Country diary: a colourful and surprising member of the lily family

Wick Wood, New Forest: Graham Long's last regular country diary sees him introduce a friend to butcher's broom, a plant easily missed

We set out for Wick Wood under a bright blue sky, in a clear atmosphere that makes it great to be out and about. It's bitterly cold. The frost in the air is an unseen presence that bites the nose and ears. There is warmth where the sun breaks through the trees, and the rising mist it creates tempts us to linger, to luxuriate for a moment or two. A few steps on and we're back into the shade again. The temperature plunges, shards of ice litter the sides of puddles broken by earlier feet, and mosses and ferns are dusted with silver. We press on until we turn into a ride down which the sunlight flows to pick our way through thawed mud and still-iced turf.