Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
30th August 2025
‘Ber’ Months are Here
It’ll come as no surprise as we get ready to leave August, that the Met Office is predicting the warmest summer on record – although, despite the four heat waves, no temperature records were broken. The highest temperature this year was 36 degrees (in Kent), quite a way below the highest temperature in 2022 of 41 degrees. I remember that well. We actually took a day off work due to the heat.
Whilst many are predicting long hot summers will become the norm, a report published last month by Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, advises that, ‘we can now expect events such as this every 6 years instead of every 60.’ The boys (I use the term loosely, they can all touch 60 on the nose) in work are adamant that it will rain solidly next year to ‘make up for this year’, but if there’s one thing that’s certain about the weather – it’s that there is no certainties.
And on Monday we’ll be in the first of the four ‘ber’ months, Septem-ber. Already. I wonder what sort of weather they’ll bring.
Chandel-ishious
I was up-cycling and recycling way before it was trendy to do so, and have always enjoyed a good rifle through a ‘decent’ skip – as opposed to a builders skip, as they are literally full of ‘rubbish’. The most productive skips are the ones where people are moving house or just having a good clear out.
Although, I am reliably informed by a friend who works in London, that the best skips to rifle through are in the posher parts of London.
A few years ago she totally refurnished her house here in Wales with the eclectic contents of several Chelsea and Kensington skips. She did ask permission to remove the goodies – including an ornate Indian carved front door, a beautiful velvety chaise lounge, and gold bath taps – as it is illegal to take things out of a skip without asking. That’s stealing.
As the saying goes, ‘One (wo)man’s rubbish is another (wo)man’s treasure’, and my most recent treasured find was a discarded chandelier in one of my client’s skips. I’m not really a chandelier type of girl – in the house, anyway – but I fitted some solar light bulbs into the holders and have hung it outside in the garden, where it looks really funky.
After admiring it, a neighbour found an inexpensive chandelier at Tesco (other supermarkets/stores are available) and has done the same. She is lucky enough to have a big tree to hang hers from, and has put it next to a swinging ‘egg chair’. It all looks fabulous and very Alice-in-Wonderland.
Lords and Ladies
Also a bit Alice-in Wonderlandy are these beautiful Lords and Ladies berries (in the photos) that Yogi and I have walked past each morning for the last few weeks. The sun shining on them last week meant I had to take a photo.
The Jury is out as to whether Lords and Ladies is a weed or garden plant. It can become invasive but that also makes it useful for heavily shaded areas where not much else will grow. It likes moist, fertile soil – which is the reason it does well under a dense tree canopy, and the blackbirds and thrushes love its bright orange berries at this time of year.
In the spring it is equally as conspicuous, but this time by its unusual hooded ‘flower’ that cwtches a prominent spike or point. Its Latin name is Arum maculatum – it’s related to the arum lily – and it has several common names as well as Lords and Ladies, including Cuckoo Pint (because it flowers when the cuckoo arrives) and Jack-in-the-Pulpit (for obvious reasons when you see the hooded flower).
The Lords and Ladies title is thought to come from the flowering plant resembling male and female genitalia and copulation. However another common name is ‘Starch-root’ as the plant’s root was used to make laundry starch, so the ‘lords and ladies’ name may have referred to its use for starching the ruffs worn around the necks of the gentry during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
The Italian arum (A. italicum) and its widely grown cultivar ‘Marmoratum’ look very similar to Lords-and-Ladies, but have decorative, marbled, white-veined leaves. Although often deliberately planted in gardens as an ornamental plant, these plants can also spread enthusiastically and I have often seen the two plants growing cheerfully together.
I like them, but if you don’t want your ‘Lords and Ladies’ to spread then simply ‘take charge’, pulling up what you don’t want and remove the berries before they go to seed.
Make sure you wear gloves though, as all parts of the plant are toxic. Except to birds.
Wild about Wildlife
Next Thursday (4th) is National Wildlife Day and was established in 2005 by Colleen Paige, an animal behaviourist and philanthropist.
The day was originally celebrated in February, but the date was later moved to September 4th to honour the late Steve Irwin’s birthday. Steve was a legendary wildlife conservationist, known for his passion and dedication to protecting animals and who tragically died in 2006 after being ‘stung’ (or pierced) by a stingray, whilst filming in the Great Barrier Reef.
However, to encourage as much action and traction as possible, February 22nd also remains a designated day of awareness. And of course, World Wildlife Day is on 3rd March every year. They are all used to promote the importance, and the conservation, of wildlife – but as I say about most of these things, every day should be used for that.
Tea Treat
And finally, you know how I love little pops of synchronicity and ‘signs’ – if I see 11:11, or any similar repeating numbers, on a clock I think it’s a sign that everything is going to be OK.
I recently ordered some Bi Luo Chun green tea (renown for it’s health benefits) online, only to find that it comes from www.theuklooseleafteacompany.co.uk who are based in Brecon – just up the road. I noticed they also offer Welsh Breakfast Tea and, after listening to customer feedback, now have a brand new flavour of black tea which they have called ‘Welsh Afternoon Tea’. I don’t know what they taste like but they would make great talking points. What I do know is that the service was excellent and after a week of ‘taking tea’, I can highly recommend both the company and the Bi Luo Chun tea.
Leave a Reply