Each year, Northumbria in Bloom runs a campaign to recognise, encourage and reward community groups who work together to transform their environment through gardening, environmental awareness and community support (see County Councillor Report (Aug 2023)).
One of my favourite things to do is to go for a walk along the River Breamish and see what kinds of natural things I can find. There’s always something new and interesting to discover, like a colourful flower, a fragrant herb, or a fungus. I often take pictures of them and then look them up online later to learn more about them. Other times I just enjoy them without feeling any need to record what I’ve seen.
If you’ve been out and about over the past few weeks, then you’ll probably have noticed what a great summer it is this year for Digitalis purpurea – that’s the common foxglove in everyday parlance. Is it the combination of a hard winter frost and snow followed by lots of rain and a short heat wave that’s made them so prolific? Whatever the case, the Digitalis purpurea are plentiful this year – and looking stunning!
Since Spring began springing in March a lot has happened in the countryside. And, for me, the month of May is a particularly pleasing one to see what’s going on. There are lots of hedgerow flowers and the hawthorns are in full bloom. Simply brill!
When is a plant a weed? When is a weed a flower to enjoy? I guess it’s all about context. There are lots of flowers that we can see growing in our hedgerows and along field margins that, if transplanted to a garden, would be considered a ‘flower’.
According to Pete Seeger’s 1955 political folk song, the answer to the question ‘Where have all the flower’s gone? is ‘Young girls have picked them everyone.’ Well, they’d have to have been very busy along the Breamish Valley to account for the ‘disappearance’ of the monkey-flower Mimulus.
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
Frank Lloyd Wright
In addition to the recent and ongoing Powburn Community Garden Improvements there are similar improvements taking place in the Powburn Children’s Play Area.
In addition to the new wall to protect the well in the Powburn Community Garden, further improvements are well underway.
A planter that will be used to create a bed of red roses has been constructed and installed at the Breamish Valley War Memorial. The angular, U-shaped wooden planter was made to the same high standards as the Bolton Road Sign Planters and the Powburn Road Sign Planters by Chris Armit from Newcastleton (Chris constructed the Bolton and Powburn planters).
The unseasonably warm weather over the past few weeks appears to have encouraged many hedgerow flowers to either keep on flowering or have another go.
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus
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