We discovered these giant thistles on the Goodwood Estate. Standing almost two metres tall don’t they look majestic in the starkness of winter. The dried flower heads are at least 7 cm diameter!
We think they must be Cirsium eriophorum or Woolly Thistles – but will have to wait until next summer to see what the flowers look like. If they are woolly ones the flower heads will be covered in a whitey wool!
I just learnt that Snowdrops are also called Candlemas Bells! Such a pretty name….
” The Snowdrop in purest white array, First rears her head on Candlemas Day”.
Candlemas Day is celebrated on the 2nd February. This is about the time that we see snowdrops peeping their heads out through beds of old leaves.
In the Christian calendar this marks the end of forty days of Christmas festivities and all the church candles would be lit and a blessing said over them.
This day also marks the mid point of winter – halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox.
The snowdrop is said to be the symbol of hope – yes hope that springtime is just around the corner. But it is also said to come from the story of Adam and Eve. After they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, Eve was about to give up hope that the winter would ever end, when an angel popped down from heaven and transformed the snowflakes into tiny little white bell flowers.
The name snowdrop comes from eardrop – an old name for earring.
The Latin name is Galanthus – meaning milk flower!
Even in the depths of winter groups of silver birch trees look so beautiful up on the Downs. They symbolise renewal and purification, love and fertility. At New Year bundles of birch twigs would be used to sweep out the spirits of the old year.
There’s no time like the present! So they’re all planted! Sophie lent us some special spades for the job – rabbit spades! Still the mattock came in rather useful in the stony areas – of which there were many!
The hedge should turn out quite varied:
Alder Buckthorn
Hawthorn
Spindle Tree
Guelder Rose
Holly
Dogwood
Wayfarer
And all the whips were really strapping good plants!
Sophie from South Downs has come up trumps! We are thrilled that she has managed to squeeze a bit more out of the year’s budget to provide us with loads of hedging whips for St Nics to plant alongside the ugly fence! Sourced from ‘Special Branch’ in Stanmer, we now have 240 organic whips to plant! They were delivered yesterday, Friday, 11th December and we are starting work today!
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