Blossoming East Sussex

 

Cardamine pratensis. Battle, 7 May 2021.

I'm just back from a quick visit to East Sussex and, of course, I snapped a few flowers along the way. We start on a walk in Barne's Wood, near Battle, with one of the most familiar of spring sights.

Lady's Smock or Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis, Sw: Ängsbräsma). Throughout British Isles and all across Europe. And it almost reaches the top of Sweden, though the ones with coloured petals (ssp. pratensis) are mainly seen in the south. 

Like all other Brassicaceae species Lady's Smock is edible, but the leaves aren't very big and it seems rather a shame to harvest such a pretty plant when there are so many other choices. 

According to internet sources Lady's Smock is regarded as sacred to the fairies and hence as bad luck if you bring it into the home. As usual with these folkloristic claims, it's difficult to get a sense of context: how many people held this belief, and where and when. But I do think a group of Lady's Smock has the right sort of otherworldly feel: slender, dancing, self-sustaining, mysteriously circumscribed. This last, I suppose, is because it prefers distinctly wet spots. 

For whatever reason, it struck me as more frequent and noticeable in East Sussex than back here in Frome (where, however, it's still entirely commonplace). 

Leaf of Cardamine pratensis. Battle, 7 May 2021.

Flowers and developing fruits of Cardamine pratensis. Battle, 7 May 2021.

Prunus 'Shogetsu'. Battle, 7 May 2021.

Unusually, I found East Sussex lagging a week or so behind my hometown in Somerset (the recent weeks of continental high pressure were much colder down there). Accordingly, I was able to take a picture of the late-flowering cherry 'Shogetsu' at its best -- our own cherry-blossom season is fading now. 

Vaccinium corymbosum. Battle, 6 May 2021.

Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) in bloom. My mum grows them in tubs on the patio. It's a nice choice; the small bushes have pretty blossom and attractive leaves that change colour through the seasons. And they produce enough of the delicious berries to improve quite a few September desserts. They're native to eastern North America. 

Vaccinium corymbosum. Battle, 6 May 2021.

Erythronium 'Pagoda'

This plant was a complete surprise, suddenly springing up in a part of the garden that had never been worked on, some months after my dad pruned back the shrub border. It's a variety of Erythronium called 'Pagoda' that has become popular with gardeners as a great choice for bringing some vibrant colour to shady spots. It's probably of hybrid origin, but one parent must certainly be Erythronium tuolumnense (Tuolumne Fawn Lily). This Californian species, unlike most of the others, produces several flowers on the same scape. 

The mostly-New-World genus Erythronium is called Dog's-tooth Violet by British gardeners. "Dog's-tooth" refers to the shape of the bulbs. "Violet" may seem inappropriate, but it arose because the sole European species, Erythronium dens-canis, has purplish-pink flowers and a passing resemblance to a violet. (It's this European species, too, that suggested the scientific name Erythronium, derived from Ancient Greek "eruthros" (red).) 

Also in my mum and dad's garden: a rather magnificent tree-heather ...

... some fiery tulips...

... and also this one, a lot less fiery but no less arresting. It might be Tulipa 'Spring Green' or Tulipa 'Deirdre', based on a very superficial search. Anyway it's definitely in Division 8 (Viridiflora). (Tulip varieties are classified in fifteen divisions.) 

Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)

 

Cardamine hirsuta. Frome, 31 March 2021.

A young Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta, Sw: Bergbräsma). A pretty sight at this time of year. It's a common weed and one that's very good to eat. It tastes like cress, unsurprisingly. You can eat all of a young plant like this, including the flowers and seedpods. (I'd put it right up there with young Smooth Sow-thistle as the top salad veg in the garden.)

It's very much a plant of Europe and North Africa. It doesn't get very far into Russia. It's native to southern and central Sweden but is only common round the coasts. ("Berg" in the name means "cliff", not "mountain".) I suppose the species struggles to cope with a long winter freeze.

Cardamine hirsuta. Frome, 31 March 2021.

The flowers of Hairy Bittercress have four stamens. Its closest relatives, Wavy Bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa) and Narrow-leaved Bittercress (Cardamine impatiens), have six stamens.

These relatives aren't very likely to turn up in gardens, but some other white-flowered Brassicaceae do: Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) has unique purse-like fruits; Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) has split petals and short fruits; Thale Cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) has entire leaves. 

Not that it matters too much from the eating point of view: all members of the Brassicaceae family are edible by humans. (The plants are more concerned with deterring insects and other herbivores.)

Cardamine hirsuta. Frome, 31 March 2021.

As the plants grow older they elongate like this. Not quite so delicious, but still pretty good.

If you want them out of your garden, you need to pull up the Hairy Bittercress plants when they're young. Like any self-respecting annual weed, Hairy Bittercress doesn't hang around when it comes to ripening seed. If you leave it a week or two, all the seedpods will explode as soon as you touch the plant, showering seeds everywhere. 

Repellently, the gardening advice for Hairy Bittercress on the RHS website still lists various brands of weedkiller as an alternative to weeding. Apart from the evil effects of using such products -- why mince words? -- it's particularly pointless in this case, when the plants pull out so easily. (If you did use weedkiller you'd surely want to pull up the dead plants anyway, not just leave them there, so what effort have you saved yourself?) 

Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale)

Hedge Mustard (Vägsenap - Sisymbrium officinale)

So far as I'm aware every plant in the Brassicaceae is more or less edible.

Despite its common name in English (and Swedish), this species isn't in the same genus as any of the three species that are used to make my favourite condiment (Sinapis Alba, Brassica juncea, Brassica nigra).

Nor is it in the same genus as the rocket normally eaten in salads (Eruca sativa). But it has been suspected as being the "English rocket" with yellow flowers referred to by some early botanists. The fresh leaves are certainly very good eating.

It's native to Europe and very common; also introduced in the eastern USA.

After six months of unobtrusive greening it suddenly rockets forth in May (though "rocket" in that sense has no etymological connection with the salad rocket). It looks like a completely different plant.

 The flowers are very small but the ever-elongating sickle-shaped flower shoots with appressed fruits are unmistakable.

The winter/spring leaves have quite a distinctive shape: Runcinate with a truncate terminal lobe, if I'm using the terms correctly. The leaves that appear in the upper storey when flowering begins have a very different shape:their terminal lobes are even pointed.

Sisymbrium officinale. Frome, 3 August 2019.

Sisymbrium officinale. Frome, 3 August 2019.

30 June

26 May

26 May

26 May

26 May

20 May

13 May

4 May

4 May

28 April

28 April

22 April

13 April

10 April

12 February

27 December

25 November

17 November

13 November

12 November

21 August

There's a bit of a "second wave" in around August, which is what these photos show. The plants are generally small and have a speeded-up life-cycle, so you can see basal leaves, flowers and fruit all at the same time.

8 August