nature – Page 2 – Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature

A Liminal Time

March 2, 2025March 1, 2025 Ann Mackay11 Comments

Frosted seedhead of wild carrot (Daucus carota)

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

For the last week or two it has felt as if winter is ending, but spring is not quite here. This is a time of transition, and of hope inspired by the resurgence of nature. In fact, March 1st is the start of meteorological spring in the northern hemisphere, so technically, spring is here. (Unless you go by the astronomical definition, which says that spring starts at the Vernal Equinox, around March 20th.)

As far as our garden here is concerned, spring is just starting to show the first signs, but the cold of winter isn’t far behind us. There are still frosts on some mornings; enough to coat the grass but nothing as spectacular as the seed heads here. (These wild carrot seed heads were photographed back in January, when we had several days of heavy frost.) It may be tempting a chilly fate to say that winter is definitely over, but it feels like it is.

Frosted honesty (Lunaria annua) seed head lying on frosted grass — An honesty (Lunaria annua) seed head was caught in one of the last frosts of the year.

So winter appears to be gone…but spring isn’t entirely here. We’re at a threshold, where the season is neither one thing, nor yet the other. I think of it as ‘pre-spring’. It’s a short time when the approach of spring is eagerly looked for and plans made to welcome both new growth and new life.

Being poised on the brink of spring is an exciting time for me, and other gardeners too I’m sure. Everything starts to get busy now; the gardening year takes on a new urgency as we try to keep up with the rush of returning life that spring brings with it. And now it is time for this blog to put the frosty photographs away…I hope!🌱

Pennies from Heaven

February 2, 2025February 1, 2025 Ann Mackay21 Comments

Apparently honesty (Lunaria annua) has around 25 common names. (According to the RHS, you can see their list here.) That’s a lot of names, probably because it’s a plant that has been in our gardens for a very long time. It is known to have been in cultivation in the UK since the sixteenth century and is mentioned in Gerard’s Herbal at that time.

Among these names are several that relate to money, including ‘St Peter’s pence’ and, in an interesting contrast, ‘Judas’s penny’. The names ‘money flower, ‘penny flower’ and ‘silver dollar’ have their origins in the way the seed pods look like coins. The name ‘money-in-both-pockets’ was probably given to the plant for the same reason, but to me, the pods also look like tiny pockets with the coins – seeds – inside. That the seeds are visible through the outer layers of the pods has given rise to the name most of us know it by, the familiar ‘honesty’.

The money-inspired names gave me a fair excuse for the title of this post. (Finding new titles can be hard at times!) But there are many names with other inspirations. ‘Grandpa’s specs’, for instance, which makes me smile, while ‘matrimony’ makes me wonder. (A hopeful name, arising from the plant’s associations with both honesty and prosperity, perhaps?) ‘White satin’, ‘silver leaf’ and ‘satin pod’ are all very descriptive of the central membrane that is left when the outer layers of the seed pods fall away.

But the names that appeal to me most are those that refer to the moon-like appearance of the pods. There’s the Latin name, of course – ‘luna’ means ‘moon’. Then there’s ‘moonwort’ and ‘moon seed’, both of which make me imagine honesty’s tiny papery moons gleaming in the reflected moonlight of an autumn evening.

The seeds have been gathered from the seed pods photographed here, and sprinkled where I’d like the plants to come up in future. Now only the silvery central discs are left and are dripping with slowly thawing frost. To me, they look even more like tiny glowing moons. I see them as little wintry moon-pennies.

In the spirit of honesty, I must admit that I’ve never actually heard anyone use the names mentioned here. Lunaria has always been ‘honesty’ to me. It’s a little sad for old names to die out and be forgotten. They’re part of our culture and the history of our relationship with plants..

Frost melting on honesty (Lunaria annua) seed heads

Small Changes

January 26, 2025January 24, 2025 Ann Mackay15 Comments

A lot of changes in the garden take place slowly, sometimes without being noticed until they’re complete. But frost, and the way it changes to semi-frozen beads before melting into glistening droplets has been a very visible feature here recently.

The top photograph shows the process of the thaw caught mid-way. There’s still an icy ridge of frost crystals running along the seed head, but below it the sun has melted the rest. It was the first time that I’ve photographed these Miscanthus seed heads – the frost added something extra to give interest to the image. (And they do tend to blow around in any breeze, so very still weather is needed for a decent photo.)

You can see the seed head at its most frost-covered in the image above. It didn’t stay that way for long because the Miscanthus is growing in the area that gets the first sun of the morning. Any frost on this grass melts away very quickly. It’s only because we had several days of very low temperatures that there was this build-up of frost crystals.

Those frost crystals soon thawed in the sun and became the icy little drops that are seen in the photo below. But this wasn’t the only change taking place as I photographed the Miscanthus. I was surprised to see how quickly the hairs on the individual grass seeds fluffed out in the sun. (You can see how dry and airy-looking they’ve become in a very short space of time.)

I suppose the seeds must be programmed to wait until there’s some warmth before opening out their hairs and getting ready to fly away in the wind. Later on, when it was cooler, I noticed that they had closed up again. Since that morning, I’ve seen the fluffiness appear in the sunshine and disappear as the hairs close when it’s cold. Perhaps this is a way of protecting the seed-hairs in bad weather, so that they don’t get bedraggled, and allowing them to stay dry enough to let the seeds float away when the time is right. It’s an intriguing little change that had gone unnoticed here before.

Here the Miscanthus seed heads have suddenly opened up and become fluffy.

When the Autumn Sun Shines…

November 17, 2024November 15, 2024 Ann Mackay10 Comments

It’s amazing to see how much difference some sunshine makes to the garden in autumn. After days of smothering grey, we suddenly have an airiness and brightness that brings out the best in the leaves that are turning yellow and gold. For a while, the outdoors feels welcoming again, and thoughts of the approach of winter can be set aside.

There is still some warmth in the sun, enough to entice me outside to work in the garden. This year I have been making lots of changes to the planting here. New plants have gone in and others moved to places where they will grow better or look more at home with their neighbours. (If only moving plants was as easy as moving furniture!)

As they become dormant for winter, plants can be moved to more suitable sites. Theoretically, I have plenty of time to get it all done before early spring, but it would be good to get it finished before the weather gets really cold or wet. So these sunny days have been ideal. At the same time, the low sunlight is reminding me to think about the effects of sunlight streaming through foliage and to look for ways to take advantage of it. It is, after all, primarily a photographer’s garden!

Images: top – Wisteria sinensis, below – Cotinus coggygria (smoke bush)

Waiting…

November 10, 2024November 7, 2024 Ann Mackay17 Comments

Autumn leaf of Elder (Sambucus 'Black Lace')

In gardening, it often feels as if there is a pause while you wait for something to happen. Waiting for the right time to sow seeds, to see buds open, or to pick your harvest of fruit or vegetables. This week I’m waiting (and hoping) for the grey sky to clear and let a little sunlight through to the autumn leaves. They need that gleam of light to pick out their details and bring their images alive when I photograph them.

I’m waiting for the first frost of the year too… 🍂

A Plea for Butterflies

September 29, 2024September 25, 2024 Ann Mackay15 Comments

Back in August I posted about taking part in the annual ‘Big Butterfly Count’ which is held by UK charity Butterfly Conservation. The results of the nationwide count have now been published and they confirm that the UK has indeed had a very bad summer for butterflies. So much so, that the charity has labelled it a ‘butterfly emergency’.

This year’s count recorded the lowest number of butterflies in the 14-year history of its existence. A total of just over 935,000 butterflies and day-flying moths for 2024 was a drop of over a third in comparison to the figure of over 1.5 million for 2023. The average number of butterflies seen per count fell from last year’s 12 to seven for each count this year and there was also the highest ever number of counts where no butterflies were seen (9,000).

Peacock butterflies counted fell in numbers in England by 66%.

While habitat loss and this year’s wet and initially cool summer must both be at least partly to blame for the dramatic drop in butterfly numbers, Butterfly Conservation is seriously concerned about the effects of pesticides. Head of Science at Butterfly Conservation, Dr Richard Fox, said that neonicotinoid pesticides used on farmland can contaminate the wild plants growing around the edges of fields, killing the butterflies and moths and their caterpillars that feed on them.

In an effort to protect future generations of butterflies (and of course, other insects), Butterfly Conservation is calling for a complete ban on neonicotinoid pesticides in the UK. (They were banned in 2018, but an exception was made for their use on sugar beet.) The request for the ban is being made in an open letter to the Secretary of State and they are asking UK residents to support that request by signing their letter. You can find the letter here. (And you can see the full report on butterfly numbers here.)

The photographs in this post weren’t taken this year, but in 2020 and 2021. This year there were very few butterflies in my garden, so I had very little chance to photograph any. Like many people this year, I noticed that my garden was unusually empty of butterflies, bees, and the other insects that I normally expect to see here. (The small tortoiseshell in my top photo was one of England’s worst-affected species with a drop of 72% from the numbers in last year’s count. Holly blue numbers fell in England by 80% and red admirals by 82%.)

I hope that those who can sign this letter will do so – it’s a small chance to do something that may help preserve all of our insects, not only the beautiful butterflies.

Comma butterfly — A comma butterfly looking a bit the worse for wear – their count fell by 51% in England this year.

Small Signs of Hope

September 8, 2024September 6, 2024 Ann Mackay13 Comments

This summer butterflies have been pretty much absent. However, this week there have been several flitting around the garden and feasting on the last of the buddleia flowers. There weren’t many, but they were very welcome and they brought with them the hope that there may be more butterflies next year.

The red admiral shown here was one of a group of five that found the only buddleia that was still flowering well. This particular plant is one that I had intended to remove, but had found it impossible to dig out. (I have a number of more attractively-coloured named varieties in the garden, so I had decided to remove some of the more ‘ordinary’ buddleias. This one is one of the progeny of a massive shrub that was in the garden when we arrived. It seems that its family line is destined to continue!)

The severe and later than usual cutting-back prevented this buddleia from flowering at the same time as the others. That turned out to be an advantage for this group of late butterfly visitors. Next year I’ll cut the buddleias back at slightly different times so that the flowers will be spread over a longer period. Then there should still be something to feed butterflies that arrive later on, rather than all the flowers being over by this time.

The red admirals briefly had a small tortoiseshell butterfly as a companion, but I suspect they chased it away. I spotted it feeding much higher up and too far away for me to be able to photograph it. (But you can see a photo from a previous year in this post.) This was the only small tortoiseshell I’ve seen this year.

Other interesting visitors to the garden this week were a couple of elephant hawk-moths and one of their caterpillars. (Found on a very small potted fuchsia. I brought the pot up to a much larger fuchsia and later noticed that the caterpillar had very obligingly transferred itself to the less vulnerable plant.) This is only the second time that I’ve seen elephant hawk-moths here, so I’m hoping that there will be more in the garden next year. 🦋

Missing: Butterflies…

August 4, 2024August 2, 2024 Ann Mackay19 Comments

‘Where are the butterflies this year?’ I’ve heard that question from many folk here in the UK this year. The rain and lack of warmth earlier in the summer have been blamed, especially after the previous very wet and windy weather in the spring.

It has become warmer and more summery recently but there still aren’t many butterflies around. At this time of year I take part in the ‘Big Butterfly Count’, run by the UK charity, Butterfly Conservation. Butterfly Conservation has reported that the numbers of butterflies recorded this year are the lowest ever in the 14 years of holding it. Although the poor weather has made it hard for butterflies to fly and to mate this year, their numbers have already been in decline in recent decades. Much of this is attributed to the loss of habitats, pesticides, and now a changing climate.

My photographs here were not taken this summer, but in previous years. There simply haven’t been enough times when I’ve seen butterflies in the garden to be able to photograph them. For my count here, it was noticeable that there was a huge drop in the numbers of those that are usually the commonest. There was only one peacock butterfly and no red admirals at all. (I have in the past seen a dozen peacock butterflies sunning themselves on our brick path and around the same number of red admirals feasting on a buddleia.)

For one particular butterfly – the gatekeeper (below) – there was actually a slight rise in numbers. This year I saw five of them during the 15-minute count. Last year I think it was three. (We are probably seeing more of these because we now have both blackberries and thyme in the garden for the adults to feed on.) Other butterflies – large white, small white, and comma (top photo) were sighted but, again, in fewer numbers. There was a single brimstone, which I’ve only seen once during a count, but no small tortoiseshell this year.

It’s not just a poor year for butterflies here, but for bees too. Normally there would be lots in the garden, but now there are very few. (Spring was good at one point, and I noticed that the ajuga was absolutely buzzing while it was in flower.) I hope that the insect numbers will be able to recover in warmer years, but I feel that I may need to do more to provide both habitat and food to encourage these visitors. In particular, I’d like to grow food plants that will be available over a longer period, especially for any late-arriving butterflies and bees. 🦋

Happy Christmas to You!

December 24, 2023December 18, 2023 Ann Mackay26 Comments

I hope that this Christmas, whether you celebrate it or not, will bring you happiness and wellbeing. It has been a busy year for us, so a time of good cheer and a little bit of indulgence will be welcome. (We value quieter Christmases these days – they give a great feeling of peace and time to just relax.)

Despite my usual frosty photo for Christmas, it looks as if we’ll see no frost or snow over this year’s festive period. Christmas day is forecast to be sunny, so time outside in the garden is a possibility. But there will be no hoar-frost photos like this one taken last December…a rest for the camera maybe!

However you spend Christmas, I hope that it’s a good one. Merry Christmas! I wish you joy. 🎄

From Very Little…

December 10, 2023December 7, 2023 Ann Mackay18 Comments

Frost has an amazing ability to enhance the smallest of garden details. It takes very little to allow it to create a fleeting beauty. Anything can suddenly become attractive when encrusted by these tiny, white crystals of ice.

The last of the year’s flowers, dried-out seed heads, leaves, or slender grasses stilled by the cold air – all are made much more interesting to look at by a touch of frost. These are the leaves of Pulsatilla vulgaris (pasqueflower). In spring they are soft and hairy and a delight to stroke. By winter those hairs have disappeared, giving the curving shapes of the deeply-cut leaves more prominence. To my mind, the dead and frosted leaves suggest the look of a woodcut image or engraved stone.

As I’m writing this, the ground is still frozen. Tomorrow, though, is forecast to be milder and rainy, so the magic of the frost will be gone from the garden. These leaves won’t last long once the frost has finished with them, but will be left limp and probably rather translucent. The frost will have helped them along their path of decomposition and their eventual contribution to the richness of the garden soil. 🍂