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Wildflowers and weeds

Celebrating wildflowers like the bluebell, with poetry from Emily Bronte and CM Barker's The Flower Fairies; and nettles and other weeds with Edward Thomas and Marguerite Duras.

David Troughton and Sarah Lessore with readings from prose and poetry set alongside music, ahead of the opening of the world’s most famous flower show RHS Chelsea, inspired by humble plants as we look at wildflowers and weeds.

We pay tribute to the glorious carpets of blue flowering in April and May as Britain’s much-loved bluebell comes into its own, represented by poetry from Emily Bronte, fiction from Ka Bradley and music from Helen Leach’s ‘Diary of the Bee’. We mark one of the earliest flowers to appear each year, the lesser celandine, in poetry by Wordsworth. There are often overlooked roadside plants such as Tansy, represented by Cicely Mary Barker’s ‘Flower Fairies of the Wayside’ and Aaron Copeland’s ‘Down a Country Lane, and ’The Secret Garden' comes to life in a reading from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children’s classic. And, of course, we'll hear perhaps the most famous floral moment in music – the Flower Duet from Delibe’s opera Lakme – as well as Mieczysław Weinberg’s ‘Polish flowers’ and a nod to the Japanese cherry blossom. And we’re making room for more unloved plants too, with Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine and Edward Thomas’ Tall Nettles.

Throughout you’ll hear from the Language of Flowers, the Victorian method of using flowers to indicate messages.

Readings:
Kate Greenaway - The Language of Flowers
Kathleen Jamie - Daisies
Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie
Frances Hodgeson Burnett - The Secret Garden
Kate Greenaway - The Language of Flowers
Edward Thomas - Tall Nettles
Ka Bradley - Bishop of the Bluebells
Emily Bronte - The Bluebell (Extract)
Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine
Kate Greenaway - The Language of Flowers
John Clare - The Crab Tree
Gustave Flaubert - Madame Bovary
Marguerite Duras - The Crushed Nettle
William Shakespeare - Henry V
Kate Greenaway - The Language of Flowers
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games
Michael Longley - The Ice Cream Man
AE Housman - The Stinging Nettle
Elizabeth Jane Burnett - Little Peach
Kate Greenaway - The Language of Flowers
Victoria Adukwei Bulley - What we Know, what we grow at the end of the world
William Wordsworth - The Lesser Celandine

Produced in Salford by Jessica Treen

11 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 17 May 2026 19:45
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Kate Greenaway

    The Language of Flowers

  • 00:00

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Daisies, Op 38 No 3 in F Major

    Performer: Ruth Slenczynska.
    • DECCA.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:01

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Daisies, Op. 38 No. 3 in F Major

    Performer: Ruth Slenczynska.
    • Ruth Slenczynska - My Life In Music.
    • DECCA.
    • 1.

  • Kathleen Jamie

    Daises

  • 00:03

    Herbert Howells

    String Quartet No 3, 'In Gloucestershire'

    Performer: Dante Quartet.
    • Naxos.
    • Tr.

  • Laurie Lee

    Cider with Rosie

  • 00:05

    Frederick Delius

    North Country Sketches - IV. The march of Spring

    Performer: Hallé.
    • Halle.
    • Tr7.
  • 00:05

    Herbert Howells

    String Quartet No. 3, 'In Gloucestershire'

    Ensemble: Dante Quartet.
    • Chamber Music.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.

  • Frances Hodgeson Burnett

    The Secret Garden

  • 00:06

    Frederick Delius

    North Country Sketches - IV. The March of the Spring

    Orchestra: Hallé.
    • Frederick Delius: Orchestral Music.
    • Decca.
    • 1.

  • Kate Greenaway

    The Language of Flowers

  • 00:07

    Trad.

    Jenny Nettles

    Performer: Battlefield Band.
    • Topic.
    • Tr6.
  • 00:09

    Trad.

    Jenny Nettles

    Composer: Battlefield Band. Ensemble: Battlefield Band.
    • Opening Moves.
    • Topic.
    • 6.

  • Edward Thomas

    Tall Nettles

  • 00:10

    Antonín Dvořák

    From the Bohemian forest [Ze Sumavy]... (Op.68), no.5; Klid [Silent woods]

    Performer: Jacqueline du Pré.
    • EMI.
    • Tr4.
  • 00:12

    Antonín Dvořák

    From the Bohemian Forest - "Silent Woods" (Waldesruhe), Op. 68

    Performer: Jacqueline du Pré.
    • Cello Concerto In B Minor & "Silent Woods", Adagio For Cello & Orchestra.
    • EMI.
    • 4.

  • Ka Bradley

    Bishop of the Bluebells

  • Kate Greenaway

    The Language of Flowers

  • 00:17

    Helen Leach

    Diary of the Bee: I. Bluebell

    Performer: John Bradbury.
    • Divine Art.
    • Tr10.
  • 00:19

    Helen Leach

    Diary of the Bee: I. Bluebell

    Performer: John Bradbury. Ensemble: Victoria String Quartet.
    • Diary of the Bee: Chamber Works by Helen Leach.
    • Divine Art.
    • 10.

  • Emily Bronte

    The Bluebell (extract)

  • 00:21

    Aaron Copland

    Down a Country Lane

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Sony Classical.
    • Tr16.

  • Ray Bradbury

    Dandelion Wine

  • 00:23

    Aaron Copland

    Down a Country Lane

    Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • A Copland Celebration/Vol.1/Famous Orchestra and Chamber Works.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 16.

  • Emily Dickinson

    After a Hundred Years

  • 00:24

    Tom Petty

    Wildflowers

    Performer: Tom Petty.
    • Warner.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:26

    Tom Petty

    Wildflowers

    Performer: Tom Petty.
    • Wildflowers.
    • Warner.
    • 1.

  • Kate Greenaway

    The Language of Flowers

  • 00:28

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Flos Campi

    Performer: Lawrence Power.
    • Hyperion.
    • Tr12.

  • John Clare

    The Crab Tree

  • 00:29

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Flos Campi

    Performer: Lawrence Power. Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Choir: BBC National Chorus of Wales. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • Vaughan Williams: Flos Campi & Suite; McEwen: Viola Concerto.
    • Hyperion.
    • 12.

  • Cicely Mary Barker

    The Tansy Fairy

  • 00:33

    Yuquijiro Yocoh

    Sakura - variations on a Japanese theme for guitar [The cherry blossom tree]

    Composer: Trad.. Performer: Alison Smith.
    • Alison Smith.
    • Tr11.
  • 00:34

    Trad.

    Sakura - variations on a Japanese theme for guitar [The cherry blossom tree]

    Performer: Alison Smith. Music Arranger: Yuquijiro Yocoh.
    • Recuerdos.
    • Alison Smith.
    • 11.

  • Gustave Flaubert

    Madame Bovary

  • Kate Greenaway

    The Language of Flowers

  • 00:39

    Charles Mingus

    Flowers For A Lady

    Performer: Charles Mingus.
    • Rhino.
    • Tr5.

  • Marguerite Duras

    The Crushed Nettle

  • 00:41

    Charles Mingus

    Flowers For A Lady

    Performer: Charles Mingus.
    • Mingus Moves.
    • Rhino.
    • 5.

  • William Shakespeare

    Henry V

  • 00:42

    Sergey Prokofiev

    The Tale of the Stone Flower, Ballet in 4 Acts, Op. 118: Prologue

    Performer: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
    • Decca.
    • Tr13.
  • 00:44

    Sergey Prokofiev

    The Tale of the Stone Flower, Ballet in 4 Acts, Op. 118: Prologue

    Orchestra: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
    • Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé; Stone Flower; Prodigal Son; Scythian Suite, &c..
    • Decca.
    • 13.

  • Kate Greenaway

    The Language of Flowers

  • 00:47

    Léo Delibes

    Lakmé (Flower Duet)

    Performer: Nadine Sierra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 9.
  • 00:49

    Léo Delibes

    Lakmé (Flower Duet)

    Performer: Nadine Sierra.
    • Nadine Sierra & Pretty Yende in Concert.
    • DG.
    • 9.
  • 00:52

    Amy Beach

    Heartsease (From Grandmother's Garden, Op 97)

    Performer: Kirsten Johnson.
    • Guild.
    • 16.

  • Suzanne Collins

    The Hunger Games

  • 00:54

    Amy Beach

    Heartsease (From Grandmother's Garden, Op. 97)

    Performer: Kirsten Johnson.
    • Piano Music by Amy Beach - Vol. 3, The Mature Years.
    • Guild.
    • 16.

  • Michael Longley

    The Ice Cream Man

  • 00:56

    Mieczysław Weinberg

    Symphony No. 8, Op. 83, "Tveti Pol'shi" (Polish Flowers): I. Podmuch wiosny [Gust of Spring]

    Performer: Magdalena Dobrowolska.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.
  • 00:58

    Mieczysław Weinberg

    Symphony No. 8, Op. 83, "Tveti Pol'shi" (Polish Flowers): I. Gust of Spring

    Performer: Magdalena Dobrowolska. Orchestra: Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Antoni Wit.
    • Weinberg: Symphony No. 8, Op. 83, "Tvetï Pol'shi", "Kwiaty Polskie" (Polish Flow.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.

  • AE Housman

    The Stinging Nettle

  • 01:00

    Edward MacDowell

    To a wild rose [10 Woodland sketches, Op.51] arr. for clarinet and piano

    Performer: Emma Johnson.
    • ASV.
    • 7.
  • 01:02

    Edward MacDowell

    To a wild rose [10 Woodland sketches, Op. 51] arr. for clarinet and piano

    Performer: Emma Johnson. Performer: Julius Drake.
    • Emma Johnson - Encores.
    • ASV.
    • 7.

  • Elizabeth Jane Burnett

    Little Peach

  • 01:04

    Robert Schumann

    Waldszenen Op.82 for piano: no.1; Eintritt no.3; Einsame Blumen; no.6 Herberge

    Performer: Marc‐André Hamelin.
    • HYPERION.
    • 13.
  • 01:06

    Robert Schumann

    Waldszenen Op. 82 for piano: No.1; Eintritt No.3; Einsame Blumen; No.6 Herberge

    Performer: Marc‐André Hamelin.
    • Schumann - Kinderszenen & Waldszenen; Janacek - On the overgrown path I..
    • Hyperion.
    • 13.

  • Kate Greenaway

    The Language of Flowers

  • 01:07

    Gustav Mahler

    What the wild flowers tell me, arr. Britten [2nd mvt of Symphony no.3]

    Performer: Frankfurt Radio Symphony.
    • ERATO.
    • 4.

  • Victoria Adukwei Bulley

    What we Know, what we grow at the end of the world

  • William Wordsworth

    The Lesser Celandine

  • 01:14

    Erland Cooper

    Music for growing flowers

    • Mercury KX.

Broadcast

  • Sun 17 May 2026 19:45
    BBC Radio 3

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