February Diary
In many ways it is February in which the New Year begins…
We are emerging now from winter with the longer daylight hours and new shoots show signs of life, movement, colour and regeneration.
“The virgin snowdrop like a lambent fire pierces the cold earth with its green-streaked spire, and in dark woods, the wandering little one may find a primrose”
Galanthus nivalis
Woodlands, gardens, churchyards, hedgerows and even verges are bedecked with Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) – the fair maids of February, the herald of the flowers. Strictly speaking this little perennial bulb isn’t a native wild flower, but many wild places are beautifully carpeted with these, now naturalised, pure and white blossoms.
The Snowdrop, though for all its innocence, has had a great influence throughout history. In his book Plants: Healers and Killers, Michael Radcliffe of RBGE suggests that, in classical literature, the snowdrop may be the mystery plant referred to as 'Moly' - the herb which protected Odysseus from Circe’s enchantment. Modern-day pharmacological research has looked into compounds within Galanthus bulbs as a reliever of some symptoms of Alzheimer’s, and galantamine is now a standard prescription drug for the disease. The name snowdrop was first coined in the 17th Century Herbal by Gerard, and the flowers have since stood as symbols of both virginity and death. In older villages today, where snowdrops can be seen carpeting waysides and front paths, we can still see the remnants of their practical usage, planted as markers towards outdoors lavatories and doorways on darker nights. For an interesting radio programme on this ubiquitous little flower, I found BBC Four’s January broadcast of ‘Open Country’ a very engaging listen.
In direct contrast, the common groundsel is also flowering. This seldom noticed little plant (Senecio vulgaris) is a favourite for the birds at this time of year, who eat the foliage in addition to the winged seeds. They favour groundsel along with the dark and beautifully formed Ivy berries (Helix hedera) which are also abundant in hedgerows this month.
During February, with brighter mornings and extended dusk, the birds are now often in full song with the promise of fresh activity and renewed vigour. Newly emerging are the purple tinged fresh leaflets of honeysuckle or Woodbine (Lonicera periclymenum) and the young green shoots of Elder (Sambucus nigra). These first brave new leaf shoots of some tree and hedgerow species often become frost nipped on account of their early showing. An early leafing tree will be acquainted with the injuries sustained by colder blasts of ensuing weather during February and beyond.
The Mulberry tree wisely shows not one sign of leaf until the weather is securely warm. The Willows (Salix), I notice locally also often are among the last of natives to burst into leaf, and indeed, often later to lose their leaves.
The grass-like stems and leaves of the pretty wild flower, Greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) and various foliage of Speedwells, of which there are sixteen native species (Common speedwell – Veronica officinalis) are now making an appearance. Also look out for the evergreen Ground Ivy which is also an early spring bloomer, known traditionally as Ale-hoof due to its use in brewing. The fragrant new leaves and runners of Ground Ivy (Nepeta hederacea – no relation to Ivy – Hedera helix) are ideally gathered now and infused for cough remedies.
In the hedgerows and wastelands there is tasty Chickweed (Stellaria media) and look out for fresh dandelion leaves (Taraxacum officinalis) and edible Sow Thistle leaves (Sonchus arvensis & S.oleraceus), although here’s an opportunity to get distracted in the books with Cats ears, Wild Lettuce’s and Hawkweeds! Knowing a little bit about what’s available to forage and when to begin searching for it is rewarding and can provide a variety of local greenery for our diet with the added bonus of containing vitamins and minerals. A note of caution though, is to always beware of picking low level herbs and indeed any wild plants. And of course ensure you’ve a positive identification.
Dogs mercury (Mercurialis perennis) is often the first to bloom of all the wild herbaceous plants with the exception of daisies (Bellis perennis) and the above mentioned Groundsel (both of which are folk remedies for topical healing). Dogs mercury however, whilst being an ancient woodland indicator and sometimes invasive coloniser, contains toxic compounds and is easily confused with other woodland counterparts.
The woodland spring flowers are evolved to flower early in order to maximise the light available to the plant before the trees produce their shading canopies. The insects and particularly the bees will begin to be heard nosing their way around these little understory blooms, finding precious nectar for their survival and performing the reciprocal act of pollination for many of these wild flowers.
Before the 1920’s over 90% of all medicines listed in the British pharmacopoeia were plant based. Although this is no longer the case, I strongly believe that when we become more aware of the natural plant world and of our diet, this gives way to the notion and the connection of a healthy countryside, healthy planet, healthy people and of course reminds us of the Hippocratic oath and adage “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.
In the countryside there are plants that can and do relieve the symptoms of minor ills. Even if we don’t actually use these plants in our homes we can still look at their characteristics, take note of where they are and perhaps delve a little into their folk tradition, which is fascinating to study. We certainly still recognise some herbs as over-the-counter pharmaceutical remedies, such as Arnica cream, Sambucus syrup (elderberry), Calendula cream, St. John’s wort compounds and Nettle tea for instance. Members of Medical Herbalism believe in healing the body with natural remedies. They are recognised practitioners and are qualified to diagnose and advise medicinally using herbs.
Lonicera periclymenum
When identifying herbs and collecting in the wild, attention must be made to the law regarding protection of wild plants and the ownership of the land on which they are growing. It’s therefore a good idea to cultivate a clean and uncontaminated home supply of herbal products in your own garden and, ideally, if you’ve the space, with tender and exotics in a greenhouse or conservatory or window ledge. Left to itself, the Aloe vera on my windowsill for example is thriving, and if I need to use it I can at any time cut a small piece and peel it for immediate skin soothing applications.
Another poignant reminder right now is to perhaps try to connect with the elderly and senior people of your families and friends for glimpses of local herbal folk tradition. Gaining some understanding of their memories of using and gathering plants for healing and for animals can be very rewarding all round. It’s easy to forget that there is often an element of truth behind many so called ‘old wives tales’. One example is how, pre weather satellite stations, people often knew how to predict weather events by looking at surrounding wildlife behaviours.
Collecting local ‘remembered remedies’ is an ongoing project of mine and I would love to hear your feedback with this – please do get in touch!
February is the time to really get close up with the new buds and shoots encountered everywhere outdoors and spend a little time to notice what is emerging. Take note of the leaf and bud shapes and colours and also where they are in your local surroundings. If there isn’t the option to visit places further afield many of the botanicals described above can be found growing in the cracks of pavements or along footpath and road verges.
This is the beginning of understanding plants throughout their whole yearly cycle from emergence to dormancy.
Hamamelis x intermedia