#54 - Robin's Pincushion

It was my seven year old who first noticed one of these on a wild rose bush and who also told me it was called Robin's Pincushion. I thought it quaint but highly unlikely, especially as she informed me that she had read it in her Flower Fairy Book.  I asked my sister to buy me the Cicely Mary Barker Omnibus  for purely nostalgic reasons (my grandad and grandma used to have the little versions at their house when we were small) and I must admit it was long before I had the excuse of children of my own. My oldest now enjoys reading about the fairies - what little girl wouldn't? - and it turns out the books are a wealth of information about the British countryside. The illustrations are wonderful and although the poems are pretty dreadful they are factual, sort of. At least, it does say that these galls are caused by 'a naughty fly', which is actually a wasp.