Blogs

August 2021

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

agastache anisata

new scabious flower

scabious

bee on purple loosestrife

bee on purple loosestrife

fat cosmos bud

cosmos bud

18-8-2021 Japanese anemone

Japanese anemone

marsh mallow

marsh mallow

marsh mallow

marsh mallow

marsh mallow buds

marsh mallow

datura buds with a ladybird

datura

datura I saw in a local park

datura

roses and purple loosestrife

roses purple loosestrife

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

purple loosestrife

a bee on the purple loosestrife

purple loosestrife with bee

bee on the lavender, purple loosestrife in the background

lavender with bee

globe thistles with bee

globe thistles with bee

 

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

viola chicky chicks

agrimony I saw in a local park

agrimony

agrimony

agrimony

pavement plants

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.

verbena

verbena

verbena

verbena

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

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

smooth sow thistle

wall lettuce

wall lettuce

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

common hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

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

common hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum)

Hypericum androsaemum

nemesia, garden escapee I presume

nemesia

2 spectacular persicaria maculosa plants, just growing in cracks

persicaria maculosa

persicaria maculosa

and another, must be the time of year for persicaria

persicaria maculosa

annual wall rocket

annual wall rocket

orache annual wall rocket

orache

hairy bittercress early rosette

hairy bittercress rosette

yarrow rosette

Achillea millefolium

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

tree spinach

tree spinach (Chenopodium giganteum)

tree spinach Chenopodium giganteum

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

marsh yellow-cress shepherd's purse

marsh yellow-cress

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

shepherd's purse

small shepherd's purse rosette

shepherd's purse

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

shepherds purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

great hairy willowherb (and ragwort or Oxford ragwort)

great hairy willowherb

great hairy willowherb

procumbent pearlwort

procumbent pearlwort Sagina procumbens

end of July 2021

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)

tree spinach Chenopodium giganteum

nearby there were fat hens (Chenopodium album)

fat hen Chenopodicum album

fat hen chenopodium album

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

fat hen chenopodium album

fat hen chenopodium album

fat hen chenopodium

a common orache (Atriplex patula)

common orache Atriplex patula

one I saw a couple weeks ago

common orache Atriplex patula

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

red goosefoot

back in my garden, one of my girls

one of my girls

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

wood pigeon

Jersey tiger moth

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

sunflowers

sunflowers

the heleniums I bought as small plants from Peter Nyssen

heleniums

roses and purple loosestrife

roses 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

smooth sow thistle

marsh yellow-cress

marsh yellow-cress

marsh yellow-cress

marsh yellow-cress

marsh yellow-cress

marsh yellow-cress

fat hen

fat hen

stitchwort

stitchwort

smooth sow thistle nearby

smooth sow thistle

and a smooth sow thistle rosette nearby

smooth sow thistle

mid-July 2021

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

sheepsbit

sheepsbit

sheepsbit

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

sheepsbit rosette in centaurea dealbata pot

close-up of that rosette

sheepsbit rosette

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

centaurea dealbata and sheepsbit rosette

close-up of that rosette

sheepsbit rosette

bee on sunflower

bee on sunflower

helenium

helenium

Japanese anemone coming into bloom

Japanese anemone

japanese anemone

One of my doggy friends this morning

wider view

bee on Little Dorrit sunflower

bee on veronica

bee on veronica

bee on lavender

bee on lavender

marsh mallow

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.

rorippa palustris

rorippa palustris

Jersey cudweed

Jersey cudweed

detail of buds

jersey cudweed

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)

buddleja

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

bee on nepeta

and one on my sea holly

bee on sea holly

catnip flower close-up

catnip flower

self-heal started to bloom a few days ago

self-heal

creeping yellowcress in bloom

creeping yellowcress

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

hogweed

beginning of July 2021

bee going right into a monkshood flower

bee in monkshood

bee right inside a flower

bee in monkshood

bee on scabious

bee on scabious

bee on scabious

mint moth on scabious buds

mint moth on scabious buds

viola Chicky Chicks

viola Chicky Chicks

cosmos I grew from seed

cosmos

some of my roses in bloom

sea holly

sea holly

hogweed coming into bloom

hogweed

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

salvia sclarea turkestanica

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

monarda cambridge scarlet

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

evening primrose

greater knapweed with bee

greater knapweed

greater knapweed

first sunflower in bloom

sunflower

first calendula in bloom

calendula

calendula bud

meadow cranesbill

meadow cranesbill

viola chicky chicks

marsh mallow buds

marsh mallow

bee on green alkanet

bee on cornflower

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

hollyhocks

monarda Cambridge Scarlet

monarda Cambridge Scarlet

first veronica flowers in bloom

veronica longifolia

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.

chinese lanterns

an unknown seedling I have, await flowers to identify

catsear, thank goodness it's survived the weedkiller

catsear

end of June 2021

giant poppy with bee

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

bee on verbascum

candytuft

candytuft

small scabious (Scabious columbaria)

scabious columbaria

view of the entire scabious plant

scabious columbaria

close-up of one of the scabious buds

scabious bud

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

knautia

Summer Solstice 2021 (June 21st)

opium poppy with hoverfly

opium poppy with hoverfly

centaurea dealbata

centaurea dealbata

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

sheepsbit centaurea dealbata

delphinium on the table above on the right

delphinium

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

delphinium

monkshood on the left, verbascum on the right

monkshoodverbascum

closer views of the verbascum flowers

verbascum

verbascum

knautia macedonica pincushion buds

knautia buds

scabious on the left, knautia on the right

knautia and scabious

teasel

teasel

the enormous stem on that teasel

teasel

sunflower bud

sunflower bud

passionflower, first in flower this year

passionflower

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

sea holly

fox visitor in the garden

fox in the garden

flowers and new buds, mid-June 2021

17-6-2021

the melancholy thistle are past their prime but some flowers still of interest to the bees

bee on melancholy thistle

bees on melancholy thistle

hoverfly on some unopened echium Blue Bedder buds

hoverfly on echium Blue Bedder

the bees don't seem to be visiting the fox-and-cubs yet but there are too many other flowers of interest for them in addition to the melancholy thistle: poppies, nepeta and green alkanet

fox-and-cubs

fox-and-cubs

first Lauren's Grape poppies, bee just below one, I guess I disturbed it off the flower while photographing

lauren's grape poppy with bee

Lauren's Grape poppy

first candytuft in bloom

candytuft

candytuft

first echium Blue Bedder in bloom

echium Blue Bedder

first monkshood flower in bloom

monkshood

16-6-2021

bees on the sheepsbit

bee on sheepsbit

bee on sheepsbit

bee on sheepsbit

left to right, fox-and-cubs, nepeta, snapdragons, poppies latest flush, scabious

My sea holly, Magical Blue Lagoon, which I bought from the garden centre last year, has survived (so many plants do not), in bud in the centre below.

sea holly (Magical Blue Lagoon) buds in the centre

bee in poppy

bee in melancholy thistle

bee in melancholy thistle

calla lily and iris foetidissima (in the background) in bloom

delpinium in bloom, cornflower and sheepsbit in bloom below the delphinium

delphinium

fringecups

fringecups

scabious in bloom and knautia macedonica in bud

scabious and knautia

monkshood in bud

monkshood buds

lavender buds below the monkshood

monarda Cambridge Scarlet in bud

monarda Cambridge Scarlet

lesser knapweed in bud

lesser knapweed

heleniums in bud above calendula

helenium in bud

Bees on wildflowers

I have an embarrassment of riches of bees and wildflowers, bees on: poppies, cornflower, melancholy thistle, sheepsbit, fringecups and green alkanet. I am loving my garden at this time

bees on red / field / common poppy

bee on corn field common poppy

bee in field corn common poppy

bee on cornflower

bee on cornflower

bees on melancholy thistle

bee on melancholy thistle

bee on melancholy thistle

bee on sheepsbit

bee on sheepsbit

bees on fringecups

bee on fringecups

bee on fringecups

bee on green alkanet

bee on green alkanet

bee in hollyhock

bee in hollyhock

hollyhocks self-seeding in pavement cracks round the corner, after I had put a hollyhock in a pot by my neighbour's front door

hollyhocks

June 2021

I am loving my sheepsbit. I attempted to grow from seed last year but all the seedlings seem to die. One appeared in the centaurea dealbata pot although I didn't know what it was. I don't know how it got there but I feel very lucky.

sheepsbit Jasione montana

the entire plant, sharing the Centaurea dealbata's pot

sheepsbit jasione montana

the pot behind (above) is a Green Wizard echinacea which was badly slug-eaten - had no leaves but since I've been picking off slugs and snails each evening, a few leaves have grown

My first two red poppies. A bee was on one yesterday but didn't get my camera in time.

red poppy Papaver rhoeas

red poppy Papaver rhoeas

a bee on a green alkanet, my bees are loving it

bee green alkanet

my bees are also loving the nepeta

bee on nepeta

bee on nepeta

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