I intended to find primroses, violets and cowslips for my Easter Monday vase, because those, for me, are the flowers of my childhood Easter memories. Great big posies of primroses, picked along the towpath of the Basingstoke Canal in Hampshire, and violets and cowslips from the copse on my uncle's farm outside Odiham. But on a weekend walk my head was turned by the beaming golden face of a dandelion, and I thought that such an outstandingly beautiful flower deserved centre stage today. Beloved of bees, makers of wine in bygone days, cursed by lovers of an immaculate lawn, and time-tellers for young children as they blow the dandelion dock to let the parachute seeds be taken by the breeze, the dandelion has always been there in our lives somewhere.
The sage green rosettes are the young leaves of sea buckthorn and they sit alongside some decorative ivy leaves, tender young strands of tufted vetch and purple honesty.
The dandelion has many names. The Lost Words tells us that they have been known as lion's tooth, windblown, milkwitch, parachute and evening glow. What glorious names for a commonplace wild flower.
As it's Easter, I have a second offering. Our little Victoria plum tree has been vandalised by birds over the past few days. The grass beneath the tree is strewn with perfect flowers and buds - too good to waste. Here are a few, and I think they are perfection.
Happy Easter from the running wave! Stay at home, safe and well in these surreal times.
Dandelions certainly don't deserve their bad rep! And they do make a lovely addition to a vase, as yours proves. I love your plum tree rescues too. Best wishes to you, Amanda!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kris! I hope you and your household have enjoyed a peaceful Easter and no doubt much of it will have been spent in your lovely garden. How blessed we are to have the company of plants! Best wishes Amanda
DeleteYour vase really proves how attractive dandelion blooms are, in certain contexts (ironically, my plan for tomorrow is to vet the whole garden for dandelions and grub them up!) - what a glorious combination your choice of contents is. Sea buckthorn was a prime ingredient of one of the dishes on Masterchef last week! I wonder why the birds attack the plum tree? You have made good use of the blooms in your dish. Thanks for sharing today, Amanda
ReplyDeleteYes, the humble dandelion! I love its rich golden yellow. My beekeeping teacher pleaded with us not to turf out dandelions as they really are a wonderful source of food for bees! Just saying! The sea buckthorn berry is terrible sharp but I did once have a sea buckthorn souffle at Tom Kitchin's restaurant in Edinburgh, and it was yummy! Happy Easter Cathy, and stay safe and well. Amanda
DeleteVery beautiful flowers and I love the close -up photos. What camera did you use. All the best, stay safe. Karen x
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen! My camera is very humble! I usually use the intelligent auto setting on my Lumix Panasonic camera, quite an old model now. I really need to get a new camera. This one has all sorts of dust and dirt inside the sealed lens which can't always be edited out! I hope you have had a Happy Easter. Stay safe and well, and thank you for visiting the running wave. A x
DeleteA very pretty vase. The dandelion is a much overlooked flower. Stay safe and Carry on and keep walking.
ReplyDeleteLove
Sally x
I do love a dandelion, and even more so since I discovered how much bees love them too! A xx
DeleteGood for you, including a dandelion in your vase, and aren‘t they pretty! Just goes to show that we should give weeds some praise occasionally. (But not too much or they will take over!) ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathy! I have to admit that wild flowers are my passion, probably more than garden flowers, so very happy to involve them in my Monday vases when I can! After such a long and dreary winter it is such a joy to see all these beautiful flower faces again. I hope you stay safe and well. A
Delete