My wife has a keen interest in the garden, but one thing she
dislikes is the prevalence of bluebells at this time of year. They look pretty;
however, they pop up in unexpected places and multiply profusely. Getting rid
of them is a real problem on account of their bulbs multiplying, and they cleverly
protect themselves by taking up residence in the roots of nearby plants.
Extricating them is almost impossible without damaging the roots of plants that
shelter them.
The Chief Gardener gave me the task of removing these
tenacious plants from her front
garden, and as I was endeavouring to dig them out, my neighbour asked if I was
‘digging for victory’. I immediately
remembered back to the Second World War, because at that time there was a
campaign, ‘Dig for Victory’. This was
a concerted effort at growing vegetables wherever space could be found. My
father entered into the spirit of food production by converting most of his
garden for growing vegetables. It was part of the war effort at overcoming the
enemy who tried starving the populace by blockading merchant ships conveying
food from the US and Canada. German U-boats were instrumental in this strategy and
they had a fair measure of success.
I thought about my neighbour’s question, and replied that I
believed I could never be victorious in my battle against bluebells; after all,
I had been trying to eliminate them for the past forty or so years, since
becoming the owner of my property.
Links
Dig for Victory
Dig for Victory
Dig for Victory
Dig for Victory
Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebells)
U-boat
Second World War
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