Hedgerow Diaries May

Maybe small in size but huge in importance. Hedgerows are often all that is left of our ancient wildwoods, steeped in myths and legends, they hold the plants that are the guardians to the underworld, the strongest medicine and the most lethal poisons. And just sometimes really pretty.

The month of May saw us in full lockdown here in Wales, and while the wider world was getting scary, here in our little mountain life we felt quite safe, the weather was fine, DIY projects were underway, and hedgerow walks surely counted as excellent homeschooling ….

Silver Birch
One of our oldest native trees, Birch was one of the early 'pioneer' trees to re-colonise after the end of the last ice age. It's also one of the first to come into leaf each Spring. It has always been associated with new beginnings and purification; used in the fires of the Celtic festival of Beltane and the wood for the May Pole.
Well known as a fire starter, the bark can be peeled off in tissue-thin strips which makes great tinder. The traditional birch besom is still made and used all across Britain, not just for garden sweeping but also 'jumping the broom' where newly married couples would leap over the besom at the threshold to bring fertility and harmony to their new home

Cuckcoo flower
16th century herbalist John Gerard explained these gorgeous flowers were named for emerging when the Cuckoo begins to sing. They are also called Milkmaids or Lady's Smocks.
The young leaves have a peppery taste and they can be eaten like watercress. But traditionally it has always been held as unlucky to pick, attracting thunderstorms and adders! So best left for the orange tip butterfly to enjoy.

Holly
One of our most easily recognized tree, spikey and evergreen, there's actually over 400 species of the Holly (Ilex). Hedgehogs love to nest in the dry leaf litter. And while the berries are toxic to humans, they are a feast for the birds. It has really strong white wood, beautiful for carving.
Its dark glossy green leaves and red berries are strongly associated with Christmas. However, like so many Christian traditions, that comes from much older times when Holly boughs were brought into homes at the winter solstice, their vibrant growth and colour bringing cheer at the darkest times of the year.
Associated with thunder gods throughout Europe, the Holly tree was often planted as protection from lightning strikes. Apparently the spiney leaves do actually act as mini lightning conductors meaning the tree is rarely damaged by lightning

Welsh poppy
Now I'm cheating a little with this one as it's in my garden! But it's wild and it's lovely and it's bright yellow. The Welsh poppy just can't fail to bring a smile to your face.

Foxglove
Thrilled to see the bright colours of the foxglove exploding all over the wild places. The name is thought to come from a Celtic/Saxon mismatch for Fairies Bells, then again, there is the old-lore that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to make them stealthy and silent as they hunted their prey across the wooded hillsides!

One of the most beautiful but poisonous plants in our hedgerows. Eating any part of the plant can be deadly. But it can also be life-saving. For more than 200 years foxglove has been harvested for as heart drug digitalis, giving it the strange legacy to 'raise the dead but kill the living'

Hawthorn Blossom
We couldn't finish the month without the May-tree itself. It's been a glorious month for the Hawthorn. Flowering early this year, it arrived by the first week of May like it did in the old calendar. The dark and wind-twisted trees with their spiny thorns, look almost frightening most of the year, until May when they are abundantly adorned with the creamy flowers. Long held to mark the start of summer, it was considered bad luck to ever cut a Hawthorn until it flowers, and then boughs of blossom were used extensively in May Day and Beltane festivities. Bring on Summer!!