Autumn Comes to Reg's Meadow

"Oh dear, that's the end of the Meadow flowers for this year" I thought as I walked through the gap in the hedge to take the photographs for this page and was faced with a sea of dead-looking brown foliage. I expected to be struggling for material but found instead that there is still plenty of life and colour left in Reg's Meadow in September.

Hairy Snail

There is a definite feel of autumn in the early morning air. The leaves are wet with dew or overnight rain and down at ground level everything looks fresh and green. Along the paths the slugs are on the prowl looking for a tasty snack and there are many tiny, differently coloured snails on plant stalks or exploring the lids of the vole boxes.

 

Marjoram

Marjoram is still in flower right across the meadow, ranging in colour from a deep maroon-red to palest pink. When the sun comes out you can see a distinct tinge of purple amid the brown. The leaves of marjoram and some other plants are taking on an attractive, reddish tinge as autumn approaches. Everything is going to seed, each plant with its own individual method and shape. Some plants are almost as attractive in seed head form as they were in flower - among the most striking are Great Plantain, Knapweed, Musk Mallow and Wild Carrot.

 

Plaintain	Knapweed	Musk Mallow	Wild Carrot

Poppy	Wild Hawkbit

There are quite a lot of Poppies, providing splashes of bright red colour, while yellow is still in evidence in small patches of Birds Foot Trefoil and the single, hairy, dandelion-like flowers of Rough Hawkbit. Completing the palate of primary colours, there are still a few bright blue Clustered Bellflowers in bloom.

 

Cranefly

There are noticeably fewer insects in the meadow this month. The grasshoppers can hardly be heard any more and the meadow sounds strangely quiet after the continuous buzz and hum of insects during the summer months. There are still a few small daytime moths but the butterflies are disappearing.

In their place are many slender,

Bumble Bee in Wild Carrot Seed Head	Bumble Bee

leggy crane-flies, or daddy-long-legs, blundering around erratically or hanging from the plant stems and leaves by the long, jointed limbs which give them their common name. The few remaining bees are busy, making the most of the late flowers that are still available. This bumblebee had its head and half its body buried deep inside a Wild Carrot seed head for so long that I began to wonder if it was actually alive. It emerged eventually and turned round to look very suspiciously into the camera lens - definitely a bee with attitude!

Exciting things are happening around the edges of the meadow, as the hedgerows are filling up with autumn bounty. There are green crab apples, shiny ripe blackberries, bright red guelder rose fruit and rose hips, glossy black elderberries and dusky blue sloes, all reaching their productive peak to remind us that although summer may be coming to an end, autumn is a time of great abundance in the world of Nature.

Crab Apples	Blackberries and Rose Hips	Guelder Rose Fruit	Sloes

Featured Plant - Elder (Sambucus nigra)

A deciduous shrub or small tree, growing to around 10 metres.

Elderberries

Found in Britain, Ireland and most of Europe. A member of the honeysuckle family, growing in hedgerows, woods and waste ground, particularly on rich soil. It has clusters of creamy-white fragrant flowers from May to July and produces heavy heads of black, shiny berries in autumn.

Alternative names include Eldrum, Ellanwood, Ellhorn, Bountry, Tree of Doom, Devil's Eye (Romany), Bour Tree (Scottish), God's Stinking Tree & Judas Tree.

The name Sambucus comes from the Greek word Sambuke, for a musical instrument, possibly a pipe, made from Elder wood. The Scottish name Bour Tree translates as "Pipe Tree". The specific name nigra means "black", probably referring to the colour of the berries. The common name "Elder" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word aeld, meaning "fire" and is thought to refer to the use of the hollow stems as kindling.

The plant features frequently in ancient legend and folklore. Christian legend suggests that Elder wood was used for the cross on which Jesus was crucified and Judas is often said to have hanged himself on an Elder tree. In pagan folklore the plant was believed to have beneficial, magical properties, bringing prosperity or fertility and aiding sleep and healing. It was also said to be powerful in exorcism and protection. An Elder tree growing on your land would keep away negative energy and prevent lightning strikes. Twigs kept in the house would keep out evil spirits and magic wands were made from Elder wood to ward off evil attacks. It was thought to be very bad luck to burn Elder wood - if you did so, the Devil would appear. Even cutting the wood was thought to be unlucky and some modern hedge-cutters still refuse to cut Elder in case of bad luck.

The plant has traditionally had many medicinal uses. The bark and roots are diuretic, emetic and purgative, the flowers encourage sweating and perspiration for treating fevers and the fruit has laxative properties. The flowers can be used in boiling water as an inhalant, as an infusion or tincture to cleanse cuts and grazes, in a cream or compress to treat chilblains and as an ointment for minor burns or sores. Elderflower water is said to be good for the complexion.

The flowers and berries also have many culinary uses. The flowers make fragrant wine and syrup and can also be rinsed, dipped in batter, quickly deep fried and eaten sprinkled with sugar - a recipe often used by my Austrian mother and quite delicious! The berries make excellent syrup, reputed to ease coughs and sore throats and to increase resistance to winter colds.

So, if you thought Elder was just a scruffy, warty, weed of a shrub - think again. It has a lot more to offer than its appearance may suggest!