The Magic of Cowslips

What is it about cowslips that conjures up such magic?

This was not a flower associated with my childhood as it does not grow in our immediate local area but it can be found on the South Downs about an hour`s drive away.

Maybe it is the references in Shakespeare`s Midsummer Nights Dream....

And I serve the Fairy Queen
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be.
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours;
In those freckles live their savours.
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.

Maybe it is the illustrations in fairy books that we read as children (and adults)

such as those by Cicely Mary Barker.

What ever it is, we had a magical walk yesterday on the South Downs just west of Eastbourne.

A view of Eastbourne from the clifftops.

It wasn`t a particularly fine day but we had a good one and a half hour`s walk, up hill and down dale.

I do so love these signs which warn walkers about the cliffs......as you look at the path disappearing over the edge.....pretty obvious to most people!! 

Anyway, back to the cowslips.....what a sight!

Its preferred habitat is open grassland either slightly alkali or neutral in nature. It also requires a generous amount of light in order to flower and is not successful in woodlands or under tall plants. 

 They provide a valuable food source for bees and are the larval host plant for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly, as well as an important nectar source. I can`t say I have ever seen one of these butterflies.

We saw several of these fantastic beetles, (nearly 2 cm long) but I haven`t been able to identify them.

Lichen covered shrubs, bent over from long exposure to the prevailing winds.

And not far off, a chaffinch singing its heart out.

Some subsidence here, shows the chalk very clearly.

After visiting my sister Lee, we went to Sovereign Harbour Marina, Eastbourne, 

for a meal at Pablo`s Restaurant.