Cowslip Delight

The sheet of cowslips which greet us at the entrance of our estate

April is proving to be a vintage month for public planting here in Chippenham. After Monday's guerrilla'd Jewel Garden, here's the sheet of cowslips which currently greets us when we enter our estate. These get better and better every year.

Sometimes it's the simple things which make the most difference.

A tummy level view of our estate's cowslips
The tummy level view - can you spot the dandelion?
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours;
In those freckles live their savours;
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

From: 'A Fairy Song', in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

A close-up view of one of the cowslips

It took the sharp observation of Shakespeare's verse for me to spot the rubies amongst the gold. Then my camera added a pearl to one of the cowslip's ears :)

Comments

  1. Anonymous24 April 2015 at 12:41

    Love cowslips. We've got a bank of them on a corner near us too. Must be something about that roadside aspect they like!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 April 2015 at 07:39

      I think the Highways Agency are spraying seed on many of the roadside verges they look after. I need to do some research on this...

      Delete
  2. Rose24 April 2015 at 14:13

    So lovely! I've heard of cowslips before, in Shakespeare and other references, but I don't think I've ever seen them before. They always make me think of fairies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 April 2015 at 07:41

      So pleased I can introduce you to them properly Rose, though Shakespeare is a good place to start :-)

      Delete
  3. Flighty24 April 2015 at 15:50

    They look so good en masse like that. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 April 2015 at 07:42

      There were just a few to start with, and now they're glorious :-)

      Delete
  4. Margaret24 April 2015 at 17:43

    I love cowslips, I've planted some at the allotment and have some in the garden. It must be amazing to see so many planted like that

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 April 2015 at 07:43

      I planted some too, but I don't think I found the right spot for them :-(

      Delete
  5. Sue Garrett24 April 2015 at 18:11

    I just have a couple of clumps of cowslips and I love them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 April 2015 at 07:45

      I hope they multiply for you - these were a few clumps to start with

      Delete
    2. Sue Garrett26 April 2015 at 09:27

      They are taking their time as they have been planted for quite a few years - maybe I should collect some seed.

      Delete
  6. CJ24 April 2015 at 18:58

    Gorgeous, and yes, I see the dandelion. There's always a dandelion. In fact along the road we have a similar effect but done entirely in dandelions. It's not quite the same...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 April 2015 at 07:47

      We have plenty of dandelion verges nearby too CJ, I must add the link to my previous post about them later...

      Delete
  7. Shirley25 April 2015 at 11:11

    Seeing Lady's Smock like this on grass verges here (love it) but never seen a spectacle like this with cowslips! Thanks for sharing this, what a delight for you to pass by every day and such a pretty flower close up (picturing you taking a tummy view with cars passing especially as something I'd do too).

    2x plants in garden flowering just now.. perhaps they will spread if I leave them be... ha-ha... wishful thinking there :-0 Enjoy Malvern if you are going this year :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 April 2015 at 07:49

      I was imagining the puzzled looks from the cars passing by Shirley. I hope yours spread for you. yes, I will be at Malvern this year :-)

      Delete
  8. Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax!26 April 2015 at 17:34

    I've never come across cowslips en masse - only sprinkled around a field or here and there in a garden. I can see they can make quite an impact. Recently I saw a bank with masses of primroses on it, high above a fast road. That was new to me too. I tend to think of them as country lane flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous26 April 2015 at 20:53

    Well Shakespeare must have been a botanist, that's all I can say - I'd never noticed the rubies either. How lovely. I adore cowslips - we used to have a whole valley full of them in the Surrey Hills near where I lived before. Here it's all primroses but you do see the occasional one. Lovely things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP27 April 2015 at 13:35

      There's a bank of primroses on my way to the allotment. I've also spotted some nearby where they're clearing land to make way for a dual carriageway. I'm contemplating rescuing the latter ones, but that will probably be breaking the law!

      Delete
  10. colleen27 April 2015 at 10:09

    Lovely. I saw some myself recently - now I've forgotten where!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP27 April 2015 at 13:36

      Well worth trying to rediscover them Colleen :)

      Delete
  11. Gardeningbren27 April 2015 at 15:39

    Delightful!

    ReplyDelete

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