I'm A Wildflower ~ What Are You?

Hello Friends ~~~

June is upon us ~~~ how did that happen?

I'm giddy with delight ~ it's taken me a long, long time to realise this, but I am a Wildflower! 

How did I come to this? Well, it is simple ~~~ if you know me well, then you will know I'm a wild child and free spirit at heart.  I love nothing better than being out in the countryside, traipsing the byways and hidden paths across the Shire where I live ~ the further away from so called civilisation the better! Although I have cultivated flowering shrubs and perennials in my garden, few things make my heart sing more loudly, or my face smile more broadly, than seeing a wildflower freely give of itself by sowing it’s seed and growing in my garden. It gladdens my heart, spirit and soul to the end of time.

Of course, that all of these natives are of great benefit to bees is icing on the cake, but would you believe me if I tell you that a fortnight or so ago one of my neighbours asked me if I wouldn't mind deadheading the dandelions!  I think you will know what my answer was, that is after I'd recovered from the question!

Please, don’t misunderstand me, I love the perennials and annuals that grow and flower in my garden, and I will always grow them, but it is the wildflowers, the natives, that bring me more pleasure than most {of course, my heart also belongs to sunflowers, lavender, and roses too!}

Right now, my garden is burgeoning into bloom after that ‘green period’ that comes between spring and summer. The rosa rugosa are bold and blousy splashes of deep pink with their saucer sized and deeply fragrant blooms; the hydrangea “Glam Rock” are teasing me daily with progress towards the first fully open flower head; pinks fragrantly flower in cushions, sitting alongside mounds of pink geraniums; Oriental poppies are keeping their buds tightly closed waiting for the first rays of warm sunshine as we sit in a murky mire of days of a stubborn and chilly sea fog; quaking grasses quake and shake across the garden, and every which way I turn there is something putting in its annual appearance, which is confusing because they are all perennials!

 Amongst all these God~given beauties I find the true beauties ~ the wildflowers ~ foxgloves, valerian, native ferns, wild carrot, Alexanders, dandelions, herb Robert, daisies, buttercups, milkmaid's smock, toadflax, and even those aforementioned pinks which, at one time, were wildflowers on the near continent that arrived in this country with the Normans and became cultivated. My list goes on, and every time I find a new wildflower arriving in my garden I welcome it with open arms indeed! 

Milkmaid's Smock

Two Native Ferns

Herb Robert

Stinging Nettle

Mullein

Valerian

Toadflax

Foxglove

Buttercups

 My spirit is wildflower, for as a child I spent many hours traipsing along the lanes and byways in the countryside, accompanied by my Nanna ~ a not inconsiderable gardener herself ~ who taught me all the names of native wildflowers and grasses that decorated the hedgerows along our way ~~~ before I began school I could name every plant, grass and tree around my home  and I had scrapbooks filled with pressed and dried wildflowers, grasses and leaves, all stuck firmly in place with that scourge of all early scrapbooks ~ Sellotape!

Nothing makes me happier than to be in the company of wildflowers; it is a connection to something so deep in my soul that words cannot express that feeling of deepest joy, but those of you who have something that brings that feeling to your own soul will know of what I speak.

  

I have decided that I am going to encourage more, many, many more native wildflowers into my garden, so I shall be looking out for seed packets, maybe harvest some on a walk, or buy some ready grown plants from Wiggly Wigglers who specialise in wildflowers for bees and wildlife. I may even plant a small section of native hedging ~ who knows what this wildflower will get up to next! 

Until next time ~~~

~~~Deborah xo