Music Welcome to snoozecast, the podcast designed to help you fall asleep. Find us at snoozecast.com and if you enjoy our show, please share us with a friend. This episode is brought to you by Cow Slip and Primrose. Tonight we'll read the opening section to flowers of the farm written by Arthur O. Cook and published in 1900. Coppassing is a traditional method of woodland management, which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppest wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level, resulting in a stool. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppest tree is harvested, and the cycle begins anew. Polarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shells. Let's get cozy. Close your eyes. Relax your body into the softness of your bed. Now, take a few deep breaths. Chapter 1 Introduction I think that some of you have been with me at Willow Farm before today. When we were there, we went into the farmer's fields in early spring and saw the men and horses at work with plows and heros. a little later on, we saw some of the crops sown, such as barley and turnips. In summer we were in the hay and corn fields, and later still we saw the ricks being made. Today we are at Willa Farm again and I want to show you some of the flowers that grow there. I do not mean those which Mrs. Hammond, the farmer's wife grows in her garden pretty as they are. We will look rather at the wild flowers in the fields, the hedges, and by the roadside in the lane. No one soes their seed, nor takes care of them in any way, yet they grow into blossom, year after year, and nearly all of them are beautiful. Before we begin to look at them, we must make sure that we quite understand just what a flower is. Even those of you who live in large towns and have perhaps never been in the country see flowers of some sort, I feel sure you see them in shop windows and they are also often sold in the streets. You have seen wall flowers and daffodils in the spring, roses in the summer, violets in the winter, as well as other kinds. You do not need to be told that these are flowers. What about the grass on the lawns and in such places as Battersea Park and Hyde Park in London? Oh, you say, that is not a flower at all. That is just grass. Yes, it is grass, but the grass has a flower as well as a rose bush or a violent plant. It is only because the grass has kept cut short that you do not see its flower on a long one.

If grass is kept cut short that you do not see its flower on a lawn. If grass is not cut or eaten by animals, it grows tall and spring. Then in May or June, you would see the flowers on tall, straight stems which stand among the blades of grass. Many of these grass flowers are very beautiful and we will look presently at some of them in one of the farmer's fields. Perhaps some of you have gardens or grass plots at your own homes. If you see some dandelions in the lawn, or ground saw among the flowers or vegetables in the garden beds, you say those are weeds, they must be pulled up. call the dandelion and the ground-soul weeds, but they have flowers all the same. The dandelion is perhaps one of the most lovely yellow flowers that we have. They are weeds certainly in your lawn or garden beds, for they ought not to be there.

Weeds are plants in the wrong place. By and by in the farmer's fields, we shall see many

pretty flowers which he calls weeds. We speak of nettle as a weed, and do not usually admire it, yet the nettle has a flower as we shall see. Then what do you think of a tree having a flower? That is perhaps a new idea to you. Yet, if you look at a horse chestnut tree in June, you will see at once the large spikes of beautiful white flowers with which it is covered. Apple trees have a beautiful pink or pink and white flower, and the almond tree bears a lovely pink flower. All other trees have flowers too, but they are often small. The flowers of the oak and the beach are small, but though you may not notice them, they are on the tree each spring. Almost all plants, including large trees, have flowers, they are flowering plants. A few plants have no flower, ferns have none, nor have the mosses and lichens which grow on walls and rocks and on the stems of trees. Fungai too, such such as the mushroom, have no flowers.

Nearly all other plants have flowers. It is by the flower or blossom that a plant is reproduced. After the flower has faded comes the fruit and seed. The seed falls into the ground or is sown, and from its spring another plant, without the flower, there would be no seed. You see that there are rather more flowers than you had thought. Still, while we are strolling in the fields and lanes at Willow Farm, we shall look most at what are generally cold flowers. We shall look at comparatively small plants in which the flower or blossom is easily noticed because it is large or bright colored or sweet-centred. But what we are admiring a daisy or a dandelion in the spring, we must not forget that the great oak tree above it also has a flower of its own.

We must remember that the oak tree also is a flowering plant. Chapter 2 In the Cabas Outside the front door of Willow Farm is a broad curving gravel drive, at the far end of which a white gate opens into the lane. On one side of this drive is a narrow strip of ground planted with flowers and shrubs, and close to the front door. There is a patch of grass on which stands a large old mulberry tree. On the other side of the drive is a lawn. Beyond that are more flowers and then the vegetable garden. Further on still is a little wood or a compass of nut pushes. On this March morning, we shall find some wildflowers in this little wood. Between the vegetable garden and the wood is a low grassy bank. It is bright today with yellow primroses. The primrose always blossoms early here, for the bank is sunny and is sheltered from cold winds. I dare say most of you have seen a primrose before today. Each pale yellow blossom is made up of five petals which are joined together forming a tube or corolla. The petals are not or indented on the outer edge. At the center of the blossom where the petals meet, each petal is marked with a spot of darker yellow. Each flower grows alone on a long slender stem. At the top of the stem is a kind of green too, out of which the yellow blossom appears. The primrose blossoms have a scent, not strong, but very sweet and pleasant. The leaves are cold, radical, or root leaves. They are so called because each leaf appears to grow direct from the root. But the leaves really grow from a short stem at the top of the root. A stem so short that it does not appear above the ground at all. Among the bushes of the compass itself, we will notice the flowers which first catch our eye of the wood and eminy. The whole compass is starred with the beautiful white flowers.

We pick one and see that it has six.

Six what? Six petals, you say? No. These are not petals. For the anemone has none.

They are seapulls. The seapulls of a plant generally enclose the plasm before it is opened,

and they are usually green. In the anemone, the petals are absent.

The seapulls take their place and are white instead of green. Their underside is often not pure white but is streaked with pale pink. Several blossoms which we pick have six of these seapoles. That is the usual number, but sometimes there are only five, and sometimes more than six. The blossoms of the enemy grow on longer and stronger stocks than those of the Primrose, and on each stock are three leaves. These leaves grow around the stock in a ring. Each leaf is tripartite in three parts or divisions. The edges of these divided leaves are deeply serrated. Besides the three leaves on each flower stock, similar leaves grow from underground stems, which creep along, not far below the surface of the soil. Such creeping underground stems are usually called rhizomes. At the further side of the copus, where a head separates it, from the little meadow, called home close, our sweet violets. We catch their fragrance sent before we see them, for the tiny flowers are half hidden among broad green leaves. Bloss blossom has five petals of a dark purple color. There are white sweet violets too, but none are growing in our little wood today. At the base of the blossom, the part where it joins the stem. One of the petals has a little spur which points back towards the stem. The blossom is therefore set to be spurred. We may presently see other plants with spurred flowers. There is another violet which grows wild in England. The dog violet. It is larger than our sweet violet's here, but it has no scent. we have been examining the flowers on the ground, the nut bushes above our heads are waiting to remind us of what we said just now, that trees also have flowers. flowers of the nut bush or hazel are easily seen, for they appear before the leaves are open. What we see today are often called capkins, but the name which country children give them as lamestails. It is a very good name too, for they are more like the tale of some tiny lamb than anything else. These catkins are yellowish white in color and soft and almost woolly to the touch. They hang in clusters from the hazelt wigs, and in the strong march wind which blows today, they shake and flutter like the tails of lambs at play. of them leave a dusty powder on our fingers when we handle them. That is the pollen of the flower. It is not where these yellow catkins are dancing on the twigs today that the hazelnuts will appear in autumn. And nuts will grow on twigs where there are very small red flowers, something like tiny paintbrushes. These are the female flowers. They will be fertilized by the yellow pollen of the catkins and will produce the nuts. Chapter 3 Flowers on the Walls Behind the narrow strip of ground with flowers and shrubs on the other side of the drive there is a low stone wall. A piece of the lawn on which the mulberry tree stands has been cut away and a flight of steps leads down to a little gate into the fold yard. This wall between the garden and the full yard is very old and rough, not like the smooth brick walls you see in towns. The stones are of different shapes and sizes. The mortar has fallen out of it in many places, and here are holes and crevices. Yet, it is a very beautiful old wall for many things grow on it, mosses and grasses, and other flowers too are there.

On this May morning we not only see, but also smell one of the flowers which grow upon the wall. It is the beautiful, sweet-cented wall flower. It grows here and there along the top of the wall, and if you plants of it are even springing from the sides. Some of the plants are quite large, and their stems are tough. These have grown here for a long time. The wallflower is a perennial plant. Unless it is killed or torn up by the roots, it will live and grow for many years. Others are quite young and only a few inches high. These have grown from seeds dropped last autumn by the older plants. You very likely wonder how the wall flower or any other plant can grow upon the wall for there is no earth to be seen. Nothing but stones and crumbling mortar. But if we pull up one of the smaller plants, we shall find earth clinging to its roots. Dry dusty earth has been blown upon the wall by wind, and has lodged in holes. Dust and soil too were mixed with the mortar when the wall was built, and dead leaves falling on it and decaying have produced a little more predicate leaves make earth or soil. Wall flowers and other plants which grow on walls and rocks find very little soil sufficient for their needs. Most of the blossoms of the wall flowers upon this wall are of a golden yellow color and are very sweet. Some of the blossoms are however a darker yellow and here and there are petals which are quite brown. If we look at the garden behind us, we shall see that Mrs. Hammond has several beds of wallflower this year. It is a flower of which she is very fond. There are wallflowers of two different colors in her beds. kind has bright golden blossoms, rather deeper in color than any of these upon the wall. The other has flowers that are a rich dark brown. These plants are sturdier and more bushy than those upon the wall, and there are more flowers on each plant. The flowers are finer too and have a stronger scent. If Mrs. Hammond had wished she could have sown seed to produce many different shades of brown and yellow

wall flowers. She might also have had a purple wall flower and even a wall flower of soap pale yellow has to be almost white. If you and I were clever gardeners and had plenty of time and patience. We could get purple or nearly white wall flowers from these yellow flowered plants upon the wall. It would perhaps take us many years, but we should succeed at last. This is how we should set about it. that we wished to have a wall flower nearly white. We should look carefully along the wall in spring, when the blossoms are out, until we found the very pale-est yellow blossom we could see. We should mark that plant, and when the flower was over and the seed was ripe, we should collect the seed. Among the plants grown from this seed, we should choose again the plant that had the paleist flowers and should save the seed from that. We might have to go on doing this for 20 years or more, but in time we should have a wall flower so pale as to be almost white. Quite white we should never get our wall flower. For no pure white flower can be obtained from a yellow one. However, pale our wall flower might be, there would still always be just a tinge of yellow or cream color in it. If, on the other hand, we wanted a purple, or a very dark brown wall flower, we should save seed from those blossoms, which were nearest to the color we wanted. Dark brown, or with a tinge of purple in them. should should so seed from the darkest blossoms again and again,

and at last we should get what we wish to have.

Besides choosing seed from the lightest or darkest blossoms,

we should tend our plants very carefully and well,

giving them plenty of good rich soil.

This would make them grow bushy and with many flowers,

as we see them in Mrs. Hammond's garden beds.

Many of our garden flowers have been produced in this way by selecting and improving wild flowers. Of course, all flowers grow wild somewhere, some in England, but many more in foreign countries, where the air is warmer and the soil of richer and better. The pansy is a little English wildflower with yellow, blue, and red petals. From this little flower gardeners have produced large and beautiful pansies of many different colors and shades of colors. White, yellow, blue, and brown. This has been done by careful selection, just as we spoke of doing with the wall flowers. But if the large single-colored bansies of which I have told you, or Mrs. Hammond's dark brown wall flowers, were allowed to seat themselves. That is, were allowed to drop and sew their own seat year after year. Do you know what would happen? They would gradually revert, return back to their original form and color. The flowers would become mixed in color, unless fine in size. But last, they would be simple wildflowers again. Now it is June and the blossoms of the wall flower have faded and fallen. The old wall is however growing with another plant, the red valarian. We must be careful to remember that it is the red valarian for there are other valarians. is the red Valarian, for there are other Valarians.

There is the Great Valarian, which does not grow on walls or rocks, but in damp and shady places. flowers are pale pink. you you