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Wednesday 9 May 2018

Mayflowers don't need a notice board

Our grass verges are always mown with traditional regularity but this year the first cut was much later than usual. What a surprise then to see the number of Mayflowers along the whole avenue and elsewhere, that have never been seen in decades.

It couldn't last of course. Today the workers moved in. I wish I could say the mowing was done with determination. But it was all done without passion as the cut Mayflowers were trodden into the ground.

Elsewhere, Councillors are investing in spraying areas of ground to sow colourful (but not necessarily native) annual displays. They are very proud of these and place notice boards to inform the public of their good deeds.

Perhaps Mayflowers aren't colourful enough, or maybe no-one recognises them anymore. They are gone now, with a sigh of relief that order is restored.

The Botanist of earlier times was known as a "Looker-Out". A good description for a world now forgotten.

But I know where the Mayflowers are.

                                               
 
                                                         Good to look at the flowers                                                 

                                                                But not for long

And now they are gone


1 comment:

  1. Not only destroying a fleeting bloom of flowers, the method is to leave the cuttings to lie, so when they are pulled back into the soil by worms, the soil gets richer, and the grass gets lusher, needs more cutting.

    If the cuttings were raked off and taken away to make compost, the soil on the verges would get poorer and eventually better able to support a much richer variety of flowers, many of which can't compete with lush grass.

    There is a wide verge on the right of the way into the Halifax Railway Station which currently has a lot of Cuckoo Flower blooming in it. Also there are a few Mullein plants in the corner by the traffic lights. I have also seen on previous years Cinnabar Moth flying over this border. Urban biodiversity!

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