The Time Team

11th August 2024. How plants can mark the days, the weather and the seasons...

I don’t know when it started but I suspect it’s been going on for longer than I realise. The part of my morning routine that involves me scanning the mirror for signs of new furrows and uprooting seedlings that sprouted during the night. Put another way, it means I am tutting at the sight of yet another wrinkle and removing one more chin hair. It's perplexing because I never used to think about aging or my changing appearance on such a regular basis. Those thoughts were generally associated with the decadal renewal of my passport and a brief flash of shock, which was triggered by the comparison of two different photographs. Me, then and me, now. When did that happen?

Chronological challenges aside, ‘time’ in the context of wildflowers has been on my mind this week because I went, for the first time, to a herb garden in the grounds of Stafford Castle. The castle’s history reaches back to the storming Normans and the 12th century, and an information board told me that there may have been a garden in the south and west of the grounds in 1290. But the herb garden is newer (formally opened in 1991) and I was delighted to discover that its stock of 16 beds is based on a 16th century inventory of herbs, which were commonly used during that period. This means that when you walk around the herb garden, you can see, smell, touch and taste the wildflowers that our ancestors were enjoying at that time. Needless to say, I spent several happy hours wandering from one bed to another, poring over my field guide, taking photos and inhaling the wonderful smells of lemon, aniseed, marjoram and strawberry. The castle and garden are definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the area (free too – bonus!) But if you aren’t, there are plenty of YouTube videos to wow you – including one with some amazing drone footage.

Stained glass beech leaves

Balm flowers smelling of lemon

Wild Strawberry

Holy Bramble

Castle walls

Botanist behind bars

Sensory delights and thoughts of time were still in my head later that evening, whilst reading a book by one of my favourite wildflower authors (Leif Bersweden). In his latest work, he talks about the capacity of wildflowers to “awaken forgotten memories” and their means for “reminiscing about the past”. I also have memories of making Daisy chains, gathering buttercups and telling the time with Dandelion clocks - and maybe you do as well.  

If that wasn’t exciting enough to the time-pondering botanical enthusiast (i.e., me), Leif also devotes part of his book to what he calls ‘The timekeepers’. It gives him the opportunity to explain how the circadian rhythms of plants and the resulting periods of dormancy and flowering have enabled people to track the progress of the seasons for hundreds of years. Wildflowers are a time team and weathervane of sorts. Lesser Celandine and primroses, for example, may be a sign of winter ending and spring approaching. Scarlet Pimpernel opens and closes with sunshine and clouds. Bluebells make me think of summer, and summer may end with the blooming of Fennel. All of which leads me nicely into my two plants for this week and my farewell until next Sunday. Take good care and see you then. 

Fennel: is a member of the carrot family and capable of reaching heights that I could only ever dream of (1.5–2.2m). Its leaves sit beneath a magnificent umbrella of yellow-green flowers and are striking in their thread-like quality and aniseed smell. Naturally a Mediterranean plant, Fennel may have been brought to our shores by the Romans – but its ancient Greek name is derived from a place where it grew and was trampled on by athletes (i.e., the city-state of Marathon). It can be found in or around roadsides, chalky soil, limestone and railways and has been grown for thousands of years for the kitchen table and medicine cabinet. John Wright says that Fennel is “one of the safest urban plants to collect because its height puts it out of reach of all but the tallest and most talented of dogs” (which made me laugh), but also that it is a terrific accompaniment to fish (which made me hungry). Fennel is eaten after dinner in ‘posh’ Indian restaurants and its seeds are a useful breath freshener. Apparently.

Scarlet Pimpernel: A member of the primrose family; this is one of my favourite annual wildflowers and can be seen growing around fields and rabbit warrens, on rocky sites and on well-drained soils. Small and spreading low to the ground, it is an easy plant to miss, but unmistakeable once you’ve found it. The flowers are sometimes blue, but I have only ever seen them dressed in their bright orange-red petals – accessorised with a purple-pink heart and opposite facing leaves, which are spattered underneath with black spots. Appropriately for today’s blog, Sarah Raven describes Scarlet Pimpernel as looking like it has been plucked from a medieval manuscript and says that its common name comes from an archaic French word (pimper) meaning ‘smart’ or ‘trim’. In some parts of England, Scarlet Pimpernel is known as the ‘Shepherd’s Sundial’ or ‘Change of the Weather’ due to its clockwork tendency to open and close its petal doors at 8am and 3pm (though, in the interests of science, I have tested this and am not convinced it is that punctual). Whilst Scarlet Pimpernel is poisonous to some animals, it has historically been used to treat ulcers, kidney-related problems and snakebites – and the ancient Greeks used it as an antidepressant.

References

John Wright (2010) Hedgerow. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc; Great Britain

Leif Bersweden (2022) Where the Wild Flowers Grow. Hodder and Stoughton; Great Britain

Music and Mystery with Lee (2023) The Amazing Stafford Castle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfCFRsdZMk [The drone footage is ‘amazing’ too]

Neil Fletcher (2010) Pocket Nature. Wild Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Limited; London

Sarah Raven (2011) Wild Flowers. Bloomsbury Publishing; Great Britain

Stafford Borough Council (2024) Stafford Castle and Visitor Centre. https://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/stafford-castle-and-visitor-centre

The Red Haired Stokie (2024) Explore the Medieval Herb Garden at Stafford Castle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzrEGdDSh3w

Wikipedia (2024) Anagallis Arvensis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagallis_arvensis