The neglected weed with 100 different names that 'deserves more than a passing thought'
Shepherd's purse is a common sight in our hedgerows, but there is much more to this plant than what meets the eye.
Ian Morton is a journalist with a particular fascination for the natural world, and a regular contributor to Country Life.
Shepherd's purse is a common sight in our hedgerows, but there is much more to this plant than what meets the eye.
Ian Morton explores the runaway success of the Dickens Christmas classic and reveals the 'real' Ebenezer Scrooge, who was far from a mean man.
No feasting. No drinking. No celebrations. Ian Morton explores what the festive period was like when Oliver Cromwell’s Christmas clampdown gripped the nation.
Father Christmas may be the rosy-cheeked, jolly character who personifies the fun of the festive season, but he’s had to overcome a few setbacks on the way, notes Ian Morton.
It might look adorable, but the stumpy and dangerously endangered puffin is a ruthlessly efficient fish killer that’s so hellbent on finding its family a home, it will chase rabbits out of their own burrows, observes Ian Morton. Photographs by Drew Buckley.
Lauded by Wordsworth for their ‘glittering countenance’, the appearance of the first celandines and the swallow’s return to our shores are Ian Morton’s favourite, and much anticipated, harbingers of spring.
Once a symbol of fertility and more recently a figure of fun, the frog has always loomed large in folklore, and not only as a means of finding a prince.
It's the time of year that you'll find spiders inviting themselves into your home — but what are they? Ian Morton runs down 10 spiders you'll spot in Britain.
For centuries earwigs were believed to be adept at entering our ears so as to lay eggs in the brain, sending us mad — but as Ian Morton finds, no creature has been more unfairly condemned. He celebrates this curious creepy crawlie in all its glory.
Peaking at Christmas, regard for mistletoe is deeply rooted in myth and legend, finds Ian Morton – not to mention the age-old tradition of kissing underneath it.
A curious set of coincidences surrounding barnacle geese prompted our forebears to draw some strange conclusions about where Branta leucopsis came from — generating myths that lasted centuries, as Ian Morton discovers.
Generations have sworn by dock leaves to take the sting out of a brush with stinging nettles — but modern medicine disagrees. Ian Morton explains more as he delves into the history and lore of this plant.
Although treasured by children for the pop of those white trumpet flowers, bindweeds are no friend to gardeners, says Ian Morton. He takes a look at the history of this plant — and explains how to get rid of bindweed forever.
Hailed by Shelley as a ‘blithe spirit’ this brave little bird needs more farming friends, finds Ian Morton.
Once considered so sacred that Druids consecrated their weapons with its starflower petals before battle, borage deserves more recognition, says Ian Morton.
Once regarded as a rival to Bewick and Audubon, but now largely forgotten, ornithological artist Jemima Blackburn (1823–1909) was a formative influence on the young Beatrix Potter. Ian Morton takes a closer look.
Every summer, people from around the world gather at a pub in Devon for the World Nettle Eating Championship. But why? And how? Ian Morton takes a look, and delves into the strange history of this viciously-stinging yet ubiquitous plant.
How many snails do you think there are in your garden — a dozen maybe? Twenty? Try several thousand. Here's how to tell what they are.
Lauded by Aristotle as the ‘intestines of the earth’, the 1.75 million worms found in each acre of fertile arable land deserve the utmost respect, says an admiring Ian Morton.
Moss is fascinating, ancient and bizarre, and grows so slowly — an inch per quarter of a century — as to make glaciers look positively speedy. Ian Morton finds out more.