Scorchio, Chilly Saints, Brilli-Ant, Bluebell Bounty & Welsh Scarlets

Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
3^rd May 2025

Scorchio

So, April departs and May arrives amid a ‘scorchio’ week. I know we don’t seem to see an awful lot of sunshine any more but I must admit my new favourite things are clouds. The sighs of relief when a cloud goes over the sun whilst in work always happen in unison.

We were discussing the ‘dimming of the sun’ last week too. It seems to be topical. After having to be convinced that it wasn’t ‘fake news’, it transpires that apparently British scientists are going to experiment with techniques to block, or ‘dim’, sunlight as part of a £50 million government funded scheme to attempt to combat global warming. Whilst I encourage you to look it up, I have just resigned myself to being way out of the loop these days – the ‘fruit loop’, maybe.

Whilst some people adore the sun, and others, like me, now prefer clouds, there are others who suffer from ‘sunshine guilt’. This refers to the feelings of self-reproach or guilt that some people feel by staying indoors whilst the sun is shining, and not making the most of it. Apparently it stems from a perceived obligation to get out and enjoy the heatwaves and make the most of the sunshine by visiting the seaside, barbequing, sunbathing, socialising, and so on. We are a complex lot aren’t we.

Chilly Saints

I know we are only just tiptoeing into May but if I don’t tell you now I’ll only forget. The middle of May is traditionally said to see the ‘tail of winter’. This means we can expect a short cold snap in a fortnight or so. This is also backed up by ‘Chilly Saints’ being on the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th of May. Also known as the Three Icemen of Spring and the Three Frost Saints, the three were St. Mamertus, St. Pancras and St. Servatius, whose deaths are celebrated on the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th of May respectively.

This is all associated with ‘safe planting’ times, meaning that as Jack Frost could make late debut during the Three Icemen of Spring days, tender young plants are best not planted out until after these dates.

Dad would never plant anything vulnerable outside, including bedding plants, until the end of May. 50 years on and things seem to have changed a bit weather-wise, but technically there is still a chance of damaging frosts until the end of the month. Hence the saying, ‘Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May is out’, although, in these temperatures, I suspect most people will have.

Brilli-Ant

I heard the cuckoo last week – in several different locations. As a youngster, the cuckoo always used to return to the back of my nan’s orchard in late spring and I recall great excitement when it was first heard. That excitement continues, 50 or more years later.

The cuckoo is such an incredible bird – although they all are really. Going off on a tangent a bit, I recently read that crows will deliberately disturb a red ants nest to cover themselves in the ‘hot’ little insects which then sting, or spray the ‘threat’ (the crow) with formic acid. This chemical is a natural defence for the little ants but also acts as an anti-parasitic medicine for a poorly crow.

Smaller birds have been seen to hold a single ant in its beak and rub it over it’s body, or lie in a bed of ants and wallow as though dust bathing, for the same reason.

I have never understood the term ‘bird brain’ being used as a derogatory expression as although a bird’s brain may be small it seems to be more useful than many a human one.

Bluebell Bounty

Of course my ‘current’ favourite flower is the bluebell, which is also known as the cuckoo flower as they bloom at the same time as the cuckoo returns.

The blue carpets are stunning this year. There is a lot of stigma associated with the Spanish bluebells, which threaten to ‘crowd out’ our native beauties. The Spanish ones are easily spotted as they are so much bigger, scentless, have much larger leaves and have green or blue pollen, as opposed to the narrow leaves and cream coloured pollen of our own native ones. The flowers are also different with the native ones flowering on one side of a drooping stem. But the most likely way the Spanish invaders are betrayed is that they are available in white and pink whereas our natives are only blue. Or at least I thought they were until I read that very, very occasionally you will see a white native bluebell amid the blue carpets. Very seldom seen, these ‘whitebells’ are steeped in magical folklore. Some think that they only bloom where a soul has slipped silently into the woods, others think that they mark fairy graves or only grow where a vow was broken and therefore represent a silent sorrow.

If you are visiting bluebell woods and other sites, please tread carefully and as tempting as it is to stray off the paths to take photos, remember that crushing bluebells underfoot is said to disturb the ‘elders’ sleeping beneath them. It is also worth remembering that folklore has it that the spirits of bluebells are capable of kidnapping naughty children.

And thank you to Steve Thomas for taking one of my most favourite photos ever of me and Yogi in a bluebell wood.

Welsh Scarlets

I have noticed a lot of colourful little caterpillars around my own garden recently. I think they are the caterpillars of the Scarlet Tiger Moth, which was once a scarce moth, but now – and judging by the amount I have – are making a successful come-back.

The eye-catching black and yellow caterpillars are often found in groups and feed on many wild plants, like borage, comfrey, green alkanet and nettles, which is probably why they seem to see my garden as a caterpillar café.

It would also make sense as last year I had an abundance of the striking and aptly named Scarlet Tiger moths in the garden, often basking in the sunshine on the stone flagstones in the back yard.