Adown the meadows green,
Let us dance and play,
And look for violets in the lane,
And ramble faraway,
To gather primrose,
That in the woodland grow,
And hunt for oxlips, or if yet,
The blades of bluebells show.
“The First Spring Morning” - Robert Seymour Bridges
There’s not a lot to beat a walk in a bluebell wood in May. We in Riseley are fortunate to have such woods on our doorstep but, should you want to see more, the Tree Council’s “Walk in the Woods month” starts on the first May Bank Holiday weekend. Information can be found at www.treecouncil.org.uk. The website lists what’s going on in woods around the country. For a shorter stroll, Ross Meadow is looking particularly lovely at the moment with trees unfurling, and dandelions, celandine and daisies carpeting the grass. The allotments are coming to life too and the W.I. garden, as always, is a spring delight. Some folk have commented on the gap in the nut grove. This is because one of the hazel bushes has been coppiced as part of a tree maintenance programme which has also seen some of the willows pollarded. They should all grow back strongly and live longer as a result.
In most areas, May is a particularly
beautiful month. In the animal kingdom it is the peak of the breeding
season. Everywhere nature engages in a frenzy of activity as life,
established and new, abounds. April has been unexpectedly cold and frosty— a
bit of a shock considering the glorious April we enjoyed last year. This
April has been good for keeping in check what we consider to be pests but
not so good for early nesting birds. Hopefully, May will give us warm days
filled with birdsong. What epitomises an English summer more that the call
of a cuckoo? The odd sunny day in April saw brimstone, orange tip~ and
peacock butterflies emerge to enjoy warmth and nectar. May sees wall brown
butterflies seeking brick or stone walls to bask on - hence their name. Like
other browns, the female lays her eggs on grasses; the species being
unimportant to her. The eggs are laid singly on the grass blades and, once
the caterpillars hatch, they hide deep in the tussocks by day and venture
out after dark to feed on the fresh growth.
Hedgehogs are active now and breeding; emerging at dusk to seek out food in herbaceous borders. These delightful urchins are natural pest controllers and very welcome in the garden. The hedgehogs that live in our corner of Riseley also like to visit our cats’ food dishes. We used to be visited by one who was so partial to cat food that it would trundle in while the moggies were still eating. They all knew better than to argue with it so the hedgehog always got a substantial meal.
The hedgerows in May are an absolute picture
with the hawthorn blossom and the froth of cow parsley. Cow parsley, (Anthriscus
sylvestris), also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, grows along the footpath at
the bottom of our garden and is a lovely summer sight although, in the
hedgerow is one thing; in the garden borders quite another as it spreads
like wildfire! I also have its blackleaved cultivar, (Anthriscus sylvestris
“ravenswing”) and there are pink relatives too. Both seed, but sparingly.
Some of the larger umbellifers, such as angelica, make a real statement; I
love the gold giants and the variety that! have recently acquired, the
spectacular red Angelica gigas.
Another delight in May is seeing thefem
fronds unfurling. I have many ferns; one of them, the Royal Fern, (Osmunda
regalis), is the biggest and boldest of our native kinds. When, in spring,
they first appear, the fronds are stiffly erect with a coiled, crosier-like
tip and are often flushed with bronze or purple making them highly
ornamental. The name Royal Fern comes from the Latin regalis, meaning
regal.
The derivation of the generic name Osmunda is less clear but there are a
host of theories; Maud Grieve, in “A Modern Herbal”, gives one of its Old
English names as “Osmund the Waterman”. It is also known as “Heart of Osmund”.
This particular source relates a legend that the wife and daughter of Osmund,
a Saxon waterman of Loch Tyne, took refuge among the ferns to evade
marauding Danes, A further theory claims derivation from the god Thor - also
known as Osmunder - while another claims its origin from the Latin words
“os” (meaning “bone”) and “mundo” (meaning “to cleanse”) in reference to its
medical uses. Apparently, the rhizomes were once used to treat jaundice,
rickets, wounds and dislocations. In
Scotland, the fern has been used
in brewing celtic heather ale! During the Victorian craze for planting
ferns, large numbers of wild Royal Ferns were dug up and planted in gardens
and conservatories. The chopped up roots of the ferns - known as osmunda
fibre - were used as a potting medium for orchids. The wild Royal Fern is
not common but can still be found in scattered locations such as bogs, fens
and wet woods on peaty or acidic soils.
Among my garden favourites are our bird
baths. I keep them all clean and topped up and enjoy watching all manner of
birds not only drinking but having a seemingly delightful splash about -
often 
with a queue of other birds waiting their turn. Currently, at the
front of our patch, building work is going on, (ten of the new Pilgrim
Housing properties going up in Riseley), and some of the birdlife in the
immediate vicinity seems to have been affected; it appears that our normally
resident pair of song thrushes have relocated - perhaps somewhere quieter -
and I haven’t seen the rather shy greater spotted woodpeckers for a while.
Let’s hope that the weather in the next month or two perks up and allows us all to enjoy our gardens and the lovely countryside around us.
