Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Delighted with wild Duckett
Some weeks ago a few of us from the Friends of Harringay Passage tackled the overgrown and over prickly planter in Duckett Road. After clearing it of debris, we scattered wildflower seeds, sunflower seeds and planted hollyhocks to encourage bees and pollinating insects.
The rainy days of June may have helped but there is at present a lovely display of wild flowers now growing in the Duckett planter, including ox-eye daisy and cornflower.
Encouragingly we found ladybird larvae living on the feverfew
Meanwhile, the powerful flower St John's Wort (Hypericum Perforatum) has begun to bloom in the other planter in Duckett Road.
St John's Wort blooms around St John's Day (24th June), as its name suggests, and has a great deal of folklore associated with it. Decorating your house with it was protection against all manner of midsummer demons, witches, ghosts and other evils, as well as protection from thunder and lightning.
Its ray-like stamen emanating from a large yellow flower meant that, in pre-Christian times, it was the flower of the sun-god Baldr in Norse mythology.
However, if you fancy picking it be aware that it is said to move away from you if you try to gather it and if you step upon it then the Faerie will take you on a wild ride all night before dropping you miles from home.
With the profusion of St John's Wort that grows in this part of the Harringay Passage, this looks to be the safest place to hide from midsummer evils, although mind where you put your feet if you don't want to be making your way home from Edmonton in the morning.
Tags for Forum Posts: duckett road, friends of the harringay passage, wild in harringay
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Edmonton? A little further afield in Enfield, this weekend you can be away with the faeries at Forty Hall: details here.
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Permalink Reply by Alyson on
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Or you can come to 'Go Wild in Lordship Rec' on Sunday afternoon - walks and workshops from 12.30 I hope it's in 'events' on here!
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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From site admin bunker, I'm informed gremlins (or was it the faerie punishing me for mocking them?) in the works meant the link from the picture on the mail out took people to the wrong page. This is now corrected in online version
http://www.harringayonline.com/page/friday-ketchup-01-july-2016
and apologies for incompetence.
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Before anyone's temped to try this perhaps they should make doubly sure that its really St. John's wort as it looks very much like the invasive rose of Sharon I've got blooming in my garden right now ( in spite of a few attempts to eradicate it ).
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Same family - the Duckett one may be Hypericum calycinum or Great St John's Wort (I'm not an expert and largely learn by what others tell me) - both kinds are invasive. The stuff in the Duckett planter was put there by the council and does a good job of looking after itself so is ideal for a street planter. Gardens are another matter and most of the plants I write about would probably be considered "weeds" if they appeared there.
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