother Nature at her best.
I like this entry very much especially the description of the waving flowers.
Thank you.
I love that extract from Rosetti, Jude. Here it’s a good year for foxgloves. I hope some find their way to your hedge very soon. It looks beautiful as it is but you’re right – some foxgloves would be a strong addition.
I have some wild ones in the actual garden so I will scatter some seeds over the hedge and see if that works, or maybe next year relocate the ones that pop up.
oh you must be so pleased with how it is coming along – wonderful achievement. And I never knew about all the different names for cows parsley – I will have to see what name is used here in Bradford as whilst in Wiltshire the town has more Somerset leanings
Local names and folklore are interesting.
Our shrubs have started to get out of control this year, and I fear a day armed with the secateurs is beckoning. I am also hoping that my lawn-mower man shows up this week, as the lawn has grown so much in two weeks.
Best wishes, Pete. x
It’s all this rain, everything is shooting up.