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“Beneath the sun I dance and play, in April and in merry May”
(from The Song of the Cowslip Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker)
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The winds of March are keen and cold;
I fear them not, for I am bold.
I wait not for my leaves to grow;
They follow after: they are slow.
My yellow blooms are brave and bright;
I greet the Spring with all my might.
(by Cicely Mary Barker)
I only saw a couple of these beauties in March, barely open. The one above was March 2012, and the ones photographed below on April 1st 2013 were still quite small. They certainly need all their might this Spring!
The name (Huflattich in German) comes from their hoof-shaped leaves that appear later and grow to a tremendous size. They can be used in all sorts of herbal remedies, including cough sweets; the “tussilago” part of the name comes from the Latin for “suppressing a cough”. (Ever heard of “Coltsfoot Rock“?)
The next photo is not too clear as the forest floor was quite dim, but here you can see the flower head in more detail - pollinating insects crawl over the tiny little male florets within the bloom which contain nectar and give off pollen, then they fly to the next flower and use the female outer ray petals for landing, where pollen is brushed over the stigmas. Normally the Coltsfoot is an important early source of nectar and pollen for bees, but I have only seen one bee this year so far. However, the outer petals close over the central florets in wet and cloudy weather, and the plant therefore also self-pollinates. Double safe!
Do you see this plant in your part of the world?
(And if anyone has some better photos of the flower head, I’d love to see them!)
Today’s picture…
No sunshine, yet much brighter this week. Just so you can see that the sun DOES come out here occasionally though, the next photo was taken at 8.30 am last Wednesday…
And here are the last snowy tracks of the winter perhaps…
Big Grey Dog
Squirrel
Small Brown/White Dog
Squirrel and Blackbird
The snow is melting, and today I briefly smelt the pine needles for the first time in weeks… a good sign!
I have been thinking a lot about moles recently (see my post from Saturday!), and remembered Jasper Carrott’s story…
Have a good laugh!
I started re-reading “The Wind in the Willows” on Monday, and really envy Mole’s joy, in chapter one, at the onset of spring…
‘Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said “Bother”‘ and “O blow!” and also “Hang spring-cleaning!” and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously…. he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, “Up we go! Up we go!” till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.’
Then I went out into the garden and saw this. Oh my!
The next afternoon another hill appeared. And on Friday morning this is what I saw…
Oh my! Oh my! (as Mole was known to say)….
