Gilbert the Good in May 2023

 

Gilbert the Good in May 2023

Gilbert - what a good boy!

We have had sunshine recently so everyone has been out in the garden. Roxy was sunbathing and Herschel and Jellicoe were birdwatching but I was helping. I picked up the dead sticks and chewed them and then I pruned the forget-me-nots – they were delicious. Janice was a bit worried that they might not be good for me but when she looked them up she found they were edible and can be used in salads, so I’ve taught her something.

Gilbert and Roxy

I don’t like salads much, well, the lettuce part, anyway. I always try the lettuce but it doesn’t do anything for me. I like tomatoes and cucumber and peppers and I love carrots. Roxy and I have carrots every day, and Barry gives us each one Brazil nut a day. I like most human food but I’m not allowed dhal as it might be a bit too spicy for my stomach – that’s what the humans say, anyway.

I had an exciting time this week. I discovered a part of the garden I hadn’t seen before. I mean, I knew it was there and it was a pond, but I hadn’t had a proper look, because it had a fence all round it. The humans had to fence it when Frankie came to live here when he was very small. (He and Roxy grew up together.)

  Anyway, Barry left the gate open and I was able to go in and investigate. I had a paddle and laughed at the fish swimming away from me. I got duckweed on my nose but Janice didn’t have her camera so I can’t show you a photograph of how attractive I looked.

I went to have another look the next day and after that the humans decided that the gate latch needed to be repaired. Shame!

I’ve just seen a strange cat the other side of the cat fence. It looks like an Ocicat, like Herschel and Jellicoe and it was yowling.  Herschel and Jellicoe were facing up to it, brothers in arms, united in defence of their realm.

I’d better go. Arthur and Lottie are coming for a sleepover soon. That will be lots of fun!

TTFN

Gilbert

ABC Wednesday F is for . . .

Another traipse around the garden will lead you to a few things beginning with F.

We have Fish in our pond . . .

golden rudd

silver rudd

. . . Frogs.

In summer there are French marigolds (Tagetes patula) which would speak Spanish, or possibly Portuguese, if they could, rather than French as they are native to South America. Hoverflies love them. They are useful companion plants, the roots producing a substance that deters eelworms (form of nematodes) and repelling whitefly on tomatoes. Medicinally, a liquid concentrate from flowers and leaves is used in eastern cultures to treat nosebleeds.

Yellow dye from the flowers is used in food and textile colouring.

The flowers of Tagetes patula can also be harvested to extract the essential oil which is blended with sandalwood oil to produce ‘attar genda’, a perfume popular in India. In the west research is being conducted to determine the efficacy of the oil as an antifungal remedy, particularly for the treatment of candidiasis (thrush) and fungal diseases in plants.

French marigolds were brought to England by Huguenots (French Protestants) escaping from France after the massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572. Under the influence of the French queen, Catherine de Medici, Roman Catholic mobs killed tens of thousands of Huguenots.

Forget-me-nots (Myositis) bloom in the spring and early summer. They prefer moist growing conditions when they will self-seed readily.

You can find out more about them here.

Also flowering at the same time as Forget-me-nots is Firethorn (Pyracantha) With its strong, sharp thorns this plant can be grown as a very efficient barrier to intruders. In addition, it provides dense cover for roosting and nesting birds. 

The flowers are profuse, attracting myriads of bees, and are a valuable source of nectar in June when there is a dearth of nectar-producing plants. 

The berries are yellow, orange or red and provide a feast for birds during the colder months when there may not be much else for them to feed on.

The first Fuchsias were discovered in Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti) by a French monk and botanist called Charles Plumier. He gave them the name Fuchsia in honour of the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. Fuchsias are an important source of nectar, particularly for bumble bees. 

We plant them in hanging baskets but they can be grown as small shrubs or used for hedging. 

Click here to see more Fabulous Fs.

April is the cruellest month

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

From 'The Waste Land' 1: The Burial of the Dead T S Eliot (1888 - 1965)

I cannot agree with Eliot's sombre reflection.Certainly April is changeable, perverse and unpredictable in her habits,but when the sun shines and birds sing and buds unfurl into fresh green leaves and scented blossoms and delicate flowers it is a month to be lauded and applauded.

April violets - Viola - in the garden

We have never planted these in our garden but they appear each year and are spreading, to our great delight!

 

Dog violets - Viola riviniana -  in the forest today

(Pity they weren't Viola labradorica!!)

For me April is a soft and gentle month of new life and optimism, of a promise fulfilled and a pledge renewed that more is to come.

April's colours are subtle; there is not the extravagance of the summer flowers that bloom to excess, each brighter and showier than its neighbours to attract the butterflies and bees. Roses are overblown - forget-me-nots never!  

Forget-me-nots - Myosotis - appear every year, mostly blue, occasionally pink or white, they are pretty, unassuming little plants.

The last few days in my corner of the globe have been wonderful - warm, bright, breezy and loud with bird song. Already there are many butterflies and bees busily following their instincts and each day brings new delights as more almost forgotten beauties reveal themselves.

Exochorda - the Pearl Bush

Always at this time of year, almost unbidden, the choral piece 'All in the April evening' comes to my mind. I sang it as a girl at school and have always loved it. In this video it is sung by the  Glasgow Orpheus Choir.

Lily of the Valley - Convallaria majalis - comes twirling its way to the surface.

Honesty - Lunaria rediviva - is a biennial plant. Its flowers are usually purple, sometimes white and attract, bees, butterflies, moths and flies which pollinate them. Some of its popular names are Silver dollar, Penny flower, Moonwort. Flower arrangers like to use its papery silver seed heads in their displays.
April sun gladdens the heart and makes the spirit dance. The sap is rising and, as Alfred Lord Tennyson  (1809 - 1892) so aptly wrote, 'In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.'
More than 200 years earlier William Shakespeare (1564 -1616)  wrote 'verses' that appeared in 'As You Like It'. It has been suggested that the banality of the rhymes and lyrics was a deliberate ploy by the bard to show his playful side. The words have been set to music by a number of different composers. In the following video the work is sung to Thomas Morley's music. He was a contemporary of Shakespeare so perhaps his rendering is the most appropriate!
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