Bracken growing opposite our home taken in the bright sunshine of autumn. There are houses on just one side of our Lane, facing a grassy bank in, a ditch and hedge. In February the thick tangled wild grasses on the bank are still recovering from winter rain and snow, lying prostrate and limp, which for a few weeks allows the bank to become domesticated, as planted snowdrops herald the forthcoming spring, and then “a host of golden daffodils” finally trumpet the arrival of the long awaited springtime. As the daffodils die back, with just the foliage remaining to fatten up the bulbs in preparation for next year, the embankment reverts back to the wild, as the grasses grow, and are eventually taken over by the all-pervasive bracken, growing almost as tall as the hedgerow that forms the backdrop behind the ditch. The bracken is at its most colourful in autumn, as competes with the gold’s and oranges of the foliage of the trees above it. Last week the ditch was dredged by the local council to allow rain water to drain from the Lane, and the grassy embankment was covered in inches of mud. The Council optimistically seeded the muddy soil with new grass seed, although I suspect that a bit of mud will not prevent the vigorous growth of wild grasses and bracken from thrusting through it. We hope that the snowdrops and daffodils are also strong enough to break through to provide their annual display in a few months’ time.
