Wednesday 14 August:  Tales of Flora: The Folklore of Wild Plants, a gentle walk in the grounds of Whitstable Castle, starting at 2.30 p.m. and continuing for about an hour.  For further details see Events page on this website.

Report:  14 people had booked for this walk, and approximately that number turned up on a sunny, but not too hot, afternoon.  As seems to be usual for Tales of Flora walks, the site was suffering from lack of rain, so it was somewhat challenging to find sufficient plants to talk about – elder (Sambucus nigra), greater plantain (Plantago major) and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), three plants usually available for discussion, all appeared to be absent.

None-the-less we were able to find sufficient plants to occupy 50 minutes, and then spent time discussing the efficacy or otherwise of dock (Rumex sp.) leaves, and urine, to treat nettle stings.

‘Greatly appreciated by all … and excellent feedback received.’

Image:  fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) one of the plants discussed; despite its English and its scientific name there appear to be no recent records of it being used to kill or deter fleas in Britain or Ireland.