I am having a very difficult week (so far been stung by a bee (excruciatingly painful), been aggressively confronted by a neighbour who says he doesn't want my cats in "his" garden (it's a shared garden) and having migraine auras everyday) so want to focus on my flowers for a welcome distraction.
The buddleja is blooming, haven't seen any bees so far but it's been raining on and off for a week. I did have a (expensive) star jasmine at the front but passing people pulled off every woody flowering stem and it died so thought a free self-seeded buddleja was a great alternative.
there's also jasmine which was here when I moved in and the fragrance is wonderful
this senecio (yes I know it's brachyglottis now but it still is senecio to me) was also here when I moved in and although it's not my favourite, it makes a nice barrier to block the unsightly wheelie bins
the meadow cranesbill is blooming and there is still green alkanet
moving to the back garden, the self-seeded poppy I assumed was a Black Swan which I grew last year, is not, not sure what variety it is, a fox-and-cubs is just visible to the right of it at the bottom
the small part of the salvia black and blue that has survived is blooming
a nasturtium self-seeded in a little dirt that accumulated at the edge of the patio
That echium I first thought was vulgare then Blue Bedder, I think is indeed vulgare. It looks different from the Blue Bedder now. The patio is crowded with plants so a bit difficult to see but it's in the terracotta-coloured pot, in front is a foxglove and a sea holly. I thought the sea hollies hadn't survived but some smaller ones in that grey trough (just visible) have buds.
That echium vulgare is now easier to compare with the just starting to bloom echium Blue Bedder whose leaves are larger and more rounded.
a larger pot of the Blue Bedder with buds just starting to open