April 26th – The cowslips on Clayhanger Common are beautiful too, and being my favourite flowers of all, it’s great to see them so healthy and profuse.
That one particular flowerhead is a stunner.
This spot is where I spread cowslip seed from my pockets in 2014. Nice to see it took hold.
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April 9th – Another welcome sight indicating the ever-rolling season’s wheel are cowslips, my favourite flower in the whole world.
Cowslips were very, very unusual when I was a kid. These days they grow everywhere like weeds – and I collect the seeds when they go over and spread them anywhere I think needs a bit of yellow in the spring. And there are very few places that don’t benefit from a bit of yellow.
These hardy but delicate looking members of the primrose family are scattered over Clayhanger common – many from the result of my guerrilla seeding – and are truly divine. I love them.
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April 29th – Another grey, bitterly cold day and it’s nearly May, it really is about time the weather picked up a bit. Hopefully the coming bank holiday weekend will be better.
I nipped out mid afternoon for a circuit of Chasewater, and found little to inspire, but I did spot the amazing carpet of cowslips on the dam at Chasewater which are actually remarkable. The steep slope here seems to be liked by a couple of flowers – these yellow beauties and also ox-eye daisies who often proliferate here.
Returning via the south shore I did smile at the coot contentedly nesting near the boardwalk. It’s nice to see that spring goes on, despite the greyness of the weather.
July 17th – Time for my annual botanically subversive mission: spreading the cowslip love.
After the usual delightful display in the spring, my favourite flowers have finally started to seed. I carefully collect the seed heads in a bag, shaking the seeds into it.
When I have plenty, I carefully spread the seeds on hedgerows, verges and anywhere that would benefit from springtime cowslips.
Guerilla seeding. Do something pretty while you can.
April 24th – A very cold day once more with periodic rain and sun, so typically April, really; I keep forgetting it’s so early in the year. However, as I passed Clayhanger bridge in the early evening, a patch of cowslips I’m fairly certain are there due to my previous guerrilla seeding forays, and it’s wonderful to see such beautiful delicate softness against the harshness of the traffic barrier.
Mission accomplished, I think.
April 16th – At Chasewater, someone has designed and implemented a cunning Bob-trap, by planting the dam with my all time favourite flowers: Cowslips.
On this grey, showery afternoon without much to commend it, the sight of thousands of these bright yellow blooms forming a veritable carpet was a joy to the heart.
When I was a kid, you couldn’t find a cowslip for love nor money, and I feared they’d die out: now, thanks to seeding like this and the odd bit of guerrilla activity (cough) they greet me everywhere.
Do get over and see it if you can: my images really don’t do it justice.
My compliments and thanks to whoever did this. You made a man very happy today.
July 27th – It’s the time of year when I dread getting stopped by the police.
The cowslips I loved so much in the spring are now seeding, and I have in my pocket a growing bag of little black seeds, like these. I pluck a seed head or two from each clump (careful to leave enough to seed next year), and collect the wee black dots that shake out.
When I have a decent quantity, I’ll spread a few new patches in barren spots or places that would benefit from a little cowslip love.
These flowers cheer me so much, it’s like repaying my debt to them. I invite you to do the same.
April 24th – Commuting in spring is a joy. Sod the traffic, taking 10 minutes extra and hopping on the canal, or taking a backway rather than the main road provides all manner of rewards. From the beautiful deep pink blossom in Shelfield, to my first set of mallard ducklings at Bentley Bridge, to the guerrilla seeded cowslips on the bank of Clayhanger Bridge the ride is full of contrasts: colour, life and sound.
Gorgeous.
April 17th – Cowslips everywhere this year. From a rarity 15 years ago to being all over everywhere like a cheap suit, these wee, delicate primroses come in a whole variety of subtly different forms, and are just crying out for attention.
My favourite flowers, without a doubt. Go find some and take a look for yourself. Wonderful little things.
May 13th – Not a great day. Over to Telford early, then back to Tyseley. Transport worked well, but I didn’t get much done. The journeys were perpetually under the threat of rain – which largely went unfulfilled, thankfully. But there was sun. And spring. In Telford, a row of ornamental cherry tress provided a cascade of blossom. The canal cutting from Galton Bridge station where I changed trains was an emerald delight. Cowslips were quietly rioting in yellow on the embankment of Clayhanger Bridge.
Industrial environments aren’t what they used to be. Thank goodness.
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