It took me ages to take the above photo with my phone - but I won in the end. I had decided to learn something about the primula/primrose and so went on a book hunt for my four favourite books which tell me the facts and folklore I need to know.
I had lost 'The illustrated Flora' by Marjorie Blamey and Christopher Gray-Wilson a practical recording of all the wild flowers we come across in Britain and looked for it's 'orange cover'. Well stupid it is a dark green. Each book is crafted by the person who wrote it, and in the case of the Blamey book also by the illustrations. The book below is the Phillips book which has photographs of all the wild flowers. They have a dead look to them, presumably because it would take hours before he got them home to photo.
The two favourites are of course Grigson's 'Englishman's Flora' a cornucopia of completely useless facts but so much more informative that anything AI can conjuror. A particular plant can have a dozen nicknames from different parts of the country. And of course plants were used for medicinal purposes or culinary cooking.
But my most favoured book is the Robinson 'English Flower Garden' late 19th century a great tome of a book with it's information gathered over time. The illustrations are made on wood and a joy to behold, also may I say as good as any photo. The provenance of the vast array of plants that we have in our gardens come from overseas, from specific zones where they grow, have you ever seen wild roses in China for instance? The great plant hunters of the 19th centuries brought these treasures back in glass Wardian cases.
It was of course the wealthy who planted these new exotics in their vast gardens a bit like Robinson above at Gravetye Manor in Sussex.
I know very little about the flowers I have in my yard. Some I know the name of but many I do not. I mostly just enjoy the colors. I'm not a very experienced gardener, Thelma, and have no books like yours.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't matter Ellen, flowers are for enjoyment but I enjoy digging a little deeper into their backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteI have the bottom three and love to learn more about the wild flowers I find on my travels. I have loved Botany since I was six and asked for the Observer's Book of Wild Flowers which a neighbour's older daughter had.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I loved flowers from an early age. We had a large garden, still with it's Victorian layout and lots of fruit trees and flower beds. Set in the smokey atmosphere of Willenhall it was a paradise in summer.
DeleteI will be interested to hear what information you unearth about Primulas/primroses! This seems to be a hot topic in my life at the moment. LOL
ReplyDeleteWell I know the double petalled primroses you picked up from the street yesterday Steve was a Barnhaven one. Sad that the nursery has moved to France.
DeletePlant and seed collectors did magnificent work.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is still plenty to find before they become extinct Janice. I think we forget the diligence of those early plant hunters.
DeleteMy "go-to" for wild flowers/plants is Keeble Martin - hand drawn illustrations. My copy is around 50 years old, so probably out of date with changes in classifications etc.
ReplyDeleteKeeble Martin is a familiar name Will. Classification can be quite complicated and yet it ties down a particular plant to its species. Clever people out there!
ReplyDelete