Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
17th September 2022
The King and The Calendar
I met Prince Charles (as he was then) in 2001. He was extremely welcoming, had the most amazing twinkly blue eyes and our conversation was both unexpected and humorous.
I was introduced to him at The Autumn Fair at the Royal Welsh Showground where he accepted a copy of a slightly risqué charity calendar that I created and featured in.
I raised over £5,000 for the Arc Addington Fund during the Foot and Mouth crisis, and raised more than a few eyebrows as our highly improbable exchange was featured extensively in the national press.
Due to recent events I will probably not repeat any of that conversation again. But nor will I ever forget it.
Memorable Ceremony
Last Thursday evening I was speaking at, and presenting awards at the Crickhowell High School ‘Excellence through Endeavour’ Award Ceremony, and it was a very poignant place to be when the evening was appropriately interrupted with the news of the Queen’s passing.
The students I met, and stories I heard of their excellent endeavours, during the evening were both hugely inspirational and uplifting.
I felt very proud to be a small part of it and it won’t be difficult to recall when asked in years to come, “Where were you when you heard the news that the Queen had passed?”
Berry Versatile
I have been incorporating blackberry picking into many of my daily Yogi walks for the last couple of weeks. I’m pleasantly surprised by just how much fruit there is in the hedgerows and orchards this year despite the chronic drought conditions. As well as utilising some of my haul for pies and chutney, I also pick berries to freeze to feed the birds in the winter. And I also treat my hens to some too. They adore them, along with elderberries and some of the outdoor grapes I have growing along some trelliswork.
If you are intending to go black-berrying, remember that they are considered to be inedible after the end of the month, or more specifically, St Michael’s Day on the 29th. This is because folklore has it that the Devil was thrown out of heaven by St Michael and landed in a blackberry bush. He cursed the bramble bush that broke his fall, and possibly his pride, and it is believed that as a result all blackberries are unpalatable after St Michael’s Day.
As well as the more traditional recipes for blackberries, do consider some of the less conventional options, including blackberry leather – a delicious fruity chewy snack, blackberry and elderberry cordial (or vodka), chocolate and blackberry preserve, fermented blackberry soda, blackberry barbecue sauce, blackberry and cream cheese spread and – with no relevance to the mobile phones whatsoever – Apple and Blackberry sauce.
Acquired Scents
I was reminded what a useful and hard-working little plant Houttuynia cordata ‘Chameleon’ is this week as I saw it in all it’s glory in a client’s garden. They only planted it next to their new pond in the spring and it is already providing a great ‘edge’ and excellent ground cover. It has also been totally unnerved by the drought conditions we’ve had.
Pronounced as “Who-tiny-a”, Dad used to call it “Hootin’ Annie” – we had our own ‘names’ for loads of plants – and he couldn’t bear the smell, to the point that he would always get someone else to plant it. Similarly, the one shrub my brother will never plant or prune, because of his hatred of the smell, is Choisya.
Houttuynia has a long list of common names, as well as Hootin’ Annie, which include fish mint, fish leaf, rainbow plant, chameleon plant, heart leaf, fish wort, and Chinese lizard tail. Despite the plant liking damp and even partly submerged conditions, the fish references are not due to its love of water, but the fact that the leaf has an unusual taste that is often described as ‘fishy’. In China and Japan it is commonly grown and used as a leafy vegetable and herb garnish.
In this country, it is also known as the ‘Orange Peel Plant’, because the leaves give off a strong orange scent if crushed. I’m not sure I would agree with that description, and I know dad wouldn’t have, but interestingly Choisya’s common name ids Mexican orange Blossom and it is often described as having an ‘orange scent’. I don’t agree with that either but funny that my dad and brother dislike both scents so strongly.
Houttuynia ‘Chameleon’ is best known for its vivid variegated foliage, in shades of green, yellow and red, and with simple white flowers in early summer. It really is stunning, as well as being easy to grow, spreading quickly, so is a good plant for ground cover. However, it is worth remembering that it is also considered to be an invasive plant because of its ability to re-grow rhizomes from any segment of its foliage. For that reason, it’s best kept in a pot if you do not want it to spread.
It also has antiviral, antibacterial, immuno-stimulant and other anti-inflammatory effects, which has led it to being widely used in the pharmaceutical industry and not surprisingly makes it a favourite plant in folk medicine.
I would highly recommend you smell it before buying to see if you can stand the strong smell in the garden. Dad may have hated it but Yogi obviously doesn’t mind it.
Brilliant.
Your writing skills neve diminish and improve each year.
You have lead an interesting and exciting life and thrilled you are a friend.