< Previous20 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY Ed Fuller from Fullers Forestry explains why National Gardening Week is a great way to get involved in the community and surround yourself with greenery. launched National Gardening Week. This year it’s being held from Monday 27th April until Sunday 3rd May with the theme of ‘Sowing the Seeds of Friendship’. The RHS is wanting gardeners to join in events, local gardening clubs and organise garden gathering. In a time when loneliness is on the rise, this could be a way to try and conquer it. It is widely reported that gardens and gardening have a positive effect on our mental and physical wellbeing, and if you can make some friendships through gardening this will only bolster the positive effects. A OnePoll survey commissioned by the RHS revealed that 52% of people in Britain have experienced feeling alone. More than half of adults enjoy being surrounded by greenery and 59% agreed that being a member of a community group would me them feel less lonely. There are quite a few gardening clubs and horticultural societies in our county, however if there isn’t one near you Gardening Gardening 20-22.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:33 Page 1maybe you could create one. If that feels like a bit too much to take on, then you could get involved by inviting your neighbours for a party or coffee morning in your garden. Your garden doesn’t have to be big or perfectly kept, it just needs to be a space for people to be able to sit in, have some company and enjoy. There are many gardens locally that you can visit. Whether they are RHS gardens or private ones. You may not want to join or create a club, or have your neighbours round, but a day out to walk around a beautiful garden, enjoying the outdoors and fresh air can do you just as much good. The little ones in your life are also catered for with National Children’s Garden week being from 23rd to 31st May. So maybe you can use that week as an opportunity to get their green-fingers to use. Around the garden • Keep weeds under control • Mow your lawn (lowering the blades gradually) • Dig in a layer of compost into your beds • Deadhead daffodils but leave the foliage intact allowing it to die back naturally, so they’ll bloom again next year. • Sow hardy annuals and herb seeds • Feed hungry shrubs and roses • Keep bird baths and bird feeders topped up to encourage birds to your garden • Plant out perennials in groups of three, five or seven • Protect fruit blossom from late frosts • Divide bamboos and waterlilies © Shutterstock / trabantos LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 21 GARDENS © Shutterstock / Halfpoint 22 Á 20-22.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:33 Page 2Specialised Services in Garden Design Landscaping and Tree Maintenance Backed by a highly-skilled and experienced team, we’ve built our reputation on an ability to provide professional, tailored gardening and forestry FULLERS Landscaping Call 01522 868717 or 07867 510544 landscapinglincolnshire@gmail.com www.landscapinglincolnshire.com 22 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY GARDENS Charles H Hill Ltd. Moor Lane, Horsington, Woodhall Spa, LN10 5HH. Tel: 01526 388281 www.charleshhill.co.uk All about National Garden Week National Garden Week is the nation’s biggest celebration of gardening and raises awareness of the difference that gardens and gardening can make to the lives of everyone in the UK. The aim is to encourage people and organisations to come together and help keep their neighbourhoods, environments and shared spaces beautiful through gardening and reap the health benefits that gardens can provide. You can find out more about the celebration and how to get involved by visiting, www.rhs.org.uk/get- involved/national-gardening-week. © Shutterstock / Samot 20-22.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:33 Page 3ORDER FORM Yes, I would like to subscribe to Lincolnshire Today magazine for the next 12 months, with the first 3 issues only being £1. 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A gift Subscription is the perfect present that lasts all year round! 23.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:34 Page 1Painted lady Beginning as early as April, the Painted lady arrives to our shores each year for the spring and summer before returning to its native climes come autumn. Travelling all the way from Europe and even as far-afield as North Africa, and often in enormous numbers, this tireless specimen can cover up to a hundred miles a day during its migration. They’re also capable of reaching speeds of 30mph meaning it could beat Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, in a race. Its wings look like an artist’s palette, mainly orange above, with black tips to the forewings adorned with white spots, with black spots on the hind and forewings. Although similar in appearance to the small tortoiseshell butterfly, the latter can be told apart by the distinctive yellow spots on the forewings and blue spots along its wing margins. The Painted Lady feeds on the nectar of buddleia and other flowers, and females lay their small green eggs on nettles and mallows, though thistles are generally their favourites, so much so that they’re sometimes referred to as the ‘thistle butterfly’. In autumn, this butterfly will return to its homeland as it cannot survive the British winter in any way shape or form. It’s not even fond of overcast days and will huddle in small depressions when the sun is out of sight. Green-veined white Seen from mid-spring right through to autumn, the green-veined white is common of hedgerows, woodlands, gardens and parks. From a fleeting glimpse, its similar to other white butterflies, especially its cousin, the small white, but it can be distinguished by the prominent grey-green stripes along the veins on the underside of its wings. Its choice of habitat also sets it apart from others with its preference for damp areas with lush vegetation, with watercress a favourite host plant. Holly blue The holly blue is something of a favourite among butterfly enthusiasts, it being the first blue butterfly to emerge in spring. They can be seen from April to September with a second generation emerging in summer. As well as appearing first, their widespread nature means that they are the blue butterfly most likely to be found in gardens, woodland, parks and churchyards. Whereas grassland butterflies fly low to the ground, the holly blue flies above head height around bushes and trees which, coupled with the fact they’re speedy fliers, makes them a devil to catch for lepidopterologists. Although similar in appearance, they can be distinguished from all other blue butterflies by the black spots on its silvery-blue underside. One year you might see an abundance, while not nearly as many the next. That’s because their populations fluctuate enormously each year, according to The Wildlife Trusts, as they are parasitised by an ichneumon wasp which kills the larval stage. In turn, the decreased number of adults affects populations of the parasite, allowing time for holly blue populations to recover and the cycle starts again. 24 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY Butterflies are among the most beautiful creatures with their patterned iridescent wings and fluttery flightpaths. Spring brings with it an abundance of butterflies as erstwhile caterpillars emerge from their chrysalises transformed. We’ve focussed on a few that you may be able to spot in your garden over the coming months. Lincolnshire wildlife Green-veined white © Shutterstock/Marek Mierzejewski © Shutterstock/Ian Grainger Holly blue 24-25.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:35 Page 1© Shutterstock/SanderMeertinsPhotography LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 25 Painted lady 24-25.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:35 Page 226 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY EASTER A time for traditions We take a look at a typical Easter day and explore where many of these traditions came from. We take a look at a typical Easter day and explore where many of these traditions came from. A time for traditions 26-27.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:37 Page 1LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 27 EASTER Though Easter is thought of as a strictly Christian festival, it is rooted in the pagan celebration of spring. The name itself is believed to derive from ‘Eostre’, the Saxon goddess of spring whose symbol was the rabbit or the hare, before the name was used to mark the crucifixion and rebirth of Jesus. In generations past, that was more a solemn affair, nothing at all like the gaudy, sugary celebrations of today. For those with little ones, Easter Sunday will probably be filled with fun and games, the best of which is the Easter egg hunt. It’s believed that Easter egg hunts – and the general imagery of eggs and rabbits – is used to convey big issues and ideas about life, death and rebirth to children in a fun, accessible way. It certainly explains why so many churches put on their own Easter egg hunts. Of course, the majority of little ones just want the chocolate and, frankly, that’s probably foremost in the minds of most adults. The fact of the matter is that church attendance in England has fallen by more than 211,000 since 2009, figures from Statista show. However, attendance on Easter Sunday is significantly higher than the weekly turnout in a similar phenomenon seen on Christmas. In 2018, approximately 1.2 million people attended an Easter church service in England, 338,000 more than in a typical week that year. Quiz most people on what Easter is all about and chances are they’ll respond with chocolate. The tradition of chocolate Easer eggs began in 19th century France and Germany before spreading to Europe and then the US. Essentially it serves a modern-day sacrifice during Lent, the religious observance beginning on Ash Wednesday. By giving up chocolate for the six-week period, chocolate eggs can then be indulged in come Easter Sunday. This was likely an extension of earlier Lent traditions. Historically, Christians prepared themselves for the forty days before Easter by forgoing items such as meat, eggs and milk, so being able to eat eggs again come Easter gave them special significance. To make the occasion even more special, those eggs were often presented in baskets lined with coloured straw to resemble a bird’s nest. But eggs are connected to the original Easter story as well, chief among them Mary Magdalene, the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection. It’s said that she presented herself to Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome to proclaim the resurrection with a plain egg in hand to illustrate the point. The Emperor said that Jesus rising from the dead was as likely as the egg turning red and, lo and behold, the egg turned bright red as he was talking, a message from God that his son had risen. However far removed, by painting and decorating eggs today, children continue this message from on high that, having died for our sins, Jesus rose again. The custom dates at least as far back as the 13th century and will likely continue for years to come. By mid-morning on Easter Sunday, you may very well tuck into a hot cross bun. In the New Testament, Israelites are said to have baked sweet buns for an idol, while religious leaders attempted to put a stop to it. The exact origins are blurry at best with various and often contradictory stories and accounts. For example, one story claims that in the 12th century, an Anglican monk baked buns and marked them with a cross in honour of Good Friday. Stories such as these intertwine with documented history and, in the 16th century, we know that Queen Elizabeth I passed a law limiting the sale of sweet buns to funerals, Christmas and Good Friday, further solidifying the relationship with this sweet, lightly spiced bun and Easter. Throughout the Easter celebrations, there’s some very English traditions you may observe or even get involved in, such as Morris dancing. This loveably odd English folk dancing sees men – and, more recently, women – don bells on their trousers and take up a stick and handkerchief. These dances often take place during Easter parades and village fetes, banishing the dark of winter and celebrating the warmth and fertility of spring and summer. Dating back to the Middle Ages, it’s little to do with Christianity but it’s another folk tradition that has become part of Easter for many. Come lunchtime or dinner, chances are you’ll be sitting down to a delicious spring lamb. It’s the quintessential Easter meal, though why might not be immediately obvious. Of course, lambs are symbolic of new life and of the spring season, but there is a religious connection. Jesus’ last supper was the Passover meal so if he ate meat during that meal it would have been lamb as Jewish people abstained from eating pork. Whether we realise it or not, by taking part in these traditions, we’re connecting with the origins of Easter. Judging by the fact that church attendance spikes on Easter Sunday, it’s still a time that many of us hold dear. Outside of Christianity, the pagan celebration of new life the turning of one season into another still speaks to us on a fundamental level. Happy Easter! 26-27.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:37 Page 228 LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY FASHION You’ve earned it There’s no doubt about it, we’re well and truly into spring now. After a long wet winter, we’ve all deserved the chance to try on those loose flowing dresses that are so hot right now. If that’s not quite your style, don’t worry, there’s plenty of amazing outfits to explore this season. 28-37.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:41 Page 1LINCOLNSHIRE TODAY 29 FASHION Masai Masai are one of the foremost designers of these beautifully patterned loose-fitting tops. They’re perfect worn with a dress or trousers – the possibilities are endless! 28-37.qxp_Layout 1 25/03/2020 13:42 Page 2Next >