Just Green?
by Linda Latham, Wildlife and Botanical Artist
On this bright cool January morning, the bare Acer with its shapely elegant form stands dripping in rain drops glistening like crystals, catching the sunlight. Azure blue and then brilliant orange radiates as the breeze catches the droplets. We may remember from our physics school days why this spectacle happens, visible spectrum and light waves and all that. However, I am always mesmerised by the purity and brilliance of the colours. I wonder what early man, with his limited knowledge, made of this magical effect as a similar light bounced around his simple habitat. That’s my vivid imagination wandering again…
The bare ground in my new garden is crumpled and frozen now on this frosty day in January. You can often tell how cold it has been overnight by the influx of wild birds, desperate to fill up with calories to stay warm. And today is such a day. Insects are well tucked away under leaves or in burrows and crevices. The clever wren specialises in discovering these hidden spaces, preferring protein rather than seeds. Any small gaps or burrows, is a cave to a wren, living up to their Latin name Troglodytes Troglodytes, cave dweller. Approx 12 cms long. An overturned plant pot, with its soil is a great place for the wren to make a cave. I usually leave a couple behind tree trunks in the garden, providing shade. If you have pets about, then a ball of chicken wire around the pot keeps noses out.
Water is always vital for wild creatures, and my garden birds enjoy what seems like a steam bath after filling icy cold trays with warm water in the morning. I’ve seen my robins perched on the edges enjoying the warm vapour in the icy dawn.
I mentioned Just Green in my title and would like to elaborate a little.
As gardeners I think it might be true that we sometimes plant in colour schemes, or have our favourite varieties of flowering plants, shrubs, fruits and so on. And understandably if you only have a small outside space, maximising the palette is effective. Consequently our attention is on the flowers, fruits and berries. And all these provide the nectar, pollen and food for insects and birds. Unless you are planting a vegetable patch then the “green” stuff is often overlooked and undervalued, in my view. Look at artificial grass, or better still don’t!
The leaves of all plants, from tall trees to tiny daisies are the generators of energy for the plant. That green stuff in its juicy variety of hues and shades gives us the oxygen we need to breathe. We all know this, and yet sometimes we discard the plant after flowering, or the leaves have become too big and dominating etc. That intricate powerhouse absorbing the sun’s energy and transforming it into sugars for the plant, and then oxygen for us is a wonder of the natural world......in fact nature and all life would have never evolved on the surface if the green stuff hadn't developed, transforming our toxic atmosphere into a breathable paradise.
In my botanical art journey, I began to appreciate the varying colours of leaves and stems, as before I never really paid them much attention. And that appreciation of their skeletal form and web of veins, gave me a better understanding of the growth and importance of all things green. And that they are not “Just Green”. I took green for granted in the garden. And when I thought about it more, from a nutritional point of view, there is a good reason green stuff has always been important for our health too.
So, most of our wild “weeds” such as the dandelions, wild garlic, bluebells, primroses, any many more too numerous to mention, start their life with a burst of green growth to manufacture the energy to produce flowers etc. At which point we often hit them with the trowel or spray. I have a small lawn in my new garden which is full of bright yellow flowers, a dream for butterflies and bees early in the year. And then seed heads for garden birds. And if you are so inclined you can harvest some of the leaves to make tea.

My learning journey into botanical art encouraged me to observe the subject carefully, the shape, how it grows, the finer details, veins, hairs, spikes, petal shapes, etc. Understanding how it grows helps you to draw a realistic interpretation in detail and perspective. And then there is the colour. If you practise how to mix the colours you begin to understand the complexity of your subject and in turn appreciate its incredible beauty. Be it a crumpled autumn leaf or a peony rose.
So my blog today was not about the disciplines of becoming a botanical artist but encouraging people to take the time to observe the natural beauty of the simplest of things in the garden. The “scruffy weed” that found a perfect place behind the shed, in which to grow. The alien that dared to encroach and take up precious space. And that green stuff left after the flower has faded. Let it nourish the soil, feed a caterpillar for a day, provide oxygen for us to breathe. I am not too precious about my garden space now. There are some areas and now there are wilder areas. I may not yet have the balance right, but by allowing nature that space I feel more connected and responsible. I am less of a gardener and more of a sculptor.

I hear this view from many artists and horticulturists who spend time studying their plants, propagating and nurturing. Some even talk to their plants. I haven’t gone there yet, but I do feel more connected to the natural world having developed that appreciation and understanding of its exquisite detail and form, through botanical art. And how exceptionally complex and rare our environment is that sustains us. I am invested in its success.
A vertical field.
I have several small trees or large shrubs in my wild garden. And none are taller than 6 feet. This vertical field of habitats has so many benefits for wildlife, providing shelter, food, resting places, and hide outs from predators. Also fruiting climbing plants on a wall or fence can feed a few creatures during the Autumn and Winter. A vertical field is one way of maximising available habitats for creatures in your garden.
To finish off this January blog …I hope I have inspired you to think about how your outside space can provide places for wildlife. Not wildebeest or strutting deer, but the crucial, secretive, forgotten mini creatures too often ravaged by raking, tidying, chemicals, habitat loss and us.
They never suffer from neglect, if fact they thrive on it.
In my Spring blog…once Spike the hedgehog has awoken from his hibernation ....I hope to concentrate the theme of my wild garden around the resident and visiting birds and insects as they prepare for parenthood.
Happy sculpting.
Linda Latham
Wildlife and Botanical artist