I’m chuffed to see that in a survey carried out by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), the favourite native tree in Scotland is the Scots Pine (pinus sylvestris), a close second being the rowan.
I think that is absolutely spot on. Nothing like pinning your colours to the trunk, is there?
Coincidentally, I have just finished reading a book by Jim Crumley entitled The Great Wood.
It’s not an understatment to say that he is besotted with Scottish trees, especially the Scots pine.
The subtitle of the book is, The Ancient Forest of Caledon.
A passionate naturalist, Jim Crumley writes about the native forests from way back, he describes his relationships with particular sites and the trees that create such profound beauty.
It was an interesting read. By the way, he thinks the forests are incomplete without wolves.
As a matter of interest the favourite wild flower is the Scottish Bluebell followed by the Scottish Primrose, nothing wrong with that either but it does make me ponder on how these decisions are reached by the people who send in their votes. Indeed what kind of people respond to these invitations? Are they the same people who write letters to the editor, not occasionally but almost on a full-time basis? Old cynic that I am, I wonder how valid these surveys really are.
Before going any further, since penning these few lines, I see from some of the letters pages that the eagle-eyed among you spotted that some newspapers had mistakenly carried pictures of the English Bluebell.
See what I mean, how many voters had the right plant in mind?
If I had stuck with the trees, I wouldn’t have had a problem, because Pine and Rowan are quite common and therefore widely recognised.
Perhaps because they will grow almost anywhere but Bluebells and Scottish primroses are in a different category, they are much more choosey in where they will put down roots.
I guess quite a few of you will know where you first saw the Scotch Bluebell growing in the wild but what about the Primrose, Primula scotica?
I can admit that I have never seen the Primrose growing in the wild. How many people have? Yet it comes second in a national poll.
The Scottish Bluebell, also called the Harebell (campanula rotundifolia) is widely distributed throughout Britain, oddly enough except Orkney, says my Wildflower Flora.
It thrives on shallow soils mainly in grassland and if there are fewer acres of what I would call perennial grassland, there will be fewer Scottish Bluebells to be seen as opposed to that other Bluebell (a bulbous plant related to the Hyancinth) which is plentiful in woodlands and hedgerows across the whole of Britain.
Might there be a wee bit of confusion in people’s minds?
Perhaps it is their comparative rarity coupled with romantic mind pictures and a wee bit of nostalgia for both, that attracts the voters, their beauty is a given.
From the sublime …
As if we hadn’t worries enough, the latest news is that there might be a shortage of Poinsettias this Christmas.
The reason, growers are having to pay more for fuel to keep the glasshouses at the right temperature for these temperamental beauties.
I can’t imagine that there will be a shortage however; this snippet might be a pre-cursor to the news that they will be more expensive than last year, surprise, surprise.
Flower Bulbs in The Plunge
Do you have flower bulbs growing in pots for indoor display?
When did you last have a look to see that they are OK?
If you have prepared hyacinths in a dark, cold place, when did you last have a look to see if they need water?
Bearing in mind that you will be due to bring them indoors sometime next week if they are to have a chance of flowering by Christmas Day, have you checked their progress, is the snout out of the bulb yet?
Do you remember how to check them?
Gently squeeze that snout to feel for a degree of firmness within which is the flower spike itself.
If not, you will have to wait a little longer. When moving the pots indoors to some warmth, keep them out of full light to allow the growth to green up slowly. Bulb pots on a windowsill will need turning regularly to keep the growths upright.
Berry Watch, this week the pyracantha has been stripped.
I see that Cotoneaster cornubia is on next week’s menu. Like the Hokey Cokey , that’s what its all about.