garden withoutdoors

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

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