Hello my friends! 

How are you?!

I skipped last week because its been so sunny here its really quite distracting and I love it, the plants have tripled in size and I’ve already had ten different types of butterfly in the garden!

This week I thought I’d post another floral folklore, I’m always surprised by how folklore changes the way we interact with the plants around us so I’ve chosen three plants currently flowering in the wildspace all with purple-ish hues!

These lovely little Cuckoo flowers (Cardamine pratensis) pop up all over the garden in spring and they are so delicate, in English speaking countries they actually have a few other names – Lady’s smock/Mayflower or Milkmaids and are actually a member of the same plant family as cabbages!

Theres plenty of folklore surrounding these flowers (which I love) believe it or not it was thought that picking them would cause a thunderstorm or attract adders at the very least you’d be bitten by an adder within a year (having tried I can say neither of these options happened.) It was also super unlucky to bring them indoors so as not to upset and anger the fairies who love the flower too much to share them.

The flower’s name is thought to be related to its flowering time, which just so happens to coincide with the arrival of the cuckoo to the UK.

It’s a plant thats seen as a sign of life and rebirth bringing back warmth after winter and is traditionally used in Mayday garlands or bouquets.

Excitingly they are also one of the favourite caterpillar food plants of Orange tip butterflies.

Another of my favourite plants are Chives (Allium schoenoprasum), Marco Polo was said to have documented finding chives during his adventures as they grow widely across Europe and Asia, which I think is so cool.

In olden-day Europe chives were hung around the home to ward off evil spirits and ghosts, even the romans were said to have carried dried bunches of chives for protection. Medieval gardeners believed that they would also repel aphids (this doesn’t work!).

Many people believe that the purple coloured flowers bring good fortune and in Dutch folklore chives were planted along footpaths for prosperity, which was a rather lovely tradition that lasted until the 19th century.

As a child I used to think that one chive seed magically produced a whole pot of chives! (Sadly it doesn’t and my brother still makes fun of me for it!) Chives are said to have protective properties and add a pop of colour as a food garnish with a delicate onion taste. The flower of the chive plant is also called blossom pom-poms.

A few days ago I was even visited by the first Painted Lady butterfly of the year, she was most accommodating and even posed on said chive plants!

Thirdly I have Granny’s bonnet (Aquilegia vulgaris) an easy-to-grow hardy perennial wildflower, also known as common columbine they come in a wide range of colours including purple, blue, pink, yellow, white or a mix, interestingly these flowers self-seed freely, often cross with other varieties to hybridise and produce new colours.

They are another plant with many names Granny’s bonnet/Columbine/Doves-at-the-fountain.

Folklore-wise these wildflowers are said to be loved by elves who fashioned them to be a vessel for their nectar and in Christianity they are linked to the Holy Spirit and to the dove of peace.

Strangely this plant had a few medicinal remedies including for the plague, measles and sore throats…its roots are actually extremely poisonous, better just to look at it instead!

Well there we have it three pretty flowers with associated quirks and folklore. I really hope you enjoyed this floral post. 

As always thank you so much for reading my friends, and have a lovely week!