In the two years the current garden team has been at Somerville, much has changed. Not only the planting and the pots, but our push and drive to increase biodiversity within the college. So, with this blog we are introducing you to our latest addition to our biodiversity plans: we would like to draw your attention to the ‘pool’.
This addition to the garden comes via a gift. We in the gardens are very grateful to Somerville’s alumni, as are the academic community. In this instance we have been gifted water. The family of our alumna Rosemary Hobsbaum (née Phillips, 1955, English) have erected a very special bird bath in her memory. Born in Ilfracombe, Rosemary was brought up solely by mother after her father died when she was four. After Somerville, she became an English teacher, and, upon marrying the poet and critic Robert Hobsbaum, moved to Glasgow where she continued to teach and support students into higher education. Robert called her his ‘anima candida’ (pure soul), hence the dedication on the pond. To read more about Rosemary, this obituary by her daughter Jane is a lovely insight into her life and work.
Water is a force of nature, a force for change, a force for good. A thing of purity, a thing of soul. Rosemary’s anima candida was expressed through her dedication to society, through her work in teaching, her feminism and her politics. We believe she would have put her force of nature behind our drive towards greater biodiversity and therefore be pleased with this introduction. A garden is never truly a garden without water – however small the amount.
The garden's new water feature
The planting in the pool
The dedication to Rosemary Hobsbaum
The ‘pool’ comes in the form of a corten steel dish of a two metre (1m 50cm) diameter, now situated in the Chapel border.
As opposed to leaving this as the clear water (a difficult thing to achieve in a still pool) seen in a traditional bird bath, we have planted it up with native flag iris – Iris pseudacorus. Iris pseudacorus also has been found to be the second top pollen producing plant in this country, making it a worthy addition to our college.
Alongside the iris, we have planted corkscrew rush – Juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’. We went a little further afield for this. It’s believed the cultivar comes from Japan, but it is now ubiquitous, and its corkscrew-like spirals are a lot of fun.
Adding these plants to the pond allows the water to be used not only by the birds in College but by the pollinators as well, who use it not only for hydration but also as breeding grounds (dragon flies) and hunting grounds (water beetles).
The pool has only been in state a few months and is already attracting insect species that we haven’t had in the college before.
As well as more insects, I personally am crossing my fingers for some native mammals – hedgehogs and badgers, as well as the return of last year’s mistle thrushes.
Speaking of all of the above, we are hoping to set up a nature camera next spring to capture more of nature’s activities around the college. We will be keeping you updated in future blogs.
So in honour of Rosemary Hobsbaum, ‘Anima Candida’.