🌿Will you join me this Spring?🌼
Some musings about confusing blossom and £100 off my Ecoliteracy for Educators course!
Dear you,
I’m landing in your inbox here a couple of days before the next New Moon to share some musings about blossom that you can look out for over the weekend. I’m also here to remind you of an offer that ends at midnight on Sunday. If deepening your connection to plants and finding a rhythm of mindful observation between the equinoxes is on your vision board for this Spring, I’d love you to join my Ecoliteracy for Educators cohort for 2024. In this course we dive into I.D, folklore and uses of 40+ plants over 6 months. More on this in a moment; first a lesson on Blackthorn I.D!
🌸Blossom watch
Now that we’re in between the first day of Meteorological Spring and Astronomical Spring (and the action-oriented energy of Aries), many plants are beginning to re-awaken but not at a pace that means we could miss them. Yet.
This year I’ve spotted Blackthorn and Magnolia blooming much earlier than in previous years which, with Blackthorn in particular, can cause some confusion.
There is some wonderful Irish folklore around Blackthorn which says that Winter starts when the Cailleach (winter goddess) strikes the ground with a blackthorn staff. I therefore like to think of Spring officially beginning when Blackthorn begins to bloom once more. Both being members of the Prunus family, Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) can easily be confused with Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) and they’re both blooming now with Cherry Plum in full flower and Blackthorn just beginning to bloom in sunny sheltered spots. There are a number of ways to tell them apart:
Blackthorn blossoms directly from her very thorny twigs (note spinosa alluding to spines in the Latin name).
Blackthorn sepals lie flush against the flower petals; in Cherry Plum they are reflexed – i.e. folded back on themselves.
The newest twigs on Blackthorn are black whereas Cherry Plum’s are green.
Finally, Blackthorn flowers are much smaller than that of Cherry Plum (but this is tricky to see when you don’t have them side-by-side!).
🌿Ecoliteracy for Educators
As you may know, as well as writing this seasonal newsletter, I offer two online courses curated around the Wheel of the Year. One terrestrial - Ecoliteracy for Educators, and one celestial - Moontime, myths and medicines. Ecoliteracy for Educators is a 6 month journey between the equinoxes (20 March - 22 September) that will equip you with the tools to observe and connect with U.K native tree and plant species as they emerge from their winter dormancy. You'll gain skills to identify plants and their properties (e.g whether they're edible!), learn about their folklore and ethnobotany (the study of the relationships between plants and people). I only offer this course once a year, so if 2024 is the year you deepen your connection to plants, I’d love you to join me! It’s not just for educators either, anyone who has an interest in plants and would like some ways to communicate this with others is very welcome.
✨Early bird enrolment is open now! To save your spot before midnight on Sunday 10 March and get £100 off the course investment click the button below✨
I’ll be in touch again with my next bi-monthly newsletter on Sunday’s New Snow Moon in Pisces - the final New Moon of the Astrological Year!
Thank you for reading and happy Friday!
Love,
Charly x