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Devon’s Spring Flowers

Our Artist in Residence, Shelley Castle shares her thoughts on Devon's Spring flowers...

I was interested to discover that the humble primrose is Devon’s chosen ‘County flower’ and to me they seem in their finest this year, as if the long winter has put rocket fuel into them.  With such a crazily optimistic colour, there can’t be many people who don’t get a kick out of seeing a bank covered in the creamy yellow blooms.  Every single year since we moved from London’s East End, I’m amazed to see the sheer number of different wild flowers covering Devon’s banks and verges. It’s also heartening when, amidst rather a lot of gloomy stories about the natural world, you see the birds in their finest fettle and the swallows returning.  All reasons to celebrate and really notice this incredible part of the country we live in, and at this time of year things are calling for our attention with showy displays of colour and song.

But there are practical ways in which our attention can be put to use - many organisations are asking for us to assist the scientists in their quest for more information about the natural world.  From helping bees with your garden planting, to twitching with a clipboard or counting wild flowers, we can all help keep an eye on what’s happening out there, both in our backyard and in the wider world.  This will not only provide useful information on the state of our countryside, but help us all reconnect with what makes our home so amazing.

See the following:
www.plantlife.org.uk//things_to_do/wildflowers_count
www.foe.co.uk/what_we_do/the_bee_cause_home_map_39371.html
www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw/about