Tag: bay

#365daysofbiking Herbivore

July 15th – The flowers continue to appear daily. Rosebay willowherb is the latest – a beautiful, tall weed, it paints wasteland, hedgerows, scrubs and derelict land with a beautiful hade of purple, complimenting the buddleia which it competes against for light and space.

In a few weeks it will seed with fluffy, wind-born seeds that float on the breeze and were locally known as ‘fairies’ when I was a kid, hence it’s colloquial name ‘Old man’s beard’.

We really should look more closely at the plants we dismiss as weeds.

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#365daysofbiking The rising

 

February 10th – A real four seasons in one day experience, with rain, snow, hail and bright warm sunshine that made for a great afternoon at Chasewater. From the snowdrop glade near the derelict dam house to the view over the fields from the canal to Hammerwich, they day was just bursting with spring.

The water level is rising fast now too, with Fly Creek and the feed from Jeffrey’s swag now enlarged by recent rains.

This spring thing. It’s happening. And most welcome it is too.

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June 28th – One of the plants that’s commonly considered a nuisance and confined to edge lands and waste ground is rose bay willowherb, or old man’s beard.I’ve always felt the scorn for this violet midsummer trooper was unfair, as it’s another beautiful weed.

Fast growing with well-recognised wind-borne seeds, this tall plant is seen in hedgerows and other land that goes untended. It has a beautiful smell and adds a lovely purple tinge to otherwise dull spaces.

I’ll get you all looking at your weeds in a new light if it kills me…

August 13th – A bit better today, and I’m on the mend, and out and about earlier. Time I note for another periodic explanation…

This isn’t pollution at Catshill Junction, or anywhere else it’s happening. This time the scum film at wind traps and bends on the canal is caused by rose bay willow herb plants, which are currently going to seed and producing oodles of the white fluff. 

Just like the sallow earlier in the year, it looks horrid as the chaff and hairy detritus forms a film on the water – but it’ll soon be gone.

Another curious little marker of the passing seasons.

July 8th – Another tick in the arrivals list for midsummer was added today: rose bay willow herb, or old man’s beard. I had to nip into Great Bridge from Darlaston, and spotted this interesting blue-finger variant on some waste ground. It’ll be a rash of colour for a few weeks, then fill the air with floating seeds.

Apparently, the leaves make a decent tea, and once skinned, you can bake and eat the roots. It’s a fascinating plant, but one that dwells on the fringes and is sadly ignored by most folk.

July 2nd – The onward march of summer means more purples – the urban wasteland warriors that are willowherb and buddleia come into bloom around now. This willowherb – or old man’s beard – is growing well at Telford Station near the overpass, and is a welcome splash of colour in an otherwise dull patch of scrub.

After flowering, this tall, distinctive and very common wasteland plant forms wind-borne seeds that will drift on the breeze and fill the station with white fluff.

Good for birds and butterflies, both plants grow well in urban areas and spots either beyond the reach of man, or out of his sight. They are a testament to the tenacity of nature.

July 16th – Another steady click in the escapement of summer, the willow herb is in flower. This tall plant with soft purple flowers is the king of the margins, the scrub and wastelands. It grows in any neglected spot, requires little from the ground, and spreads via familiar late-summer wind borne seeds often called ‘fairies’ by kids. The seeds are fluffily and white, and give rise to the colloquial name ‘Old man’s beard’. 

This part of summer is all about the transition from the yellows of spring to the blues, pinks and purples of high and late summer; nightshade, foxglove, lupins, buddleia, vetch, Himalayan balsam.

Right now, every day is a delight of new flowering.

July 30th – One of the colours of a summer at it’s peak is the deep purple of rosebay willowherb, or old man’s beard. Familiar to many due to it’s floating, fluffy airborne seeds, it occupies hedgerows, thickets and waste ground where it grows in profusion in the poorest soils. Here, at Lynn Lane in Stonnall, it’s well in bloom now, and will soon be seeding. For now though, this delightful flower is alive with bees, wasps, butterflies and all  manner of winged insects.