We have just returned from three days (extremely cleverly chosen!) in the Pembrokeshire sun. This was remarkably restorative . . . but not what I am talking about today.
A few days before we left, we had reason to drive over to Hereford which is a city we are finding we like more and more as we discover more of the bits which do not give the feel of a ten-lane motorway!
Our business concluded, we paid a visit to a fantastic little chinese restaurant for a delicious lunch that my taste buds have been yearning for since our last visit . . . and then had a bit of a wander round.
A street market housed many stalls selling plants but our attention was captivated by one selling entirely wild flowers. Apparently the people concerned have obtained permission from all the correct conservation agencies to visit beautiful places around for the purpose of harvesting seed. The results were extremely beautiful and we could have bought the whole place!
We did come away with a number of beautiful plants which we hope will join the rest of the wild flowers that come up undemanded and without any help from us in our uncontrolled domain.
I became fascinated by one plant and took it home - despite protestations from Frances about the wisdom of importing a plant well-known for being deadly poisonous!
Here, therefore, are a couple of photos of my lovely Monkshood or Wolfsbane. What deliciously gothic names those are . . . only improved upon by the sight of the plant itself. The hoods on the plants look like a group of wickedly conspiring clerics on an operatic stage while the leaves are clearly demanding of mediaeval masons to be immortalized on decorated capitals throughout the Cathedral.
Oh, I know, its just a weed . . .
