Forest of flowers

Angelica archangelica

Angel's wings

The angelica heads are reaching maturity and attracting a diverse range of winged insects. Harlequin ladybirds are common, if not dominant now.

Architectural Flavour

 

Angelica's one of those plants that looks great all the time, even when it's dead and its skeleton stands defiantly through the winter. In May, it often attracts large iridescent beetles, but it's starting to look like a poor year for insects. It's worth making crystallised angelica at least once, mostly for cake decoration and it might be an idea to use it to flavour gin.

Six of the best

 

Decorative and / or useful early spring flowers; bluebells, apple blossom, broad bean, angelica, tulip and comfrey.

Bee friendly

Architecturally significant

Angelica archangelica

Used for all kinds of culinary, medicinal and recreational purposes, the angelica plants have flowered several weeks earlier than usual this year.

Wikipedia: Angelica

Mid May

Weevil Watch

Looks like weevils have been having a chomp on the broad bean leaves. It's not as serious a problem as the blackfly will be.



Cleared a patch of forget-me-nots and planted out some more peas.



Angelica's shot up and flowered early.



Still harvesting lots of broccoli, spinach and lettuce.

Angelica

I was only expecting the angelica to last two years. This is part of one which was growing at home and I divided, three years ago. Perhaps this is the last year. We made crystallised angelica from the stems a few years ago.

Rosehips

A cycle along the muddy towpath up the river Avon towards Keynsham. Past the boathouse and shortly after, three rowing eights. On through puddles with no edges, spattered and speckled, to Hanham weir. Glad I got my sloes a couple of weeks ago, as the bushes in the field opposite the chocolate factory were almost bare. A whiff of coal smoke at the boatyard, anglers by the river bends, canoes upstream.
"What do you do with those?" enquires a woman by the wooden bridge over the inlet, where I pick rosehips. Emboldened by Hugh Fearnley-Wotsit's recipes in a weekend magazine, I spout off.

Caked and hot, nine miles from home, I've chanced my luck against a puncture from a blackthorn, hawthorn, thistle or flint.
I make my way up to the cyclepath, where it crosses the Avon and return home.

Make a few small bottles of rosehip syrup from 500 gms rosehips, 500 gms caster sugar and a litre of water. It really does taste like mango, as HF-W wrote.