80th Anniversary Of VE Day
THE VILLAGE GARDENER
80th Anniversary Of VE Day
This year sees the 80th anniversary of VE Day. May 8th 1945 was the day the war in Europe officially ended. I’ve been thinking of plants to grow to remember that time. As we know most gardens, parks and open spaces were turned over to produce vegetables and there was little room for flowers. Some flowers and weeds stayed long in the memory of people 
of that time. Rosebay willow herb, or fireweed as it was known during the war, grew in abundance on bomb sites, as it loved ground that had been subject to heat. Ragwort was also prevalent. These plants brought in the hawk moth and multiple insect life. Which in turn became breeding grounds for redstarts and wheatears, which had never been recorded in London before. The leaves and roots of deadly nightshade were collected from the countryside to extract atropine, a drug used in eye operations. The late Noel Williams, of Walston Close, remembered collecting foxgloves to aid the war effort as a teenager for its digitalis. This powerful drug was used for regulating heart rhythm.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands took refuge in the United Kingdom during the war, she remembers the daisies being in bloom when her country was invaded. To her it always represented hope and resistance. Food became so scarce in her country during the war that tulip bulbs were a regular source of nutrition. The capital city of Canada is a riot of colour in the spring with millions of tulips in bloom. The Dutch still send 20,000 bulbs each year. These flowers serve as a tribute to the unique friendship between the people of Canada and the Netherlands which developed during the Second World War. Thanks to the authors for these extracts and of course google.
Reading about what was produced on allotments at that time it seems little has changed on the growing side of things except that broad beans were considered a waste because the varieties then had no resistance to blight. Modern hybrids, make for heavier yields of most veg today. They also give us a longer growing season, unless you have a plot at Twyn yr Odyn, where the weather can be a little inclement on occasion.
Take care and happy gardening.
THE VILLAGE GARDENER