I've just returned from an hour in the dentist's chair and am still shaking! I am the world's worst wuss when it comes to dentists, no amount of rescue remedy helps and I'm not sure what is upsetting me most right now, the thought of further treatment or my complete inability to pay for it - both thoughts fill me with dread.
So I'm in need of pretty and the garden is full of it at the moment.
We went to a Springwatch event this weekend and were able to buy some lovely plants at good prices. Last year Big Sister went and brought home lots of wildflower seeds for me. Here is the result, well it's more of a work in progress, my mini meadow:
It is such a pretty thing but so hard to photograph. Full of ox eye daisies, ragged robin, buttercups and other wildflowers waiting on the sidelines. It does prove that you really do not need that much space to enjoy the beauty of flowers and in particular my favourite wildflowers. I also found the little window box in the road so the whole thing was free!
Wildflowers really particularly appeal to me, probably the romantic side of me. I love the folklore attached to them and will spend a very happy hour or two browsing through books on the countryside and herbal lore.
The lovely pink ragged robin is also known as Cuckoo Flower, Meadow Spink, Polly Baker, Shaggy Jacks and Bachelor's Buttons and the Thunder Flower.
Folklore has it that men would carry the plant in their pockets and they would be successful in love, so the story goes, only if the plant thrived or not. By the 1600s girls carried the plant as well under their aprons, giving each plant the name of a local boy. The flower that opened first would bear the name of the boy she would marry or who wanted to marry her.
The beautiful ox eye daisy is known to repel certain insects and has been mixed with animal bedding in farms to keep insects away! It is used herbally to help with conjunctivitis, coughs, asthma and ulcers amongst other things.
One of the many things that watching Springwatch has taught me is that there is so much nature right on our doorstep. Our gardens are full of birds, insects etc and as for the flowers, well, it has taught me that walking around the garden and looking out for the showier plants to bloom, I can still cut armfuls of these:
and be more than happy with the results.
The orange flowers are wildflowers I bought on Sunday, Fox and cubs or orange hawkweed. They really are the burnished orange of a fox. Apparently they grow well on railway cuttings and roadside slopes.
It is the quieter, less showy and flamboyant plants that are now catching my eye - but I'll never say no to a rose!
I need to go and search through my books now for herbal remedies for my poor teeth and perhaps invest in a money plant or two!
41 comments:
Poor you! The thought of going to the dentist fills me with terror!
Love your flowers.Wild ones are beautiful. I grew foxgloves last year that are just out now, and my gargen is so full and pretty with them at the moment.
Have just bought Kate Rusby tickets for Tunbridge Wells in October so she is obviously touring again
X
I truly love going to the dentist. I must be crazy!!
It amazes me how you British always know the proper names for flowers. I know a rose, hydrangea and rhododendron; everything else is "flower"!! Just a lovely garden, sweetpea.......come over and visit to view pix I took yesterday of hubbys roses...... Very pretty...
Smoochies,
Connie
oh you poor thing, I hate the dentist too, hope you are feeling better soon!
Uh-oh -- did that mean ol' dentist threaten you with mashed potatoes??? Your flowers are beautiful! There's so much information to know about flowers and their lore -- it's amazing!
Sorry to hear about the dentist Kim, not a pleasant experience. I love all the flower photos and info. that was very interesting, thanks for sharing that. I've just ordered The Fortnight In September after reading your comments below, it can join my pile of books to be read!
Oh Kim.. you are a much braver woman than I..
I even cancelled my last appointment with the dentist.. though it is not the dentist I fear but the hygienist.. she is so brutal!
I hope your ordeal will be over soon both financially and physically!
I am very fond of wildflowers and I love your little insights into the folklore of each plant..
Ox eye daises are my favourite this month.. there are huge drifts of them nearby and I am always tempted to pick them..
My mother had a book that I loved called 'Feed your Face' with many herbal remedies.. I will see if I can find it!
Michelexx
The flowers are all so pretty! The dentist is not one of my favourites either - especially if an injection is in order...shudder...
Jayne
Hi Kim,I'm not keen on going to the dentist even though ours is lovely and I havent needed a filling for 15 years!I dread the day I do need one!
Love the garden pictures.The flowers look so sweet in that little jar.
Thanks for the Etsy advice I'm going to take you up on your dare in the next few weeks! I can't resist!
Rachel x
Ohh! The dentist! Hubby just broke a molar last week, so he, too, is off to the dentist!
Thank you for your sweet blog comment! I LOVE your wildflowers! My parents gave me lots of wildflower seed packets recently. I want to plant them but it is so hot here, I'm afraid the seeds will just scorch themselves in the sun (or at least I will)! =)
Ouch, sorry to hear about the dentist.
I love your wildflower pot though - we tried one (AGAIN) this year but it's not nearly as successful as yours!
What a pretty posy and home grown too. Perfect! Hope you've recovered a bit. I loathe the dentist too despite years of treatment for shockingly crooked teeth. Don't envy you. Plenty of ice-cream always made me feel tons better - the chocolatier the better
Stephx
The thought of the dentist fills me with dread but a visit is a necessary evil.
Love your posy of wildflowers.
Hi Kim,
i am due a dentist visit on thursday... so i really emphathise.
On a nicer note, what a great wildflower post... lovely. I have the same geraniums as you. The bright blue one is so vibrant isn't it? My favourite wildflowers at the moment are the oxeye daisies... i love seeing them grow in wild places. The folklore asociated with plants also interests me ... a bit of a romantic too!
x
Thank goodness for the pretty flowers after reading about an hour in the dentist chair...well I am shaking...hope all is well.
You poor thing! A trip to the dentist is never a party.
Your flowers are lovely - pretty bouquet you made! Spring is late here this year and we are still shivering and waiting for the first poppies, peonies etc.
I hope you feel better tomorrow - and then win a lottery to pay the bill!
Beautiful blooms. And I'm w/ you on the dentist. I must go too. Soon. Big bucks and big time fear. YUKKKKK...
We are kindred spirits in the dentist department. I have an appointment with a specialist next week and it costs me the first 100 euro just to open my mouth and let him look in. And then I get to pay for the actual procedure later. So no France this year. Oh well. It would not be so bad if I was not so incredibly frightened to go. Jos has to take off work to be with me. Good news is that today is my last day of antibiotics and I am no longer in any pain after suffering for 3 months. Fingers crossed this painfree moment lasts. Okay more than you wanted to know right!?!
I have to giggle that you saved me looking up the name of a wildflower. We have those pink ragged robin all over the garden at Cranberry Cottage. I wanted to look up what they are. They are so beautiful and plentiful. They keep seeding in the way of the garden path though and I have to pull some of them. I too love wildflowers and we have let them go where they want (within reason) around our garden. It is the pleasure of living on the wood's edge.
I can't believe you got the pretty windowbox for free too! It now has a great home with you. The flowers in it are amazing.
Hugs ~
Heidi
Wild flowers are teo be treasured, so many are now almost extinct. Even ones that i remember from my childhood are difficult to find.
I love Campion and scabious, and in the spring to see a bank of wild Cowslips is wonderful.
thank you for those lovely photos.
Oh dear, poor your. I hope you've got over the dentist trip by now. I hate going and haven't been for far too long because of not finding a decent one when I was in London. Now I've moved I really need to find one. Love those wild flowers. I've really been enjoying all the beautiful wild flowers that I see from the train everyday, particularly wild roses rambling through the hedgerows and all the buttercups. Really enjoyed reading some of your old stories of wild flowers.
You have my heartfelt sympathy dentists and their needles and drills scare me to bits. But your flowers are gorgeous and more than make up for the less than gorgeous weather outside. I love your "vase" too - just right for your wild flowers.
I have a crippling fear of going to the dentist, and now, I'm in desperate need of getting my wisdom teeth extracted.........I've been putting it off!
On a lighter note: I love wildflowers!
I love the recycled vase as well as the flowers- the colours on the label really complement the flowers. Love the old folklore about the wild flowers too, thats just the sort of stuff that I love reading about!x
Beautiful photos, my favorites are the beautiful blue star like ones!
Sandra Evertson
Those wild flowers look so lovely in the little window box - as though they'd seeded themselves. It's such a great time of year for flowers. I think certain 'weeds' - buttercups, a bit of cow parsley, a few oats look great in a garden - I let them seed themselves a bit round mine and they look lovely.
I got off lightly with my dentist visit. Luckily it was a tooth that had already had had root canal work, so no pain. Dentist rebuilt it for me. Assured me the other teeth look ok.
Good luck with a money plant! Love the wild flowers, so pretty.
oh they are just lovely! and i hate the dentist, who really is a perfectly nice guy, as well.
Hi Kim, I spent most of the day inside, even though it was a beautiful & warm day!??...So when I got to your blog tonight, what a treat!!! Flowers, color & wonderful words!....You made my day!...talk to you soon, Heidi :)
P.S. I have exactly the same enamelware bowl in your first photo! LOve it!
Hi Kim, I visit the dentist with trepidation too, I never know what they are going to come up with next? I have had a lot of dental treatment in the past so I can really sympathise with you, not only the uncomfortableness of it all, but the financial side too. On visiting Great Dixter I was only saying how if I had a lawn I would turn it over to meadow. It has a great effect and encourages so much wildlife. x
Hi, Kim! Hope you are feeling much better now...No doubt these gorgeous blooms have been helping! Soooo pretty...Happy Day ((HUGS)) Oh, stop by if you can, I'm having a little gift giveaway! :o)
If you get your money plant to grow please share it's seeds lol
Poor hun, I hate the dentist too, they where so mean to me when I pregant with Molly making me wiat twos in pain until I got treated and then that was by a private one at the nice price of £40.
I need to go but keep putting it off. Can we be wusses together? lol
Hugs.
Catherine x
i don't like the dentist either, i do like your mini meadow though
Lisa x
I used to cry when I went to the dentist but I have got a bit better in recent years.
Lovely photos.
Racheal x
Hi Kim,
Sorry - I've been off the blogging circuit for a while - I hope you've recovered from your trip to the dentist!
I am a lover of wild flowers too - I remember always writing my school topics about them - thanks for sharing the folklore stories. And doesn't your mini meadow look perfect in it's tub? Maybe you could start selling wild flower seeds to cover the cost of your next visit to the dentist?!
Niki x
Poor you - I always cry at the dentist and he thinks I am crazy - but I just hate it SO much ....
I also visited the dentist this week but only for a check up. I hate going too. I much prefer a bunch of wild flowers in a jam jar than a huge bouquet all neatly arranged. I didn't know Ragged Robin had so many other names. Have a lovely weekend.
Ruth
Ohhh gorgeous flowers. I don't mind the dentist either, our dentist is sooooo lovely and when he had to extract a HUGE back tooth he told me I was very brave - didn't give me any of the Thomas stickers that Twiglet gets though - harumph !
Twiggy x
I love wild flowers, when I visited my mum recently in Cornwall we were admiring the flowers up on the headland and reminiscing about my love of flowers as a child. I used to press flowers and I knew many of the names, I can remember feeling so pleased when I identified another flower from my guidebook. Long forgotton now of course, I could vaguely name some of the flowers I saw last week but I'm out of prectice.
I don't mind going to the dentist but I do mind the fact that we have to go every 6 months just to stay on their books as an NHS patient! If you don't go they remove you from their list and there seems to be no chance of finding a new one. Grrr....
I hate the dentist too!
The flowers are absolutely gorgeous, especially the orange ones.
I'm not keen on dentisits either but have gone regularly all my life, I'm lucky in having a wonderful young Irishman who is probably the world's best dentist!
The wildflowers are so lovely, I love Fox and Cubs even though it spreads like wildfire, it's such a lovely vibrant orange.
Ragged Roses! What a lovely name. I was attracted to your Blog a) by your location and b) by your glorious photography. My last effort was very misty: I must buy a better camera. I am an Australian grandmother but I'm a Pom (born in the UK) and I went to Teachers' Training College in Brighton ( a long time ago). Your seascapes are very evocative. To learn more about my present seaside life (in verse) try
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/
Brenda Bryant
Watching and photographing the flowers is a great way to relieve the pain and stress, dear. They're especially helpful after a visit to the dentist. Best of all, it's free. You just need your trusty digital camera. Great photos, by the way!
Bianca Jackson
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