I just saw Eliza’s post about World Bee Day, so felt compelled to post something before this day goes by unnoticed. Like Eliza, I ask all gardeners please not to use chemicals to get rid of weeds or pests. There is almost always a kinder alternative that will not harm pollinators.
This is my Peony ‘Claire de lune’ which opened yesterday, with a bee in her ruffles. 😃
Fascination of Plants Day is May 18th every year.
Steve, from ‘Portraits of Wildflowers‘, alerted me to this date the other day, which I must admit I had not heard of before. I don’t feel guilty about that though, as there is zero awareness of it in Germany. All the more reason for writing something to mark this day. 🌷
First, a definition:
The sixth international “Fascination of Plants Day” will be launched by plant scientists across the world under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO).
The goal of this activity is to get as many people as possible around the world fascinated by plants and enthused about the importance of plant science for agriculture and sustainable production of nutritious food, as well as for horticulture, forestry and the production of plant-based non-food products such as paper, timber, chemicals, energy and pharmaceuticals. The role of plants in environmental conservation is also a key message.
As a gardener and plant lover, I find plants fascinating full stop.
But as a vegan there is the additional interest because they form the basis of absolutely everything we eat. We substitute oat and soya drink for milk, coconut milk for cream, and use nut ‘milk’ for sauces. We eat products made with wheat, lupin, pea and soya protein. Amazing… meat alternatives made out of lupin protein… 😃
We consume leaves, fruits, roots and tubers, seeds, vegetable oils, pulses and grains.
Like many Germans, we heat with wood in the form of wooden pellets. We all wear clothes made of plant fibres.
And since becoming vegan I use far more herbs and spices for flavouring than before.
To put it in a nutshell, plants are our life, and not just for vegans!
But as I said, I am a plant lover at heart and the flowers that I grow fascinate me for so many reasons…
Their shapes..
Their resilience…
Hellebore on a frosty morning
A couple of hours later
The way they produce pollen and seed…
And their ingenious strategies for surviving…
For example, this year has been a mast year for spruce, which means they are producing more flowers/seed and hence pollen than usual, rather than putting their energy into new growth.
Spruce this spring
This is often considered to be a reaction to drought or disease; to reproduce as quickly as possible to preserve the species for the future. It does happen at irregular intervals regardless of climate or environmental conditions though.
Here a few fun facts I found while thinking about what to write for this post:
What fascinates you most of all about plants? And have you heard of this special day before? Maybe a botanical garden near you is marking this day in some way. Why not check and see. And if you know any unusual facts about plants, do share in the comments below! 😃
I will certainly be giving plants a bit more thought today while drinking my coffee, picking my radishes, or cooking some vegetable or other with herbs for dinner!
Have a great day and happy gardening!
This morning, as I was emptying the dishwasher first thing, I noticed the sparrows in the yard (they nest in the garage roof each year) were making even more of a din than usual. When I looked out I immediately knew why…. the house martins are back!
I can’t describe how happy that makes me, except to say that I opened the window with tears in my eyes and a broad grin on my face and called ‘Welcome Back!’ to them as they swooped up and down and around. 😃
Two flew up to the eaves a few times and another two followed. These are the first arrivals and they will wait for the others before moving back in and repairing or rebuilding their nests. I find it a small wonder that these tiny creatures manage to fly the thousands of kilometres from North Africa and then find their way back to where they nested last year, to us. 😊 Here is a link to a short video I made of them all a couple of summers ago:
Now to my vase… some lovely spring colours, with tulips, cowslips, narcissi and fennel.
As usual I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her Monday meme, where she invites us to share a vase of materials from our gardens. It’s a great way of keeping records of what was flowering when, as well as making the most of my flowers when it is too chilly to be outdoors.
The Actaea narcissi are so distinctive and that ‘eye’ goes perfectly with the Apricot Emperor tulips. They grow next to each other in the Herb Bed, by pure chance! 😉 A yellow one planted out from old pots was thrown in, along with the Narcissi ‘Cheerfulness’ and ‘Yellow Cheerfulness’, also growing in the Herb Bed. The feathery fennel foliage is more or less the only foliage I have in abundance as yet, and I love the airy result.
I used my Forsythia vase, which hadn’t been aired for a long time.
Many thanks to Cathy for hosting. And thank you for reading.
Have a great week, and happy gardening!
🌷🌷🌷
European Larch (Larix decidua)
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Spring has sprung and every day a few more flowers appear as if from nowhere. If I went out at night with a lamp I would probably be able to watch them growing! 😉
So a few cornus cuttings and some other lovely spring colour went into my current favourite vase trio.
Coltsfoot, Iris, Hellebores and my first tiny narcissus.
When the Coltsfoot flowers I know that spring is round the corner. It always turns up mid March here, and the first glimpse of it at the side of our lane makes me almost skip for joy! It is holding up well in the vase too, as I picked it on Sunday afternoon.
The hellebore is a ‘Prince Double White’ – one of my largest and healthiest in fact, but I have had to remove a lot of blackened leaves from all my hellebores this winter.
I haven’t been blogging much recently…. because I have been in the garden. 😁 Oh, it is so good to be working outdoors again, feeling the warmth of the sun on my back.
Tomorrow rain is forecast, so I will be catching up on the other vases linking in to Cathy’s meme at Rambling in the Garden. Thanks to Cathy, as always, for hosting! And Happy Gardening! 🌷
As I write it is still the last day of the year and we had some lovely warm sunshine today: 13°C!
So to ring out the old year here are a few pictures of my leisurely wander around the garden with Anouk this morning.
The blue sky and sunshine was a real treat…
This is the corner Anouk likes to inspect first every morning, as the hares come through the fence there…
Still a few rose hips left in the hedge…
And some morning mist across the meadow beyond our fence…
Anouk, checking for mice…
The buzzards often sit on the perches first thing to warm their wings in the sun… we put up several of these to encourage the birds of prey to help keep the mice population down.
The hellebores are in bud!
Can she smell Spring? (No, probably deer or hares!)
Wishing you all the very best for the new gardening year. Health, happiness and lots of flowers!
Happy New Year!
St. Lucy’s Day
A favourite Christmas carol of mine is ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, and when I picked up some Everlasting flowers today to brighten up the dark Hellebore in my tiny vase, this line popped into my head:
Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the EVERLASTING light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight
Well, as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden on one of the darkest days of the year, I will light a few candles and try to imagine what my damp and grey garden will look like in Spring! (There is always HOPE)
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Do pop over to Cathy’s blog to see what she has found in her garden to bring indoors. And I do hope your St. Lucy’s Day has been brighter than ours!
Words and Herbs 