Country diary: Wenlock Edge: A flash of white that offers something more than hope

Wenlock Edge: The pulse quickens at the first signs of spring – bluesy speedwells, forget-me-nots and, most heartening of all, white violetsIn woodland shadow, a flash of white, the only thing that can't be mistaken for the earliest violet. In his poem, But These Things Also, Edward Thomas wrote about being drawn to white things – snail's shell, bird dropping, "mite of chalk" – in his search for violets. Here too, a fool in April scuffs the ground bristling with a rude green of dog's mercury and wild garlic, finding knucklebones of limestone, shards of crock, flakes of jug enamel, while overhead is a blizzard of wild cherry and blackthorn blossom.There are luscious purples and lilacs of sweet, dog and hairy violets; bluesy speedwells and forget-me-nots pale as sky. But it's the white violet flowers that reward those who, as Thomas put it, "seek through Winter's ruins / Something to pay...

Read the whole article on The Guardian - Science

More from The Guardian - Science

Related