I never cease to be amazed by the wild flowers we have in England. When I travel to Spain or the Greek Islands in May or June, I’m always aware that I should visit in the spring, before the heat of the sun overpowers many of the wild flowers.
I enjoy watching the nigella flowers turning into striped, furry seed pods, & the pointed seed cases of the aquilega emerging. The flowers on the Elder are turning to berries, & the tiny white flowers on the cow parsley are now little seeds. Time to start collecting & drying these stems, ready to make some interesting, textured arrangements.
I was fortunate enough to be taken for walks as a child, & told the names of the flowers, insects & birds. But the flowers were always my favourite. I studied how they grew, & changed with the season, having good & bad years, depending on the weather.
As I got out of the car yesterday, I saw this beautiful seed head, so delicate in the sunshine. I poited it out to my friend, & she said, ” we called it Jack go to bed when we were children”. Like a huge dandelion, I would love to take it to London & put it in a bouquet tomorrow – but part of its beauty is its fragility. So it will remain in my garden until the wind blows the seeds to another place.
You will always find interesting additions from my foraging in bouquets at Stems.
Wild flowers in London
