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| 11th October 2007 | 6th July 2010 | |
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A common and weedy native plant that has slowly spread out from the hedges and colonised the rough grass
and borders, where it is generally welcome. From time to time I mow it and it which makes no appreciable difference.
There are a number of cultivated selections available and I am aware that at any moment I may be swept away with an
overwhelming desire to grow them all, but for the moment this is a simple pleasure of summer. Chiltern Seeds had an interesting note in their (excellent) catalogue: "One interesting point about this name is that, according to the rules of botanical nomenclature, it is an example of an error, once made, becoming enshrined in history: the name should in fact have been Brunella, after the German for quinsy, a disease the plants were said to cure. However, Linnaeus, in his formal description of the genus, boobed and spelled the word with a "P" and thus, for ever and a day, Prunella became the one and only correct spelling." In the 'Problem Profiles' Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1996, I gathered the fascinating snippet: "Seeds can pass unharmed through the gut of birds - a likely source of lawn infestations." Herbalists and re-wilders heap bounteous praise on the plant, however it recieves a mixed reception from gardeners. | ||
