Blogs

my polydactyl cat Scarecrow on the table I've just cleared to do my hyacinth forcing prep, I had a number of seed trays there, I do wonder whether I'll get anything from those recent seed sowings, 1 seedling from a packet of Centaurea montana seeds?! quite disappointing 

Cosmos

The cosmos is really coming into its own, lots of flowers and buds. There are two plants behind to the right but although one is very tall, no buds. I should try to move it more into the sun. I couldn't before because everything was so crowded but now the sea holly and monarda are finished, they could be moved back and the cosmos forward.

Water Lily

A second late water lily has bloomed.

Scabious

I love scabious (and the similar knautia) and have a lot in my garden so inevitably I have a number self-seeding. I potted this one up recently and had a closer look at it.

at the top, a  new flower bud

at the next node down, flowers struggling to grow

the node below that, small flowering stems

at the bottom node just above the base, the start of two more flower stems it looks like

Asters

The park across the road has these asters (Aster frikartii Monch I think) just coming into bloom. They are gorgeous. Not your usual municipal planting.

Also in the park across the road, wild buckwheat (I think), quite different from another example going to seed which I saw recently so I'll have to keep an eye on this and see how it develops

Back in my garden, I took a photo of the rosa rugosa hips. While processing at my computer I saw the yucca flower spike, I'm embarrassed to say, I hadn't noticed it before.

purple loosestrife, it's huge but has been fantastic for colour and the bees, one plant has been a great investment

purple loosestrife with bee

milk parsley in the middle of some of the purple loosestrife flower spikes

the new shoots of the purple loosestrife look similar to a willowherb

ribwort plantain, I usually see these out and about but this was in a wildflower seed mix I sowed in my garden

milk parsley with bees or hoverflies

nasturtium I grew from seed

cosmos I grew from seed

nettle-leaved bellflower I saw self-seeded on the pavement

horseweed (Erigeron canadensis)

This often starts as a rosette, sometimes including mitten-shaped leaves.

a larger rosette, looking much less hairy, although still hairy in the middle, shaggy but no obvious mitten-shaped leaves

Erigeron karvinskianus

early plants have mitten-shaped leaves, later leaves are lanceolate

I visited the herb garden in July

valerian

purple milk thistle (Galactites tomentosa)

close-up of the leaves

rue, I'm afraid the flowers are past their best

rue, close-up of the leaves

Canary Island geranium (Geranium palmatum)

sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica the Pearl)

dyer's chamomile (Cota tinctoria)

21-8-2021 agastache I grew from seed in bloom, whenever I go near it and disturb it, I get such a smell of liquorice I'm reminded it's agastache anisata

new scabious flower

bee on purple loosestrife

fat cosmos bud

18-8-2021 Japanese anemone

marsh mallow

marsh mallow buds

datura buds with a ladybird

datura I saw in a local park

roses and purple loosestrife

17-8-2021 purple loosestrife in bloom and attracting bees

a bee on the purple loosestrife

bee on the lavender, purple loosestrife in the background

globe thistles with bee

6-8-2021 photobombed by my cat Rocky while photographing the viola Chicky Chicks

agrimony I saw in a local park

If you would like to see some of these Pavement Plants, please join me for a walk around part of Camden on Sunday September 12th at 10:00 am, meet in Camden Gardens, NW1 (junction of Kentish Town Rd, Camden St, Hawley Rd). We'll be finishing with some simple sketching activities. Email for more info julie@gardendwithoutdoors.org.uk.

Verbena

In the ten years I've been observing urban wild plants I've never seen verbena so I was surprised to see it this morning (August 30th) on a pavement locally. Unfortunately these photos are a bit out of focus but I will go back and try to take better ones.

smooth sow thistle

the smooth sow thistles have found this area most conducive to growing large and exuberant

wall lettuce

a surprising plant in the pavement crack, common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)

lots of verbena bonariensis near the hogweed - a more usual self-seeder

tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum)

nemesia, garden escapee I presume

2 spectacular persicaria maculosa plants, just growing in cracks

and another, must be the time of year for persicaria

annual wall rocket

hairy bittercress early rosette

yarrow rosette

I'm seeing lots of chenopodiums at this time of year

tree spinach

marsh yellow-cress' fat sausage fruits and shepherd's purse heart-shaped fruits

a small shepherd's purse on the right, not sure what the small plant on the left it, must keep an eye on it

small shepherd's purse rosette

large shepherd's purse possibly? rosette - update 2022 turned out to be a dandelion, see heterophylly -

great hairy willowherb (and ragwort or Oxford ragwort)

procumbent pearlwort

Urban wild plants seem to go in waves, this year it's Chenopodiums: 

tree spinach (Chenopodium giganteum) which I've never seen before yesterday (29-7-2021)

nearby there were fat hens (Chenopodium album)

today (30-7-2021) I saw some more chenopodiums, a large fat hen

a common orache (Atriplex patula)

one I saw a couple weeks ago

a red goosefoot possibly? I'm not that familiar with this plant but this id has been suggested to me, I must go back and check it

back in my garden, one of my girls

on the other side of the garden, one of my 3 wood pigeons

Jersey tiger moth

the Little Dorrit sunflowers I grew from seed this year have been a great success although the slugs have tried to eat them all

the heleniums I bought as small plants from Peter Nyssen

roses and purple loosestrife

on the side of Sainsbury's is a small patch with lots of self-seeding urban wild plants in the cracks, occasionally pulled out and weedkiller sprayed and then they grow back

closer view

smooth sow thistle

marsh yellow-cress

fat hen

stitchwort

smooth sow thistle nearby

and a smooth sow thistle rosette nearby

my sheepsbit has been the most amazing plant this year, lots of flowers beloved by bees - and it's still going strong

the sheepsbit started as the rosette (from seeds I sowed but in another pot, somehow it ended up in this pot) sharing this pot with a centaurea dealbata back in 2020

close-up of that rosette

in March 2021, the centaurea dealbata is growing and the sheepsbit rosette is still there

close-up of that rosette

bee on sunflower

helenium

Japanese anemone coming into bloom

One of my doggy friends this morning

wider view

bee on veronica

bee on lavender

marsh mallow

I've been working long hours at my pc to finish the Plant Survey of the area by the railway line from Maiden Lane to Camley St but had to pop out to collect a parcel and found two new urban wild plants ("weeds" - if you like) - so glad I was interrupted. Marsh yellow cress round the corner which I've only seen at one other nearby location and cudweed (possibly Jersey cudweed) which I've never seen before.

Jersey cudweed

detail of buds

buddleja in bloom with my sign "pardon the weeds, they're feeding the bees" (still offering these to anyone who would like one, let me know julie@gardenwithoutdoors.org.uk)

one of the few bees I'm seeing in my garden on nepeta

and one on my sea holly

catnip flower close-up

self-heal started to bloom a few days ago

creeping yellowcress in bloom

hogweed in bloom towards the back of my garden, the "wildflower" area

bee going right into a monkshood flower

bee right inside a flower

bee on scabious

mint moth on scabious buds

viola Chicky Chicks

cosmos I grew from seed

some of my roses in bloom

sea holly

hogweed coming into bloom

salvia sclarea tukestanica, I grew these from seed, two years ago?, they first flowered last year, this is the only one I have this year, I can't remember if they're annuals or perennials   -update- yes, grew from seed in 2019 and they are supposedly perennials but only have one plant left

monarda Cambridge Scarlet, I thought bees liked these but I have never seen a bee on one, not that I have many bees, sadly

first evening primrose flower from a wildflower pack of seeds I sowed last year, most of the other wildlfowers in the pack were annuals and bloomed last year but this one didn't bloom until this year as it's a biennial - funny to include in a pack of annual wildflower seeds

greater knapweed with bee

first sunflower in bloom

first calendula in bloom

marsh mallow buds

hollyhocks round the corner self-seeded in the pavement from hollyhocks in a pot I shared there with my neighbour

monarda Cambridge Scarlet

first veronica flowers in bloom

I don't have as many Chinese lanterns as I used to. Recent drought periods have really taken their toll. I see 3 plants there this year. May be all I get. I'll have to have another look.

an unknown seedling I have, await flowers to identify

catsear, thank goodness it's survived the weedkiller

giant poppy with bee

not sure how "giant" these are but they are sold by Chiltern Seeds as Papaver somniferum Giganteum, seem only a bit bigger than my other poppies

bees are loving my verbascum

candytuft

small scabious (Scabious columbaria)

view of the entire scabious plant

close-up of one of the scabious buds

close-up of knautia buds, so similar to the scabious

opium poppy with hoverfly

centaurea dealbata

sheepsbit with bee on the left, centaurea dealbata on the right

delphinium on the table above on the right

some of my most slug-vulnerable plants on this table, delphinium and rudbeckia Green Wizard

monkshood on the left, verbascum on the right

closer views of the verbascum flowers

knautia macedonica pincushion buds

scabious on the left, knautia on the right

teasel

the enormous stem on that teasel

sunflower bud

passionflower, first in flower this year

sea holly, central flower with just a hint of blue starting

fox visitor in the garden