#celandine

While Algy was resting peacefully in the sunshine, engrossed in reading his wee book of poetry, he noticed a tickling sensation on his left wing, and when he turned his head to investigate, he found that a beautiful bumblebee had come to visit him (can you see it?).

The bee climbed up on to his shoulder, and Algy was surprised to hear it whisper a short poem in his ear, in a gentle, buzzing sort of way. So Algy listened carefully, but when it had finished he assured the bee that in fact there was plenty of clover in the garden, and he was delighted that the bee was there with him, for he much preferred its company to revery alone:

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee. And revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few.

Plant of the Day

Friday 25 April 2025

The small, spring flowering Ficaria verna 'Flore Pleno' (double celandine) is useful for under-planting trees and shrubs, alongside a hedge or on the edge of a meadow. Plants die back to tiny tubers in May and reappear in January. Plants will naturalise in most soils as long as it isn't permanently waterlogged and have good drought resistance once established.

✨Southdowns Cottage crumbs✨

woodsman1776

A mid-November Sunday walk began on Hangingroyd Close, where residents stood in the middle of the road tutting at recent tree surgery. The Buttress busy with weekenders, an unsuitably attired couple carrying shopping bags confoundedly climbed a dodgy incline the other side of Lee Wood Road. Down the winding lane, mushy fungi invaded felled trunks while scarlet holly berries and flourishing…