The lane, featured in this post, locally known as ‘scruffy lane’, is often strewn with discarded rubbish: cheap broken furniture, cigarette ends, plastic toys and bags. However, this human detritus is juxtaposed by the beauty of nature, so we felt we needed to highlight this in a chalking.

The firework-explosion of colour from the Buddleja davidii, encouraged bees, birds and butterflies.  The ‘singing’ apple tree, bursting with rosy red fruits, had enticed a myriad House sparrows in birdsong.  A sensorial delight.

The previous post, about our Wales walk and chalk, stated that it is apparently, one of the top best countries for waste recycling in the world!  Yet, not far away, England’s recycling statistics are far lower and motorway verges and some city streets are sometimes strewn with litter. So why is this? Why are people in Wales seemingly more caring and respectful of their environment, than their English counterparts?

However, nature provides beauty against this ugliness…

Public information films were a series of short films televised as adverts between programmes, from the 1950s. They were commissioned by the Government, to highlight dangers and offer safety advice in a range of contexts. They became obsolete by the 2000s, with the closure of the Central Office of Information. They were great – amusingly memorable, but with a serious message. Take a look at some of the best ones: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_information_film
Which one do you like?

Looking at the state of our streets and disregard for the nature that surrounds us, wouldn’t it be a good idea to shed some of those boring repetitive adverts (enticing you to spend money you haven’t got, on things you do not need) and replace them with a public information films, to Keep Britain Tidy? Check out this one from the 80s:  https://youtube.com/watch?v=r5k34-L-yv0&feature=share

If you want to help keep our streets clean for nature, why not:

1. Shop for need, not greed, 2. Buy goods with less packaging, 3. Reuse and recycle what you can, 4. Ensure all your waste fits into your recycling bin with the lid down,
5. Join a local litter-pick group. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people too. 
6. Write to the BBC or ITV asking for Public Information Films to be reinstated that address the problems of today: e.g. Keep Britain Tidy, Pesticide-free cities, Reducing Carbon Footprint 

Did you know that Wales is one of the top performing countries in the world for waste recycling? Travelling through to Pembrokeshire, for a 4-day visit, this became evident: hardly a scrap of roadside litter to be seen. What joy! And so began this mini Rebel Botanists adventure.

Pembrokeshire has an impressive 186-mile coastal path. We stayed at the start of it, in an eco-farm at Llanteg.

Close by, at Amroth, a giant fish sculpture stood proudly beside the pebble and sand beach, composed of re-used plastic bottles. It exemplified the care given towards cleaner seas by the local residents. It was pleasing to see that all the beaches we visited, along this coastline, were Blue Flag awarded.

The eco-farm owners,Terri and Tom, had a recycling bin for every waste stream, their fields flourished with wildflowers and grasses and they had a beautiful woodland to explore, which we did.

As we walked towards the mixed broadleaf trail, across the valley we could see a monocrop of conifer covering the hills; a sign of the slaughter of World War 2. It represented not only the slaughter of the trees that once stood there, but all the wildlife it had once supported and the subsequent depletion of wildlife since. Wars take, not just human life but, wildlife too. Once we entered Terri and Tom’s dense woodland, we were thrilled by the rich variety of life all around us, stimulating our senses.

Soft, inviting mossy blankets carpeted the gnarly oak, Quercus, boughs; other epiphytic plants were springing up from the embracing verdant branches.

All around, lacy polypody ferns, Polypodium vulgare, and silky-smooth Hart’s Tongue, Asplenium scolopendrium, were growing resplendently. Little wildplants were springing up before us, as we made our way along the muddy track: self-seeded oaks, elders, Sambucus nigra, hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, holly, Ilex, and rowan, Sorbus.

Tiny flies were buzzing everkywhere and birds were around to feed on them, flitting from tree to tree, we identified Song Thrush, Turdus philomelos, Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus, and the European Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis, amongst many others. This woodland was full of life, life on life and every shade of green imaginable. 

We noticed some of the oaks were distinctly tall and slim, stretching their arms high to find the sunlight above other established trees. Having recently read Guy Shrubsole’s book, The Lost Rainforests of Britain, we wondered… could we be walking in a fragment of lost temperate rainforest? Many of the plants we saw were indicators, and this area of Wales is recognised as being in the climatic zone which would have supported the swathes of ancient woodland that once covered ‘over perhaps a fifth of Britain’. Now, sadly,  ‘less than 1%’ remains.

However, thanks to this diligent couple who are allowing nature to come back over their land, we may just have experienced a rainforest walk.

Our journey took us on to St David’s – the smallest city in Britain – with a population of just over 1,300 people; a village really, with a huge and impressive cathedral. It was here that The Lost Words exhibition at Oriel y Parc was on show. The author of the book, of the same name, Robert McFarlane wrote: “What we do not love we will not save”, so with, “more than 50% of species in decline”, we clearly need to learn to love nature again. 

The book began as a protest against the ‘removal of everyday nature words from a widely used children’s dictionary’; however, it has also become an assemblage of words, illustrations and spells to raise awareness of our diminishing wildlife.
In a world where nature is fast being exploited and depleted, the words and the very existence of wildlife, should be a primary focus for everyone, not being eradicated from children’s reference books.

Education is at the forefront of the Rebel Botanists’ activities; if people have the knowledge and understanding of the intricate and vital connections of biodiversity, then hopefully they would make more ethical lifestyle choices.

The beautiful words and imagery of this exhibit enthused some chalking, and off we went… in different villages and towns naming wildplants, and even a beached jelly!

We must not allow the words of nature to be lost, nor the last remaining ancient temperate rainforests. Instead, we must nurture and revitalise them. Talk, chalk and walk in nature, you’ll feel better for it 💚

What’s in a name?  Well, when we’re talking about wildplants, there’s rather a lot!
As Rebel Botanists, we’re very keen to discourage the broadly used label ‘weeds’. Oh, it almost makes me shudder to say/write it! Thank goodness, and at last, the RHS agrees too, according to a recent Guardian report
(https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/25/chelsea-flower-show-gardens-rebrand-weeds-hero-plants) which has headlined them as ‘hero’ plants.

“Sheila Das, a garden manager at Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Wisley in Surrey, said gardeners should stop using the term “weeds” in a derogatory way…Tom Massey at the Royal Entomological Society (RES) said there’s a lot of stigma around the word ‘weed’.

The word has become a very derogatory one, that is clear, conjuring up distaste, verging on hatred. It reminds me of school playground name-calling; it seems the human species are very good at creating words to fix things into convenient boxes, paying little attention to individuality, and very often using these words to belittle and discredit. But, why? Why do we do this?

This fixation to turn the positive into a negative, I feel, generates hatred and possibly the seeds of poor mental health. In the case of wildplants, it is also completely unwarranted.
Nature’s wildflowers are indeed heroes.

Many wildflowers are vital to wildlife health, as well as our own.
Did you know, the Dandelion, for example:
“is full of vitamins A, B, C and D, as well as minerals, such as iron, potassium, and zinc. The leaves are used to stimulate the appetite and help digestion. Dandelion flower has antioxidant properties. Dandelion may also help improve the immune system. Herbalists use dandelion root to detoxify the liver and gallbladder, and dandelion leaves to help kidney function.” https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/dandelion).
“Dandelions are an important early source of food for pollinators – so let them grow!” say the Wildlife Trust on their website.

With a massive 60% decline in flying insects, in just the last 20 years, there can be no excuse to cut these vital food sources.
“…we would starve without plants, we wouldn’t be able to breathe without plants. And yet people’s understanding about plants, except in a very kind of narrow way, has not kept up with that.” David Attenborough stated in 2022. (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/documentaries/david-attenborough-the-green-planet-appeal)
Wildflower heroes are in your gardens, on grass verges, climbing up the walls, nestled by trees – they are both beautiful and vital. We have to see them for the individuals they are and what they bring to this incredible planet.

Please research each one as you come across them, to understand their value. Look at reliable sources of information, e.g. Plantlife.org.uk, Wildlifetrust.org, Woodlandtrust.org.uk, Britishlichensociety.org.uk and so on.  You’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn.
Remember, we probably know less than 15 percent of the value of nature around us. There could be species going extinct today, that may cure some of our cancers or prevent dementia. There is still so much we do not yet know.

So, whilst we can start to replace that horrible ‘w’ word for wildplant heroes, let’s also consider using the specific names to identify the plants we are referring to – it really does help.

If you’re lucky enough to have these lovely delicate pale pink wildflowers in your garden, or on a nearby verge, then you may know it’s called a Cuckoo flower.

However due to cultural/regional differences you may know it as Lady’s Smock, Mayflower or Milkmaids. So, how can we be sure we are all looking at the same flower?  Enter Latin, to solve that problem.

Latin offers stability of recognition across the world. So regardless of the regional names, we know this flower is recorded as Cardamine pratensis. Pratensis is Latin for meadow, so we know this is predominantly found in meadowlands. Cardamine is a large genus of flowering plants in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, known as bittercresses and toothworts. It contains more than 200 species of annuals and perennials. Species in this genus can be found worldwide, except the Antarctic, in diverse habitats. (Wikipedia). The leaves of the flowering plant are used to treat chronic skin complaints and asthma. It has beneficial digestive and stimulant properties, also (https://www.conservationhandbooks.com/wildflowers/cuckooflower). Importantly, it is a valuable source of food for many species of bees, hover-flies, moths and butterflies, including the Orange-tip, Anthocharis cardamines, that feed on the flowers and lay eggs on the leaves, which their larva will later feed on.

If we refer back to the delightful Common Dandelion, its Latin name is Taraxacum officinale.  Officinale tells us this wildflower has uses in medicine, herbalism and cookery. The first part of the name, Taraxacum, is Arabic meaning ‘bitter herb’.  However, the word Dandelion comes from the French dents-de-lion, referring to the yellow floral rays resembling the shape of lions’ teeth.

You see, when we really think about how we use words, they can be to all of our advantage, educational and fascinating!  So, let’s start losing the derogatory labels and reveal our wildlife heroes through the use of their individual names and appropriate use of language.

Peace not War, on Nature (in response to Plymouth City Council’s, ‘War on Weeds’ declaration, 26th October 2021)

I, as many other people who have since contacted me, have found the Plymouth City Council’s, ‘War on Weeds’, declaration absolutely shocking: feelings of dismay, anger, sadness and distress have resulted, and understandably so.

At such a crucial time, when the world is experiencing the oncoming effects of global warming; when the facts can no longer be ignored and countless countries, counties and councils are, or have already, declared a ‘climate emergency’, the council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene, Maddi Bridgeman, declares a ‘War on Weeds’.  Is she not aware of the importance of wild plants in urban environments? 

Equally as shocking, as the proposed action, is the manner in which it has been communicated. The language used is excessively aggressive: “hell-bent on destruction…fight the war…deadliest of destruction machines…age old enemy…” These are small pretty flowers for goodness sake!

The accompanying video clip is equally violent in its imagery, with men dressed in chemical suits and masks, holding their ‘weapons of plant destruction’ as if they are Kalashnikovs – really this is Plymouth, not a Hollywood film-set! 

As well as the obvious waste of money on such a disturbing media form, and on these weapons, what message does this send out? Plymouth is already recognised as having a high and increasing rate of violent crimes (76 crimes per 1,000 people, in 2020). It’s still reeling from the distressing shootings that took place in Keyham, this August. We need an emphasis on peace, not war. On this basis, I would support those people that feel a public apology is in order for the unnecessary violent content which clearly suggests that this form of behaviour is acceptable.

If the council proceeds with this wild plant ‘Armageddon’, as well as the obvious destruction of the plants and the wildlife that it supports, it will completely undermine and devastate all the positive work the council has made up until now. An important point, I think we all need to keep in mind, is that there are many people within Plymouth City Council who have worked hard, especially over the last 18 months, to support nature across our urban landscape. They have invested time and hard work into creating wildflower spaces, wetland areas, woodlands and green community areas for all of us, and wildlife, to enjoy. There are some very proactive and well informed people within Natural Infrastructure and the Green Minds team who have carried out positive work around Plymouth. I have personally collaborated with them to restore and support urban wildlife habitats and raise awareness through educational activities, like this one below at Houndiscombe Park.

Education is very important and clear facts need to be spread like seeds, if we are all to make informed decisions.  Let’s look at some facts:
Insects make up over half the entire species on our planet, but 41% of them are hurtling towards extinction. 
We need insects for our very survival, and those insects need habitat to rest, nest and feed.

Every species of plant, insect, bird and mammal is interdependent, and as humans we need them for our sources of food, medicines and the air we breathe: our very existence depends on them.
3/4 of our crops depend on pollinators. 
Common wild plants and flowers found around the city, not just in parklands, but cracks in pavements and wall crevices, are vital for them to survive.  

I think many of us have noticed empty shelves in supermarkets, but for bees, butterflies, moths and birds, by taking away these little corridors of nature from our streets, this is like taking the supermarkets and corner shops away entirely: with nothing to feed on, they die.

The added threat of using glyphosate-based herbicides is yet another ‘nail-in-the-coffin’ for wildlife. Here are some more facts:

The International Agency on Research on Cancer classified glyphostate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015.
Since that classification many countries have banned it, some of these include:    Australia, changed to steam technology (as less harmful and more economical), 
Belgium, as part of their ‘zero pesticides’ policy,
Colombia, due to concerns over cancer,
Costa Rica, to protect its wild areas, 
Denmark, declared it carcinogenic,
El Salvador, due to links to deadly kidney disease, 
Greece, as a duty of risk management towards consumers and the environment,
India, Italy, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malawi, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Bahrain,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Arab Emirates, the list goes on…

So, why is it still being sold in Britain?  Well, possibly they deem it ‘environmentally safe’ because it is assumed to be inactive shortly after spraying due to rapid sorption (when one substance attaches itself to another) on to soil particles, however scientists state that there are concerns about our insufficient understanding of how glyphostate behaves and reacts with living organisms, the soil and the waterways it may filter into.  That basically translates as: not enough is known about the chemical to make an informed decision as to its safety – therefore it’s dangerous! It’s a chemical that is sprayed, so it’s airborne for some time and can be inhaled. It then sits on the surface of plants and grasses that we sit in, play in, eat on and eat from (fruit and vegetables). Think about this when you’re next in the park with your children and your dogs… Now imagine how destructive this is to much smaller wildlife…is this really want we want?

There are many other solutions to control wild plants, such as steam technology, cutting back and letting nature take its course.

Without facts and education how can any of us make informed and ethical decisions?  How do we go forward now? 

Well, I ask all the people of Plymouth to consider this article carefully. Please do not take my word for all this information – check out the facts for yourself. Research and reconsider.  Do not blunder into actions that later, with more understanding, you may regret, just because it seems the quickest and easiest solution.

Many more people write letters of complaint, than in praise of something, that’s an unfortunate fact too. So, I implore every one of you who cares about nature, who has seen the accomplishments of the last 18 months to our natural and wild spaces in Plymouth, to please email or write a letter to the council and tell them how much you care.

I also reach out to Maddi Bridgeman at Plymouth City Council to rethink: education not eradication!  I myself have learnt so much about wild plants, flowers and biodiversity in the last 18 months, working with many other amazing organizations and individuals across Plymouth. Many of us work tirelessly, often voluntarily, to make our city a more beautiful and healthier place to live, so let’s work together, not against each other.

Liz