May Wildness

A Seasonal Celebration of the Land, Garden & Nature

Beginning of Summer, Warmer Days, Burgeoning Growth, 

Explosion of Green, Birdsong, Blossoming Potential, Darting Tadpoles. 

Issue 13 May 2020

Wild May

Wow it's suddenly turned so green out in the countryside. That rain we had has waved a verdant wand across the hedgerows, lanes, fields and woods near me. 

WILDNESS

The trees are all in leaf now with lots of zingy fresh green growth - Ash is the last to join the throng! I'm delighted that the lanes are filling with wildflowers too. Lots to notice and to photograph. 

Hawthorn is definitely one of the key plants of the month - indeed it's commonly referred to as May Blossom. It fills the hedgerows with a white froth, supported by white cow parsley and white elderflowers, later on in the month. 

"O magic sight, the hedge is white,

My scent is very sweet;

And lo, where I am come indeed,

The Spring and Summer meet."

- The Song of the May Fairy, Cicely Mary Barker

Hawthorn often grows as a craggy prickly shrub or tree, a stalwart of the English hedgerow and tough survivor of many a windblown moor. It's been grown here for thousands of years, used as dense hedging to keep people and animals out - or in! 

The delicate white blossom we are enjoying now, traditionally marks the arrival of summer and was important in pagan fertility rituals. The flowers often have a pretty flush of pink and emanate a sweet cloying smell which I really love - and many intensely dislike! 

Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata) is said to be the food of the heart and it's widely used to treat the heart and high blood pressure. Although it was the berries that were traditionally used for medicines, it's actually the flowers and the new leaves that contain most antioxidants. They were eaten as a snack in times gone by, nibbled straight off the tree. This is the origin of the hawthorn's other common name 'bread and cheese' - although I don't think it actually tastes of either!!! 

Dandelions are popping up everywhere now -  in the fields, verges or in your garden! Fat and golden. They are full of nectar and pollen for the insects and you may be surprised to know, full of vitamins and minerals for humans. 

Their name is said to derive from the French 'Dent de Lion' (lion tooth), describing the petal shape. I think the name dandy-lion is a great description of those bright yellow manes of petals and as a reference to the 'prides of lions' roaming across fields and verges right now.

It's easy to overlook dandelions as common weeds but they have a clever design. 

1. The flowerheads comprise hundreds of little blooms each of which matures to a seed and each of which has the familiar parachute (or pappus) we're used to seeing in dandelion clocks. The papus enables the seed to float long distances, giving it a greater chance of surviving away from competition. 

2. The tap root of the dandelion is long and very tough. If any of the root is left behind when the plant is removed, the dandelion will grow back - as any gardener weeding them from her lawn will tell you! 

3. The flat rosette of leaves on a dandelion is wide to get the most light in for photosynthesis. 

What a clever little weed!  

I think I'm a little bit obsessed with dandelions this year. I keep collecting them to harvest the petals - despite the old lore that they cause you to wet the bed! I can tell you a bowl of dandelion petals is so bright and joyful - real sunshine! I hope my photos give you an idea. I used the petals to make Dandelion Honey for the first time. It's runny and sweet and really gorgeous drizzled on homemade granola in the mornings. Meant to be filled with vitamins and antioxidants too. My recipe came from veganonboard.com

 PS: I can report that so far, wetting the bed has not been an issue!

May sees the peak of the dawn chorus. It's noisy as birds sing their hearts out to secure a mate and a territory. The rumpus can start as early as 3am as the male birds try to out sing one another. Apparently there is a predictable order to the rising throng. First to start are the blackbirds, then robins, wrens, song thrushes and chaffinches with the tree sparrows bringing up the rear. So if you're lying awake at 3am perhaps you can try and identify the different breeds - you never know it might have the same effect as counting sheep! 

 

Photo by Nicolas DC on Unsplash

Fox cubs are leaving their dens now and learning to hunt as their mothers start to give them more freedom. You might see them as night falls.

Returning swallows, swifts and house martins can be spotted in May. In fact I spotted my first swallow at the end of April.

Swifts take incredible migration journeys each year, travelling from their wintering grounds in Africa to the UK to breed in the summer. Sadly though swifts are in trouble - in the UK there's been a 57% decrease in their breeding numbers over the last 20 years. Swifts are now an amber-listed species.

Swifts return to the same spot every year to breed. They are notoriously picky when it comes to choosing their nest site, preferring gaps under roof tiles and eaves. The RSPB believes loss of nest sites is at least part of the reason we're seeing less birds.  Sealing up old buildings during renovation or demolished them means the swifts nesting sites are being lost or blocked.

You can help by putting up swift boxes under the eaves on your house ensuring a 5m clearance from the ground and in front of the box to give a clear flight path to and from the nest. The RPSB offers a specially designed swift nest box which you can buy from their shop at rspb.org.uk/shop. If you're undertaking any kind of new building work or an extension then you can add a swift brick into the fabric of the wall. Contact the RSPB has more details on swift bricks.

Keep well, breathe and remember to look outside and notice the details. 

At the moment we have a responsibility to stay home and avoid social contact outside of our families. However you decide to spend your days do try and get outside safely if you can - in your garden or on a balcony or taking your daily exercise outside away from others under big skies. 

Let me know what May highlights you spot and/or photograph.

If you have any questions you can reach me via my website www.plotgardendesign.co.uk and please follow/like PLOT Garden Design on social media to receive my seasonal updates and photo