March of the cow parsley

IN May the weather was cold and this was followed by a period of drought.

This inhibited growth, as we all know from listening to the fodder problems of farmers on the radio. But then, quite suddenly, the soil temperature passed the magic number of six degrees and it started to rain.

There was some kind of pent up energy caused by the delay and when the growth came it was explosive. I walked down the path through my little wood to check up on it and I was surrounded by cow parsley towering over my head, and I’m quite tall. The umbrellas of creamy white flowers were damp after a recent shower and giving off a sickly sweet scent that hovered somewhere between pleasant and unpleasant.