February Newsletter
In this month’s newsletter we’ll take a look at Spring ephemerals and their folklore and dogwood (which has some fascinating history).
Spring Ephemerals
Flowers that only come up in Spring once a year have their own special name: Spring ephemerals with ‘ephemeral’ alluding to their very brief appearance at this time of year. Amongst the non-native crocuses and tulips, wild Spring ephemerals, which are often seen in woodlands, include wood anemones, English bluebells, lesser celandine, winter aconite and (if you’re lucky) wild daffodil. Daffodils are not only a national symbol of Wales, and will be abundant for St David’s Day on 1 March, but the wild Daffodil is also the county flower of Gloucestershire! According to folklore the daffodil represents hope, folly and unrequited love, so perhaps rather than purchasing African grown roses for yourself or your beloved this Valentine’s Day, go for daffodils instead! If, however, you do decide to buy chocolate, roses or wine, don’t forget to choose ‘Fairtrade’ which will be in the spotlight from 21 February until 6 March for Fairtrade Fortnight. If you're feeling creative this Valentine's Day, then I have the perfect crafty gift for you in my Dogwood feature below.
Back to Spring flowers, other Spring flowers you may have heard of are: cuckoo flower, wild garlic and wood sorrel who make their appearance later on in Spring in the months of March and early April and will feature in my Ecoliteracy for Educators course. If you’re keen to test your wildflower knowledge, the Woodland Trust have a great Spring flowers quiz and you can also find out more about wild daffodils from Plantlife. And, finally, if you really want to get into botany in a big way this Spring, I highly recommend 'The Wildflower Key' by Francis Rose (do you think he changed his surname to fit in with his occupation?!). This is a comprehensive book which will really help you to get your eye in when learning to identify new wildflowers and also help to you learn all about who's related to who when it comes to classification.
Dogwood, or should I say Dagwood?!
I've noticed many wonderful social media posts all about the mighty dogwood and her uses over the past couple of weeks. If you’re hitting the road this half term look out for dogwood’s delightful red stems brightening up our A road verges. You may be familiar with elder, and her pithy properties which allow for excellent bead making. Dogwood is very similar in her characteristics in that her pithy stem can be removed using a strong stick or thin tent peg to create a hollow stem. Hollow stems have a range of uses from beads to bee hotels, and we'll look at how you could share such crafts with others in my Ecoliteracy for Educators course.
Dogwood also has some interesting folklore. When I was doing some reading about this, one source suggested that the name originates from 'dagwood' with the word 'dag' meaning arrow. Perhaps this gives us a peek into the past uses of this beautiful shrub by our arrow-wielding ancestors!! If you'd like to utilise her arrow-like properties in a more loving way, then dogwood, like willow, can also be used to create frames or shapes, such as dogwood hearts. My wonderful Forest School friends Robyn and Emily show us how to create your own in their instagram posts: Robyn's dogwood heart and Emily's dogwood and willow hearts.
