Tag: primrose

January 9th – Out for a spin around Stonnall before the rains came again, I spotted another sign of the odd season. The sign announcing one’s entry to Stonnall out by the church has a planter at its base; in the planter, a variety of flowers are in bloom, including heather, ornamental daisies and primroses. I have no idea what the plant is with the orange, marble-sized fruits, but it looks familiar and is very attractive.

A nice dash of colour on a grey day – my compliments to the folk who tend these lovely village features.

May 11th – Cowslips are my favourite flowers. When I was a kid, these dainty little primroses were rarely seen in the area, yet thanks to wildflower planting campaigns, they’ve really got a strong foothold back in the local ecosystem. 

I love to see them, and this year they’ve lasted for weeks in the mild, dry spring; only now are they starting to go over; and even in that, they’re beautiful.

There may be bolder, bigger flowers – but you can’t match the cowslip for effort.

May 4th – A run out in the afternoon didn’t reward me with the good weather I was expecting. It was lightly sunny (but mostly overcast), but not terribly warm, and whilst the day wasn’t the big, bad wolf of yesterday, it still had lupine tendencies.

I went out to Hints to explore the Black Brook Valley which I hadn’t done for years. On the way, I spotted a wealth of bright spring flowers.

The weather may not have been brilliant, but these certainly made up for it.

April 11th – A short trip to Chasewater on an unpleasantly windy day was rewarded with the realisation that I’d had a guerrilla-planting success: last autumn, I scattered a load of wild cowslip seeds at Anglesey Basin: this year, a pleasant patch of my favourite flowers.

If we enjoy these things, help them out by spreading the love. I collect seed heads in little bags and spread them on wasteland and verges, then enjoy the results.

Wild flower power!

July 13th – A vitally important mission begins.

These are the seed heads of my favourite flowers, cowslips, and the wee dots the seeds themselves. For the next few weeks, I’ll potter around anywhere I saw cowslips in spring, looking for the seeding plant. I’ll gently collect a little pot of seeds, and then spread them on land where it would be nice to see some in spring (praying I don’t get pulled by the coppers in the meantime).

It’s how most of the cowslips got on Clayhanger Common in the first place. I’m rather proud of that.

Guerilla planting is a random act of natural kindness. Do it now.

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.

April 23rd – To be in England, in the springtime. I had to go to Leicester, and the patch of waste ground that so enthrals me at South Wigston Station was, as ever, a joy to the heart. Beebuzz and birdsong greeted me as I hefted my bike of the train in the bright, warm sun; peacock butterflies flitted about the lush flowers. Grape Hyacinth, primrose, gorse, dandelion. Performing for me, in this moment, in the middle of urban sprawl. A small wayside oasis, hardly noticed by anyone.

It doesn’t get much better than this.

April 17th – Cowslips are my favourite wildflower, and thankfully, proliferating once more, despite their apparent appeal to rabbits, who devour them with gusto. They are actually a type of primrose, and I love their delicate flowers and hardy, resilient tenacity. These two patches on Clayhanger Common I guerrilla planted a few years ago, from a pack of wildflower seeds bought from a National Trust shop.