Out walking the dog today with my son I came across this plant. I think it might be a Greater Bindweed plant but I would not swear to it. You often see them in hedgerows with their distinctive trumpet shaped white flowers.

I picked one and said the rhyme, “Grandmother, Grandmother, jump out of bed” and then squeezed the green base. The flower pops out as if it is on a spring. My son looked at me as if I was mad. He then became rather fascinated and wondered why the flower jumped out when I said the rhyme. This led to a lot of experimentation with the flowers, saying the rhyme, not saying the rhyme and seeing if they jumped. He really enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun.

I have memories of my mum showing me how to do this when we were on country walks when I as a child. She told me that her mother had taught her.  I hope my son will be popping these flowers with his children in the years to come. However it did make me wonder, are we the only family that does this or is there an origin for this tradition? Are there more lines to the poem or is “Grandmother Grandmother, jump out of bed” all there is to it? I would really love to know if anyone else does this or knows the origins of the rhyme. If you do know please tell me!