Rue-leaved saxifrage on Queen's Road Young mothers clutch their toddlers and call to friends arriving in cars at nursery school. No-one at the Queen's Road bus stop. I spend time here, not waiting for a bus, but looking out over Kendal, searching the wall by Queen's Place, Queen Catherine Parr who never came to Kendal but whose ancestor was castellan here. I resume my theme from my last blog: the necessary fusion between the built-environment and the natural world. So what's the outlook?
A beautiful day at a glorious time of year. There's a bank of daffodils looking down over town, and an old orchard just over the wall- a stone wall that offers marvels. As I was learning Scout Scar I discovered rue-leaved saxifrage, lost the site because I hadn't marked it carefully enough, found more - including a stone altar where my friend Jill and I admired these tiny flowers. Then one day as I was looking at ferns in this high wall, peering over into the orchard, I spied rue-leaved saxifrage. I wonder who else has noticed it. Tell me if you have. It's a gem and it's so tiny you may have missed it. These plants grow in niches between stone, and amongst the top stones. They rarely show more than a couple of tiny white flowers. I love the structure of the plant, its three-lobed leaves that flush pink. And I love a secret find. Those showy daffodils and April trees blossoming are lovely, but Saxifraga tridactylites is special.
Look at those daffodils a moment. What do you see? Flowers in the foreground, the built-environment and the sprawl of town, or the fells beyond?
Look at those daffodils a moment. What do you see? Flowers in the foreground, the built-environment and the sprawl of town, or the fells beyond?
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