ju1i3's blog

In Whitechapel yesterday there was a lot of Crepis vesicaria - more than I tend to see in Camden. Any small plants I do see in Camden, tend to be mown down before they bloom. I'll have to make a trip to Whitechapel in a couple weeks to see if these are allowed to survive and bloom.

Crepis vesicaria in the foreground, abandoned detail of the Bishopsgate goods yard viaduct which is on the right, railway line on the left

lots of buds

cow parsley

narrow-leaved ragwort

fodder burnet (Poterium sanguisorba subsp. balearicum)

and in Islington, shepherd's purse

thale cress

narrow-leaved ragwort

some rosettes

winter purslane (Claytonia perfoliata)

Jersey cudweed (Helichrysum luteoalbum)

hoary mustard (Hirschfeldia incana)

nettle-leaved bellflower (Campanula trachelium)

Crepis vesicaria

ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)

Online, people can be quite dogmatic and if one is not totally confident they can be swayed by them. I am quite embarrassed to say, I was one of those unconfident gardeners and listened to someone telling me to remove the coltsfoot in the garden next door I looked after as they considered coltsfoot very very invasive. I came to regret that and have developed more confidence in my gardening and am happy to grow what I want, regardless of other's views. I kept hoping the coltsfoot would grow back but I effectively killed the coltsfoot.

I decided I would grow some from seed or buy plants. I found some coltsfoot plug plants at British Wild Flower Plants, here repotted in small pots. With coltsfoot, flowers appear first and then the leaves after, so here they are in bloom or seed.

I bought 10 hollyhocks as bare-rooted plants, repotted in these 9 pots. I guess I put 2 in one of the pots. Some look better than others. I'll see how they do. It's freezing cold so not the best time but I can't help that.

so many of my bulbs don't last long but these snakeshead fritilary have lasted and bloom every year, also one of my dandelions which I am going to try to identify

muscari latifolium and tulips

honesty

I do find it difficult to resist picking up something in the garden range from Sainsburys when I pop in. I like lily-of-the-valley and had some in the garden but it seems to have died in recent years so for this small price I thought I'd try them.

they are completely hard and dry and appear dead - quite disappointing but I soaked them and potted them up, hoping they might have some life in them

I love green alkanet but enough is enough. It has completely taken over my pot of melancholy thistle. I guess I might have removed it sooner if I'd realised but it seems to have grown very quickly. I removed it and tried to replant them. They don't really like being disturbed like that so I'll see if they survive.

I'm happy to see there are some melancholy thistle plants surviving under that green alkanet.

Rocky had to investigate.

He also checked out the hosta pot that I also removed a green alkanet from.

and the pot of marsh mallow, there's also some marsh mallow in the ground in front of the pot and green alkanet nearby, stinging nettle and an Acanthus spinosus which was savagely eaten by slugs last year so didn't bloom, maybe I can remove the slugs this year? I find that's the only method that works

I only had 1 seed germinating last year from a packet of Centaurea montana seeds. Happy to see it survived, must plant it out.

I only had 2 surviving giant scabious plants from a packet of seeds last year. About half a dozen had germinated but the slugs got some and foxes damaged some and a few days ago Rocky knocked this tray of pots off the table so it will be amazing if this blooms this year but I hope it will. Oops, I see a snail on a chicory seedling - must remove that.

I also notice a borage has self-seeded in the Centaurea dealbata (happy to see has survived) pot along with a dandelion.

I always have a lot of small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria) self-seeding in the garden. This is one from last year that I potted up and it's blooming, even in this freezing weather. It snowed yesterday.

hedge mustard rosettes

catsear

buck's-horn plantain (Plantago coronopus)

Jersey cudweed (Helichrysum luteoalbum)

a larger Jersey cudweed with flowers

thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana)

nettle-leaved bellflower (Campanula trachelium)

lesser burdock (Arctium minus)

wall lettuce (Lactuca muralis)

I think this is cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) but not 100%. It's not something I see that much of.

beaked hawk's-beard (Crepis vesicaria)

eastern rocket (Sisymbrium orientale)

common whitlowgrass (Erophila verna)

white comfrey (Symphytum orientale)

ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

hoary mustard (Hirschfeldia incana)

a larger hoary mustard

bristly oxtongue (Helminthotheca echioides)

I think this is a bristly oxtongue as well but I have never seen leaves this shape but it is a variable plant

something tells me this is also bristly oxtongue but not 100% sure

hawkweed oxtongue

I think this is catsear (Hypochaeris radicata)

definitely catsear

possibly dandelion? will try to revisit

an amazing dandelion - look at those buds

smooth sow thistle aren't very exciting but this rosette is one of the more impressive ones

pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria judaica) on the left and green alkanet (Pentaglottis sempevirens) on the right

foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) on the left and horseweed (Erigeron canadensis) on the right

this rosette I'm not sure of

the weather has been terrible, both for getting out and looking at plants and also too cold for plants to grow much but finally in the last few days I've seen a few new rosettes

shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

first hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale) of the year that I've seen

at first I thought this might be catsear but I think it's a dandelion

my garden seems to be coming back to life

an atlantic poppy rosette

a teasel rosette which started last summer, looking so large and tough

forget-me-nots just blooming amongst crocus leaves

I think of forget-me-nots as being smaller plants so suprised to see these long stems

the whole plants has long multiple stems

On the New Year Plant Hunt we saw 24 plant species including celery-leaved crowfoot, London bur-marigold and winter heliotrope.

celery-leaved crowfoot (Ranunculus sceleratus) by Regent's Canal

London bur-marigold (Bidens connata) along the Regent's Canal in Camden

winter heliotrope (Petasites fragrans)

New Year Plant Hunt 2022

If anyone would like to join me to take part in the New Year Plant Hunt run by BSBI (https://bsbi.org/new-year-plant-hunt) I'm doing my part in Camden on January 2nd, meeting in Camden Gardens park (between Kentish Town Road, Camden Street and Camden Gardens) at 10:00 for 1 hour. If there's enough interest I'll do another later in the day. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gardenwithoutdoors), email julie@gardenwithoutdoors.org.uk.

Recent observations

tansy, east London

in bud but no flowers

nearby was a hawkweed

also in east London but another part of it, narrow-leaved ragwort, which I'm seeing more and more of

back in my own garden, I stuck this sedum stem which had gotten broken off into a pot months ago hoping it would root but I'd given up hope - now I see a small shoot - I should be more patient - plants are amazing and want to grow!

closer view of that sedum shoot, looks like nepeta seedlings either side

perennial sow thistle

horseweed, all 3 quite different but it is a variable plant

the usual horseweed I see

morning glory Heavenly Blue

I guess I had some self-seeding from a previous year

a self-seeded morning glory Grandpa Ott which appeared this year, I grew them in previous years

I love these cosmos buds

I saw a few rosettes the last few days

hawkweed oxtongue (small hoary mustard upper left)

hoary mustard rosette, at least 0.5 m across, near me is lots of hoary mustard

I also noticed some much smaller rosettes, I think they are hoary mustard but will keep an eye on them

At first look this is eastern rocket but I should have examined the centre leaves better as next photo below, looking like hoary mustard.

a few weeks later, looking like hoary mustard (not eastern rocket)

now this is eastern rocket

the very long fruits are a feature of eastern rocket

an eastern rocket closer to home amongst the skeletons left from the weedkiller

wall lettuce (with smooth sow thistle) in front of a vintage bollard in Clerkenwell

wall lettuce in front of vintage bollard in Clerkenwell

and in my own garden, an enormous dandelion rosette, 0.5 m

I've been working hard to differentiate between autumn hawkbit and smooth hawk's-beard. I'm pretty sure this is autumn hawkbit.

although my camera could not capture a close-up of the flower, I examined it and concluded also autumn hawkbit

another autumn hawkbit

another autumn hawkbit

lots of nipplewort in bloom locally

annual mercury below and to the left of the nipplewort

annual mercury, smooth sow thistle and a dandelion as well