Cuckoo clocked
The elegant ‘milkmaid’ is a delightful– and increasing – arrival in early spring, writes David Overend.
Cometh the cuckoo, cometh the ‘cuckoo flower’, also known as ‘lady’s smock’ and ‘milkmaid’. Its proper, grown-up name is Cardamine pratensis, a bit of a mouthful, so it is far easier to refer to it by its country name. It normally comes into bloom around the time the cuckoo starts to call and it’s the county flower of Cheshire where it is traditionally known as the above-mentioned ‘milkmaid’.
Basically, we are looking at a lovely, demure wildflower with pale lilac – or occasionally white – petals. It is quite at home throughout the country where it flourishes in damp, grassy spots such as water meadows and sheltered banks and verges.
And this year it appears to be increasing its range; it could be that, despite all the talk of global warming there are now more and more spots capable of providing the right growing conditions for this elegant little flower.
It is one of the food plants of the Orange Tip butterfly, but is rarely cultivated as a garden plant other than where there is plenty of space for creating the right habitat.
Way back in 1597, the botanist, John Gerard, said that Cardamine pratensis appears when the cuckoo begins to sing ‘her pleasant note without stammering’’. A bit poetic but they said and did different things in those days.
But obviously, these plants (part of the crucifer family, which includes cabbage, turnip and cress) were popular then. There are 130 species, mainly found in the Northern hemisphere, and there are one or two suitable for conventional gardens – Cardamine quinquefolia, for instance.
This delightful flower appears in early March and can make a spreading groundcover but it dies back quickly after blooming. At its height, it may reach nine inches.
Another spring favourite is Cardamine enneaphylla, the white toothwort. The flowers, which appear in late March or April, are more cream with a hint of apricot. And the foliage is tinted with bronze.
And Cardamine trifolia is a mat-forming perennial that produces snowy flowers on slender stems reaching perhaps 12ins in height. It’s a dense plant ideal for ground cover.
Cardamines bloom early and then retreat underground, leaving room for bigger, later-flowering, shade-loving summer perennials to take their place.