I have been away in a hot place, Oman, so these notes will have to be brief. On my departure the winter aconite was coming into flower on the lawn, and on my return, three weeks later, they were already over, and snowdrops were out on the verge opposite, most of them still tight. The hazel catkins on the verge were now yellow and pugging with pollen. Winter aconite is the first wildflower of the year, and normally out by mid-January. Its single golden-yellow flower sits on a curl of sepals that give it the folk name of ‘choirboy’s ruff’. The flowers are said to open only when the air temperature approaches ten degrees Centigrade, which is also the temperature when overwintering bees can fly. Winter aconite is not a native flower, but it does occur fully wild just across the Channel, so it’s not surprising it does well here, spreading mainly by budding from its underground tubers. Actual aconite is another name for monkshood, and winter aconite acquired its name because of the resemblance of its leaves to that plant. They are not in fact closely related, though both contain heart poisons known as glycosides.
I know of at least one lawn in the village which usually sprouts a good crop of shiny, colourful toadstools known as waxcaps. Depending on the species they can be yellow, orange, red, green, or even purple. One of them is a distinctive bright pink, and because its cap flares and splits as it grows, it is known as The Ballerina. This is a rare fungus in Europe, and there may be more of it in rainy Britain than in the rest of the continent combined. Hence, I was delighted to hear that the Ballerina has appeared on at least one lawn in the village, a real feather in our cap!
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