The Spring blooms are looking utterly resplendent this year, aglow in the bright sunshine and adorning every woodland and waste ground with their wild beauty.
Daises and dandelions make a happy trio.
Many things like the woodland bluebells have arrived earlier than usual with the warm weather.
They look particularly beautiful with the white blooms of stitchwort.
The sweet violets have all gone now but dog violets can still be seen. Unlike the sweet violet these have no taste so are not as valuable for medicine but are still deeply healing for their mucilaginous and clearing properties and for their faery like beauty.
Another flower long associated with the faery folk is cowslip, in fact they are thought to lead the way to the fairy realm. In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Ariel tells us “Where the bee sucks there suck I, In the cowslip’s bell I lie, There I crouch when owls do cry, On the bat’s back I do fly.”
Cowslip is a useful anti-spasmodic and helpful for nervous tension though be careful if you decide to harvest it from the wild as it is becoming endangered.
Lungwort and speedwell are another welcome sight. There are many different species of speedwell, below are the common field speedwell and the tiny but perfectly formed ivy leaved speedwell.
Forget-me-nots are one of my favourite sights at this time of year and the similarly flowered green alkanet which, though very invasive, is still lovely to see in great stands by the side of the road.
Finally all the dead nettles, or archangels as thy are attractively known, are out and looking lovely as ever. The only one I know that is used medicinally is the white dead nettle though Culpepper says all three have a beneficial action as astringents in staunching bleeding. I will report more on this after I’ve done a bit of research!
I hope the Spring flowers are brightening your day too.
Just gorgeous, Lucinda! So vibrant and beautiful, I feel I could reach out and touch them. How fun to be able to share in the spring display in your neck of the woods! Forget-me-nots are one my favorite flowers, and I’ve always wanted to experience the bluebells and now with your lovely picture I can 🙂
Finally, warmer weather has come our way, and spring is springing all around! The trees are all just starting to flower and bud out, and we went and harvested a nice batch of nettles today. I thought of you with my fingers tingling from all the stings!
Thanks for this wonderful dose of spring beauty!
XOXO D
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I’m glad it’s stopped snowing with you at last and you’re getting to enjoy some of the fruits of Spring. What did you do with your nettles?
The bluebell woods really are incredible at this time of year, like entering a faery realm. There’s something really amazing about having your entire field of vision flooded with that beautiful mauve/ blue colour.
xxxx
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So gorgeous, thanks for sharing this beatiful spring flowers with us.
Have a nice day – Rita
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Hey Lucinda 🙂
I did my latest blog post http://herbal-haven.co.uk/blog/2011/05/green-alkanet-a-dyeing-myth-part-1/ before I’d seen this post of yours honest! Where did you source the info about Green Alkanet being used as a red dye?
Such beautiful photos as ever, I can ‘feel’ the colour and the sunshine, maybe it’s because I’m called Deborah, but I can see the hues the bees see in the Speedwell, Lungwort and Forget-Me-Not photos, you’ve captured them so well.
Re your Yellow Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon) photo, it’s hard to tell from the leaves which one it is? I was stunned the other day to discover that the one I’d recently photographed and thought was our native Yellow Archangel is actually not a wild flower but a garden escapee Yellow Garden Archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdolon ssp argentatum, which has variegated silvery splashes on the leaves) ). I didn’t realise that there was also a species Lamiastrum galeobdolon ssp montanum that grows in the Pyrenees? I actually thought that Yellow Archangel had the silver splashes so was shocked to discover the native herby wild flower doesn’t!
Also the Purple/Red Archangel (Lamium purpureum) is found in lots of wild flower and herb books under another name Red Deadnettle, the young leaves are edible, excellent in stir frys and salads. Wherever I see it, it’s always a bee magnet.
Herby hugs – Debs xxx
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Ohhh and White Archangel (Lamium album) is aka White Deadnettle and as you’ll know from Cooking Weeds the leaves and flowers are edible, the flowers have a creamy sweet taste, lovely sprinkled on salads with some rosemary flowers yum! I’ll bugger off now 🙂
D x
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Hi Debs!
Tee hee, you caught me out. I’ve changed it now so as not to spread faulty info re the dying powers of green alkanet! I read that it had been used that way in one of my favourite wild flower books. I’m a bit sad to see that it carries some questionable info but it’s a good reminder to be discerning at all times.
I didn’t know there was a garden escapee of the yellow archangel but I’m fairly certain this is the native one – no spots and photographed in a very old woodland.
Yes, I generally see the white and red referred to as dead nettle but I thought I’d put in both the names here as these two are equally lovely as the yellow I think. I saw the recipes in Cooking Weeds but haven’t tried any yet, though I’ve been enjoying Rosemary flowers this year since you wrote about them.
Take care,
Lucinda xx
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just gorgeous! a true feast for the eyes and soul! xx
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