I finally got my act together and found the lead to connect the camera to the computer. It had been hiding in plain sight masquerading as part of a reading lamp. There are just too many bits of wire in the modern house.
The flowers are starting to show now. I’m particularly captivated by the aconites because of their multitude of alternative names – aconite, monkshood, wolf’s bane, leopard’s bane, mousebane, women’s bane, devil’s helmet, queen of poisons, or blue rocket. Obviously the ones in the picture aren’t blue rocket, and to be honest I always thought that wolf’s bane was blue too. I may have to look into it a bit more.
Peter Livesey used it as a poison in one of his books – I forget which one – where a wife killed her husband by feeding it to him in a curry.
There’s a case on the internet of a gardener dying from touching wolfsbane. This gives me pause for thought because I used to work with it regularly in one garden I looked after, and never thought to wear gloves. I thought you had to eat it to poison yourself.
There seems to be something causing a glitch in loading my photos, but I’ve got round it by posting and then editing. If you’ve read part of this post and wondered why it ends abruptly, that is the reason.
I’ll end with a film clip of the Cormorant.
The spring flower photos are beautiful, Quercus!
It’s nice to see them coming out.
Aconite is different from Winter Aconite. Both belong to the buttercup family which includes a number of poisonous plants. Aconite napellus is Monkshood, Wolf’s Bane, is blue and is considered the most toxic wild plant in Britain. It may be native in the south-west of England but is introduced elsewhere. Winter Aconite is Eranthis hyemalis and is the early-flowering yellow flower of your photograph. That is an introduced plant which has naturalised in some places. 🙂
Thank you. There seem to be so many claimants for the title of Britain’s most poisonous plant – hemlock, thorn apple or wolfsbane?
Very true 😉
There will be exciting times ahead when I develop my Russian Roulette Foraged Salad range. 🙂
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Enjoyed that. Though, clearly, I need to pay more attention to whatever it is that’s growing in my garden…
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Great shots, Quercus. So pleased you found your lead. I identify with your thoughts about spaghetti. Everything that goes into the computer has a tag stuck to it 🙂
Yes, I’m going to be tagging from now – I keep meaning to get round to it and this was the final incentive. 🙂
Queen of poison sounds deliciously evil. What fun watching those shaking wings.
Yes, it was very interesting, though several dozen people managed not to spot it. It’s also known as wife’s bane, which is less fun. 🙂
Wife’s bane! Be careful, husbands!
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Excellent film of the cormorant!
Thank you. 🙂
Good clip of the cormorant.
Thank you. 🙂