Lovers of the Wind
by Miss Roberts
A grim morning in late January. The sky is overcast, the wind is bitter and London is a dark, dreary place. I’m holding a workshop at Lordship Park Community Hub. It feels like a long trudge to get there. January is such a cold, grey month in the city, my least favourite, but the hazel trees in Lordship Park are full of catkin and beautiful. How they cheer me up!
Long, bright, yellow worm-like chains hanging from the trees. The word ‘catkin’ comes from the Dutch for kitten, because of the fluffy, ‘kitten tail’ quality they have. They are also known as lambs’ tails, and I suppose there is a similarity to a hanging, slighting dirty lamb’s tail. Hazel catkins have long heralded the coming of spring. These are the male flowers, and there can be up to around 240 tiny, individual blooms in one catkin alone. Catkins are common on woodland trees and can be found hanging on oak, poplar, birch and hornbeam.
Catkins and Cones Read on Substack