Flower Power

‘LIKE many, we noted something suspicious when we first saw the shots of British soldiers apparently abusing Iraqi detainees.

Worth fighting for?

Forget the lacing of the shoes, the make of rifle and clarity of image, we were shocked to see that one alleged victim was not wearing a Manchester United football kit but that of the Syrian national team.

What’s more, the squaddie in one shot is wearing a floppy hat of the type favoured by Chris Evans.

Where’s his beret? The beret that has been held up as the way to capture the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

But now, in light of these images, the British Army surely needs new weapons of peace. And the Times has found one that might just work.

The results of the County Flowers scheme, a project by conservation charity Plantlife to find a wild flower for each UK county, are in.

There is little surprise in seeing that the official bloom of Lancashire, home to the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, is the red rose.

While the Lancashire militia plant one of their emblematic blooms in the muzzle of their guns and encourage Iraqis to step up for a sniff, we look at some other more surprising results.

And chief among those is that the official wild flower of Yorkshire is not the white rose (that came in second), but the harebell.

The flower, described by the Telegraph as possessing a ‘papery beauty’ that ‘belies their extraordinary toughness and resilience’ will appear on local signs and car number plates.

The contest, voted for by the public, awarded the primrose to Devon, Jacob’s Ladder to Derbyshire, the evocative gorse to Belfast and the exotic viper’s burgloss to the equally exotic East Lothian.

But the challenge was not without controversy, says the Telegraph.

The vote was intended to coincide with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, but so many counties clamoured for the bluebell that the vote was cancelled.

Second time round and the bluebell became automatic choice as the official wild flower of the United Kingdom, and the judges allowed Northamptonshire, Surrey and Worcestershire all to hold the cowslip as their own, lest there be an all-out war and much bloodshed.’

Posted: 5th, May 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink