Week 21
There is little doubting the beauty of daffodils, at least when they are flowering. Yet now, as the flower shrivels and fades, my daffodils have become ugly, messy in fact. No wonder a passer-by recently stopped to ask, “When are you deadheading your daffodils?”
There are many ways of handling daffodils after they have flowered, and perhaps as many choices are there are gardeners. The object for most is to avoid so-called daffodil blindness[i]. This is when daffodils fail to flower. I have plenty of that on my land and am not greatly troubled. However, to avoid daffodil blindness, some choose to tie the daffodil’s leaves in a knot after flowering, a method that is no longer encouraged. Some bend them over, others tie them with string as a form of strangulation knot, while others simply mow their lawn, chopping through the daffodil stems at ground level. You will have to ask the mowers why they do that. Still others choose to deadhead, which can be a very lengthy process. Deadheading can be by pinching at the base of each flower as it begins to fade. This should not be left too late. Or secateurs can be used, the point of division being either above or below the seed pod, depending on preference. The aim is to leave the stem as long as possible, and at least for six weeks after flowering. Still others use a strimmer, chopping high up the stem. There are plenty of different options, the diversity of choice suggesting that no one truly knows what is correct.
Tempted to do nothing, as that is the renaturer’s approach, I decided to do as politely instructed, and deadhead my daffodils. To be fair, they did look untidy. However, with my secateurs poised for the first cut, my eyes screwed in half-apology, I noticed something I had never seen before. There was an insect munching happily on the dead flower. Unwittingly I was about to destroy the invertebrate’s habitat and I had not even realised. I looked around, at the many dozens of other fading daffodils, and the three hours of work that lay ahead. Each dead head carried at least one munching invertebrate, some dead heads carried several. I was about to become an eco-vandal by blindly following instruction.
It set me thinking. Why do we deadhead, and is it worth doing? After all, none of us would deadhead ancient woodland, so why deadhead at all?
Deadheading has been practised by gardeners for a very long time[ii]. Most annuals and perennials will continue to bloom throughout the growing season if they are regularly deadheaded. As a flower dies, so seed heads begin to form, the plant’s energy now being focussed on producing seeds, not on making a flower[iii]. Deadheading can reverse that, or so the theory goes. By removing the dead flower, so the plant’s energy is channelled back into making another flower and ignoring the production of seed.
Deadheading is what you do if you do not want your plants to spread. In the wild, seed production is an important part of a plant’s life cycle. Deadheading is said to suppress this[iv].
Flowers have both male and female parts. The male part is called a stamen, formed of the anther and filament[v], and is a long slender stalk with pollen at the end. Several stamens are normally found in the middle of the flower and surround the female part, which is called the pistil. The pistil is formed of the stigma, style, and ovary, and is in the very centre of the flower, surrounded by stamens. Hidden deep within the ovary is the ovule, which contains the eggs that will grow into seeds, once they have been fertilised with pollen.
There is a basic difference in opinion between mankind and Nature when it comes to flowers. Mankind, and certainly Stripy Lawners, see flowers as attractive and to be grown for their pleasing and colourful effects. There is nothing wrong with that, but it ignores why flowers exist. Flowers develop to attract pollinators, not to adorn a flowerbed. Pollination is the process that occurs when pollen grains from the male part of a flower (stamen) are transferred to the female part (pistil) of either the same, or another flower. Transferring to the same flower is self-pollination, to a different one is cross-pollination. The stamen, anther in fact, contains pollen. Bees and other beasties seek this out and, to attract them, flowers place the stamens near the top, but the nectar way down, so an insect must stretch, or have an especially long proboscis, to reach it. Look at butterflies, that have ultralong proboscises. One species of butterfly has a proboscis that is almost twice as long as its body[vi].
Once pollination occurs, the fertilised flowers produce seeds, which enable the associated plant to reproduce and/or form fruit[vii]. Most plants cross-pollinate, although some self-pollinate. Pollen can be moved from plant to plant either by the wind or by numerous pollinating creatures, not just bees and butterflies[viii]. For example, birds, bats, beetles and certain small mammals, can also be pollinators[ix]. The top 10 list of pollinators[x]starts with wild honeybees, then managed honeybees, followed by bumblebees, other bee species, butterflies, moths, wasps, other insects, birds and bats. The bumblebee is truly astonishing, as it works in rain, sleet and wind. Not much prevents a bumblebee from pollinating.
Foraging bees, which are always female, are attracted to flowers that are open and easy to access, as the bee can then easily reach the nectar. The bees are also attracted by smell and colour, with blue, purple and yellow flowers being the most visited. On each trip a bee will only visit one type of flower, but 50-100 of them. The bee will visit many kinds of flower over time, but only one species per journey. Pollination is hard work. To create one pound of honey, bees must visit two million flowers. Pollination is an essential part of life, as one in three bites of food eaten by mankind depends on the process[xi].
Different pollinators head for different colours, it is not just bees focussing on blue, purple and yellow. Flies prefer brown or purple flowers, butterflies like pink, moths prefer white, and birds are attracted to red[xii].
For plants that self-pollinate, fertilisation occurs when the plant’s own pollen finds its way from the stamens into the ovule. Many, but not all, crops are self-pollinating. This includes beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, onions, and peppers. Fruit trees also self-pollinate including apples, cherries, peaches, and pears[xiii].
My conclusion? A true renaturer should not deadhead. As I am a true indecisive, I have deadheaded some and not deadheaded others. Logic? There is none, but it may keep Stripy Lawners content.
Normally, when I walk to my Mossarium, the path is clear, the air fresh and the powerful scent of Lily of the Valley can nearly overwhelm me. The other day it was different. To one side of the gravel path lay a bird, its unrecognisable carcass now eaten, the poor creature manifestly the victim of an unhappy demise.
To find a dead bird is unusual, especially on my land, and when I see one these days I immediately think of avian influenza. Quietly it is spreading, but rapidly so[xiv]. Some call it a new Silent Spring of wildlife destruction, as happened in the mid-twentieth Century thanks to DDT. If you have not read the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson[xv], you should do so. It is a classic.
Avian influenza (AI) is a highly contagious virus disease that affects both domestic and wild birds. It is caused by several different viruses such as H5N1, H5N3, H5N8, and others. The virus is spread in the faeces and respiratory secretions and is resistant to many things, while surviving for long periods when temperatures are low. It can also be carried on farm equipment and spread easily from farm to farm[xvi]. Migratory wild birds, especially waterfowls, are the natural host of AI viruses.
The disease typically presents suddenly and has a high mortality[xvii]. Affected birds can develop swollen heads, stop eating thanks to a lack of appetite, show respiratory distress, develop a discharge from their eyes or nose, and have diarrhoea. Sudden death is common[xviii]. The current outbreak of AI began in October 2021 and since then there have been 286 cases in England[xix]. This may not seem many, but it is likely that reported numbers will be a huge underestimate, with only a handful of deaths being included in the official numbers. Cited figures may be out by a more than 200-fold difference. Forty sandwich terns have died[xx]? No chance. Make that 8000. Worldwide it is said that the virus has killed nearly 208 million birds[xxi]. That, too, will be an underestimate.
The H5N1 virus was first reported...wait for it...in China in 1996. Ring any bells? The current outbreak has affected more than 80 different bird species. That includes the birds that form part of my morning chorus. AI has now also spilled over into mammals[xxii], which may include those that cross my land. Quite recently, AI was found in foxes and otters, and it was not long ago my trail camera picked up a night-time fox sniffing for morcels[xxiii]. Some would suggest there is a case for taking down birdfeeders[xxiv] and covering garden ponds as these are classic locations for bird to meet bird, and disease to be transmitted.
Humans are also mammals, although somehow we regard ourselves as different. It is possible, albeit presently rare, for the disease to affect mankind. In the past 20 years, 870 humans have acquired AI and 457 have died. I have no clue if the dead bird I found on my land had AI, but I took no chances and left it where it was. It had gone within 12 hours, munched I would guess, by a wandering mammal.
I will keep my fingers crossed that the mammal, whatever it might have been, is not now suffering from avian influenza.
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Acknowledgement
Take it from me - none of this would be possible without the help of RSG Horticulture. Rufus, who runs it, has far more energy than me and is full of ideas and skills.
References [i] Daffodil blindness. See https://www.rhs.org.uk/problems/daffodil-blindness. Accessed 20 May 2023. [ii] Tilley N, Larum D. The pros and cons of deadheading. Gardening Know How. See https://blog.gardeningknowhow.com/gardening-pros-cons/the-pros-and-cons-of-deadheading/. Accessed 19 May 2023. [iii] Tilley N. Deadheading Flowers: Encouraging A Second Bloom In The Garden See https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/fgen/deadheading-flowers.htm. Accessed 19 May 2023. [iv] Veroutsos E. 3 Things You Should Not Do When Deadheading Flowers. See https://www.backyardboss.net/do-not-do-when-deadheading-flowers/. Accessed 19 May y2023. [v] Lakna. https://pediaa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-stamen-and-pistil/. Accessed 19 May 2023. [vi] Bauder JA, Lieskonig NR, Krenn HW. The extremely long-tongued neotropical butterfly Eurybia lycisca (Riodinidae): proboscis morphology and flower handling. Arthropod Struct Dev. 2011 Mar;40(2):122-7. doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2010.11.002. Epub 2010 Dec 13. [vii] What is pollination? PerfectBee. https://www.perfectbee.com/learn-about-bees/the-science-of-bees/exploring-the-process-of-pollination. Accessed 19 May 2023. [viii] Wesley D. What is pollination? Woodland Trust. See https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/04/what-is-pollination//. Accessed 19 May 2023. [ix] Pollinators need you. You need pollinators. See https://www.pollinator.org/pollinators. Accessed 19 May 2023. [x] Pollinator Top 10. See https://ruralroots.org/pollinator-top-10/. Accessed 20 May 2023. [xi] The Why, What, When, Where, Who, How of Pollination. See https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/pollinator-garden/why-what-when-where-who-how-pollination/#. Accessed 19 May 2023. [xii] Colour call. See https://www.scienceworld.ca/resource/colour-call/#:~:text=Pollinators%20prefer%20flowers%20of%20a,is%20called%20a%20pollination%20syndrome. Accessed 19 May 2023. [xiii] What are self-pollinating plants? See https://martinshomeandgarden.com/what-are-self-pollinating-plants/#:~:text=Many%2C%20but%20not%20all%2C%20crops,cherries%2C%20peaches%2C%20and%20pears. Accessed 19 May 2023. [xiv] Weston P. See https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/23/deaths-thousands-wild-birds-avian-flu-new-silent-spring-aoe. Accessed 17 May 2023 [xv] Carson R. Silent Spring. See https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silent-Spring-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141184949/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VVO85UDG71FI&keywords=silent+spring+rachel+carson+penguin&qid=1684649939&sprefix=silent+sdpring%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1 [xvi] World Organisation for Animal Health. Avian influenza. See https://www.woah.org/en/disease/avian-influenza/. Accessed 17 May 2023. [xvii] Bird flu (avian influenza): how to spot and report it in poultry or other captive birds. See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu. Accessed 17 May 2023. [xviii] VetHelpDirect. Is my pet bird at risk from avian flu? See https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2021/01/13/is-my-pet-bird-at-risk-from-avian-flu/#:~:text=You%20may%20suspect%20your%20bird,Sudden%20death%20is%20common. Accessed 17 May 2023. [xix] Bird flu (avian influenza): latest situation in England. See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-avian-influenza-latest-situation-in-england#latest-situation. Accessed 17 May 2023. [xx] Rijks JM, Leopold MF, Kühn S, in ‘t Veld R, Schenk F, Brenninkmeijer A, et al. Mass Mortality Caused by Highly Pathogenic Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Sandwich Terns, the Netherlands, 2022. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022;28(12):2538-2542. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2812.221292 [xxi] Marshall C, Prior M. Bird flu 'spills over' to otters and foxes in UK. 2 February 2023. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64474594#. Accessed 17 May 2023. [xxii] Briggs H, Howell J. Bird flu: What is it and what's behind the outbreak? See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63464065. Accessed 17 May 2023. [xxiii] Webb A. Foxes and otters infected with avian influenza, scientists reveal. VetTimes 3 February 2023. See https://www.vettimes.co.uk/news/foxes-and-otters-infected-with-avian-influenza-scientists-reveal/#:~:text=Work%20to%20monitor%20the%20UK%27s,recorded%20in%20Powys%20last%20month. Accessed 17 May 2023.
[xxiv] Avian Influenza Outbreak 2022-2023: Should You Take Down Your Bird Feeders? See https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/avian-influenza-outbreak-should-you-take-down-your-bird-feeders/#. Accessed 17 May 2023.
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