Well, I was truly stuck this week. Besides repeating my last week’s leaves or forced bulbs I had nothing to offer …..but then the forest came to the rescue. Even in the dead of winter the mosses, liverworts and lichens remain green. They are so unappreciated as we tramp over them in the snow or scour the forest floor looking for calypso orchids or violets in the spring.

This concoction is symbolic. I brought in my Little Green Man, a chunk of forest floor bark, left from Christmas foraging and added a hummingbird egg that squirrel had stolen and put in his, also ‘stolen’, bird box.

Green men, human faces surrounded by leaves are an ancient pagan symbol of nature, rebirth and the cycle of life. They are also thought to represent the wild spirit of the forest. They can be found in all shapes, sizes and materials in many places especially in Europe. Religion adopted them and as a result they are common place in churches, churchyards and ancient buildings. Green Women exist with more ancient symbolism attached but many prefer to see the Greenman as androgynous. Green men have experienced a rebirth of their own in recent times and are frequently available in varying forms for garden adornment or other decoration. My shy little man welcomes you to my garden, peeping through his fingers from his hiding place but today he highlights the constant busy life that exists on the forest floor. Nestled beside him is the stolen egg found when emptying last year’s birdboxes, a symbol of new life and a little reminder that nature is harsh and not all can survive.

I am grateful today, under a winter, dreary, grey sky, of Greenman’s reminder of exciting new life to come.

I’m hoping to find some colourful plant life from ‘away’ in my scrolling through vases to be found in Cathy’s ‘Rambling in the Garden’ blog. I hope you do too!