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.

May’s Full Moon

'Full Moon over Kilauea' by Jules Tavernier  - oil on canvas 1887

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Child Moon

The child's wonder

At the old moon

Comes back nightly.

She points her finger

To the far silent yellow thing

Shining through the branches

Filtering on the leaves a golden sand,

Crying with her little tongue, 'See the moon!'

And in her bed fading to sleep

With babblings of the moon on her little mouth.

Carl Sandburg 1878 – 1967

Quite why May's New Moon should be called the 'Milk Moon' I don't know. Could it be that it coincides with the cows being turned out to pasture from their winter quarters? I think they may go out earlier so perhaps by May the milk is reflecting the benefits of fresh Spring grass.
I can understand the moon being called the 'Planting Moon' for May is the month in which many seeds are planted though I suspect it may derive from farming lore. We did a lot of planting a few days ago and already the flowering plants have put their feet down and lifted their heads and many of the seeds are germinating. The goldfish and rudd in the pond are becoming very active, racing to the surface for their food and flicking their tails to dive again, so a different sort of planting will be taking place soon – or rather a sowing of seed. Not much of the spawn survives – it is laid and then eaten by the prospective parents, the resident frogs and newts, developing dragonfly larvae (these somewhat unattractive creatures are known as 'nymphs' – isn't that picturesque?) and visiting crows and magpies. Those few eggs that go on to hatch must still elude the snapping jaws of the community they hope one day to join. We usually see two or three baby fish each year and there is little fear of the pond being choked with half-starved fish - the numbers have not increased dramatically over the years.
'Flower Moon' is an equally appropriate name for the May full moon. The garden is alive with colourful blooms and a thousand buds foretell the blaze that will erupt in June.