garden withoutdoors

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

17-6-2021

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

hoverfly on some unopened echium Blue Bedder buds

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

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

first candytuft in bloom

first echium Blue Bedder in bloom

first monkshood flower in bloom

16-6-2021

bees on the 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

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

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

fringecups

scabious in bloom and knautia macedonica in bud

monkshood in bud

lavender buds below the monkshood

monarda Cambridge Scarlet in bud

lesser knapweed in bud

heleniums in bud above calendula

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 cornflower

bees on melancholy thistle

bee on sheepsbit

bees on fringecups

bee on green alkanet

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

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.

the entire plant, sharing the Centaurea dealbata's pot

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.

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

my bees are also loving the nepeta

I am lucky to have occasional access to the closed, walled Jewish cemetery in Brady Street, Whitechapel, East London. Sometimes it's severely mown, sometimes it's full of wildflowers. Last weekend it was full of wildflowers.

forget-me-not close-up of the flower

forget-me-not entire plant

the purple flowers are geranium molle

comfrey

smooth sow thistle with a very thick stem

bellis perennis

white deadnettle and hawkweed which has spread extensively

smooth sow thistle

cow parsley, green alkanet and bellis perennis throughout the cemetery

I am so happy to see the pink woodsorrel has grown back after being mown down

the buds are like little sticks

one bud just starting to open, the plants form a dome as all the unbranched stems grow directly from the ground

green alkanet

prickly sow thistle

buttercups

hawkweed

buttercup

spear thistle

plantain young plants before flowers surrounded by bellis perennis

geranium molle

a shrub has completely enveloped this gravestone

small nettle grows extensively in the cemetery, it's had years to spread, there's a carpet of it along the path

closer view of the small nettle

plants growing along the top of the wall, cow parsley in front of the wall

on three sides there are modern housing estates on the other side of the wall and a school on the 4th side; sadly I spend a good deal of time on every visit picking up rubbish

hawkweed growing along the top of the wall

Lots of things in bud if not in bloom yet: small scabious, poppy, sea holly, sunflowers and green alkanet and forget-me-not throughout.

monarda and cornflowers

I have lots of wildflowers in my garden anyway but this little patch has become the wildflower area: stinging nettle, swinecress, betony, jacob's ladder, fox-and-cubs, hogweed and green alkanet throughout.

betony, a couple small plants I got from the garden centre in the "wildflower" range

stinging nettle, teasel right in front of Rocky

stinging nettle, swinecress, hogweed

on the left, jacob's ladder from the garden centre "wildflower" range, hogweed and fox-and-cubs in the pot on the right, green alkanet

ranunculus, globe thistle behind

ranunculus bud eaten out by a caterpillar

February 20th I noticed this new waste ground which looks recently filled with soil by workmen. I noticed there's just the start of some plants. I was curious which plants appear first so took a closer look.

these small rosettes are different, one swinecress, the other mayweed, scented / unscented / pineapple weed?

21-3-2021

31-3-2021

18-4-2021

a few weeks later, despite no rain, a number of further plants have grown

the feathery mayweed-type plant turned out to be pineapple weed

some sort of polygonum?, persicaria? has sprouted

I think this is a poppy

25-4-2021

3-5-2021

lesser swinecress

after observing the swinecress for a couple months, I was able to observe the resulting fruits which are lesser swinecress

polygonums, awaiting more details to identify definitively

chickweed

speedwell

sticky mouseear

9-5-2021

I have a bad feeling my fun in observing wild plants growing is coming to an end. A bag of grass seed has been put there, presumably to sow it imminently.

20-5-2021

the area is now full of plants and very green

more poppies have appeared, I think they're poppies

the pineapple weed has grown extremely well

smooth sow thistle appeared (on the left) and just one small stinging nettle (on the right)

poppies growing well

a vetch has appeared

close-up of the vetch

more polygonums have appeared and someone has thrown down some grass seed

it's taken a while for a thistle to appear, also oxalis has appeared

this has appeared but not certain what it is, also unknown small seedling above and to the right

24-5-2021 fat hen or orache has appeared, (I have difficulty telling them apart) a Chenopodium anyway, surprised it's taken so long

a few plantain-like plants have appeared but not sure about all of them yet

above and below certainly look like plantain

now that I look at this one again I'm not at all sure

although all the feathery plants appeared to all be pineapple weed, some have grown taller and have white flowers so are obviously different, a mayweed I expect, I need to go back and take photos of flowers and see if they have a scent

no doubt whatsoever about popppies with buds appearing

polygonums continue to increase, not sure specific species, I await flowers

this one looks a bit different and has thinner leaves

this does not have pronounced red at the "knots"

this was the original polygonum, more stinging nettle has appeared

another polygonum?

smooth sow thistle has appeared

and thistle (creeping thistle?) has appeared

this has appeared, uncertain to me, will observe with plantain seedlings to the right

and a common vetch has grown

7-6-2021 scarlet pimpernel has appeared and the fruits of the swinecress are visible indicating lesser swinecress

Reviewing what has grown in this patch, I'm fascinated by what has appeared and when. I am assuming all the seeds / roots were in the soil when it was brought in. I don't see there would have been enough time for seeds to come in.

February/March first 2 weeks: lesser swinecress, pineapple weed, chickweed

April, after 4 to 6 weeks: polygonums (not sure which specifically), stinging nettle, poppy, common field speedwell, sticky mouse-ear

May, after 8 to 10 weeks: common vetch, dandelion, groundsel, oxalis

end of May after 12 weeks: smooth sow thistle, plantain, fat hen, creeping thistle, scented mayweed (some of what appeared to be pineapple weed turned out to be scented mayweed)

June after 14 weeks: scarlet pimpernel

29-5-2021 I don't know what's going on here but over half of the plants are destroyed. On purpose? Did they need to store some equipment there? Very sad.

There's a patch of annual wall rocket (Diplotaxis muralis) I see locally which I struggle to photograph clearly, especially without the dog poop. There's not much green around there so this tree pit seems to be a favourite for dogs.

I wish I had a clear photo of a wall rocket rosette to add to my Rosettes page. I've had to blank out the dog poop in the photo above.