garden withoutdoors

I discovered ajuga in my new garden

two small globe thistle seedlings in the navelwort pot below, I was disappointed they were looking so poorly as I thought they were my only globe thistles after moving but I realised I have at least 3 plants in the pots below this one

globe thistle in the pot below right and a small one in the pot below to the left

more dandelions and forget-me-nots in bloom in my garden in a pot

bluebell to the right, geranium to the left

white bluebell behind to the right, usual blue / purple bluebell in the front, campanula to the left

houndstongue

garden in a pot: forget-me-not (blue flower just visible far right), red campion, foxglove, dandelion and selfheal I just found under the plants, probably others, will wait and see

Identifying seedlings

I have a lot of seedlings / small plants in the pots I brought with me in my move. Some I'm not sure of but will follow them closely.

I think these are giant scabious (Cephalaria gigantea) ? maybe small teasel (Dipsacus pilosus) ?

these look a bit different from those above so not sure

self-seeding from the seedhead, not absolutely certain which but will go back and look at my photos

small leaves look like wood avens but that larger leaf in the centre looks possibly common hogweed, will see how it develops

various things here, green alkanet, small teasel or giant scabious, honesty

teasel, verbena bonariensis, a couple unknown

closer view of those unknown bottom right

willowherb, I'm guessing great hairy willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) ? as I think I had it in my last garden but not sure, will have to check my photos

lots of willowherb, red deadnettle in the centre, oxeye daisy to the right, speedwell bottom right

chickweed in flower and navelwort

closer view of those chickweed flowers

navelwort, 2 small globe thistle seedlings

globe thistle, forget-me-not, scabious

globe thistle, small teasel

globe thistle, foxglove, and?

artichoke, wilting but I hope it will revive

acquilegia, forget-me-not, scabious

selfheal, cleavers, speedwell

sawwort

I had lots of passionflower in my last garden. I potted up one of the seedlings to bring with me. It was looking good but it has died back. How quickly we forget! I can't remember if they all died back during winter in my last garden. I will see if this one comes back to life. I very much hope it does.

hardy geranium (bloody cranesbill / Geranium sanguineum ??)

In my new garden I have at least 8 different hardy geranium plants, some possibly the same kind but I need to see when they bloom. This one is the only one currently in bloom.

geranium under the choisya

geranium under bluebells

Two Tins from The Flower Shop at M&S

I can't resist new products to try out, especially if they include bee-friendly seeds and if they are easy to buy from Ocado. I'm going to start them this week (w/c 25-3-2024). Will report progress.

The Flower Shop at M&S Pollinator Flowers Bee Attracting Selection

The instructions inside are the same for both.

The Flower Shop at M&S Cornflower Bee Attracting Mix

inside is the compost and seed packet

28-3-2024 I started the seeds:  compost into the tins, watered, seeds added

now is the time for Crepis vesicaria rosettes, two in this photo, common field speedwell on the right

2 more rosettes with common field speedwell at the top

3 rosettes in this photo

the level of hairiness is variable, this one looks quite hairy inthe centre

hairy in the centre, yarrow surrounding

this one is even hairier

rosette surrounded by Geranium molle? or possibly another geranium

red deadnettle at the top, hoary mustard rosette just peaking out bottom right

 

this tree was full of bees today, I think it's a cherry

 

 

The seedheads left on the sawwort are quite attractive. I'm not sure why I only have one plant worth but maybe I cut them down, I can't remember.

 

 

I used to be up on all my seedlings but new plants, new seedlings have been challenging. I think these might be giant scabious but I will have to wait and see.

 

 

the Veronica peduncularis continues to make a great show

 

 

 

my pot-bound agapanthus which seemed to suffer in the cold weather has shown signs of life I am relieved to see, I must repot it

 

 

I had so many aquilegias in my last garden. I am happy to see I have one in one of the pots I brought with me, along with forget-me-nots and a small scabious. Melancholy thistle in the pot to the right. 

 

 

The forget-me-nots self-seed like mad. I discovered some in my houndstongue which I removed and quickly put into the ground, some grass I'd turned over. Not sure how they'll grow but not too bothered.

 

 

Growing from seed (and growing plants) is so unpredictable. I brought pots from my old garden and a number had seedlings. I didn't seem to have any teasel - so disappointing. I had so many teasel seedlings in my last garden, every time I sowed seeds I had some teasel seedlings. I finally gave in and bought a packet of teasel seeds and before they arrived, I see teasel seedlings in a couple pots.

 

 

 

So many packets of seeds do not grow so I was surprised to get a few navelwort seedlings and a couple are doing very well. The seeds I bought from that company at the same time did not grow at all.

 

I had a globe thistle seedling but it started to wilt - all this rain? Maybe it was drowining. I took the pot out of the seed tray for it to dry out and notice a second seedling. Maybe there's hope. I left all my globe thistle plants in my last garden.

 

 

 

giant scabious (Cephalaria gigantea) self-seeder from my last garden

sycamore seedling - so easy to identify a seedling when the seed is still present

I love thistles. This is melancholy thistle (Cirsium heterophyllum), from seeds and shared plants)

suddenly this year, the differently edged plant bottom right has appeared

My one surviving houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) plant from an entire packet of seeds. Hasn't flowered yet but hope it will this summer. Is that a cheeky forget-me-not self-seeded amongst it?

I love nepeta as do some of the cats. I have different types, this is a smaller (dwarf?) one I don't know exactly, happy to see it has lots of buds

red campion I brought from my last garden where it self-seeded a lot so not sure if it was wise to bring it but I did so will watch developments

still awaiting developments on these plants, thought they were from Centaurea montana I grew from seed but only got 1 plant and it's never bloomed, this seems to be more than 1 plant but must look carefully and I guess plant in the ground

My yearly visit to Tower Hill to see the coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) a stone's throw from the Tower of London and  London rocket (Sisymbrium irio).

the coltsfoot is growing by the steps down to the disused Mark Lane tube station

entrance to the old disused Mark Lane tube station across the road

London rocket was quite disappointing as only some small shoots but I did manage to speak to the gardener there and ask him to let it grow and flower. It was great last year. Also emailed City of London parks to let the London rocket grow in Tower Hill Garden near the piece of London Wall but I don't hold out much hope.

London rocket at the base of the piece of Roman London Wall in Tower Hill Garden.

near the Tower of London

I also saw some London rocket in Shadwell

Late winter is a good time to review things in the garden, what worked, what didn't, what to do next time. And late winter as it will be time to start spring tasks soon.

I noted what flowers the bees liked last summer:

Crepis rubra

foxgloves

knautia

sheepsbit

green alkanet 

scilla peruviana 

red campion

dandelions

iris foetidissima 

borage

poppies

giant scabious

echium vulgare

As I had to move recently, I won't have a lot of self-seeders this spring / summer but I have 40 packets of seeds plus some seeds I collected myself which I will track their growth at Seeds 2024.

my plant photos always seem to be photobombed by one or more of my cats, I decided to check the muscari for buds and Rocky had to check them out too (Scarecrow in the background)

I discovered snowdrops in the garden the other day - I've never had them in a garden before

stone parsley rosette

common whitlowgrass rosette

catsear rosette

shepherd's purse rosettes

this one is just starting to flower

swinecress

claytonia

smooth sow thistle

very disappointing visit to RSPB Rye Meads, grassy areas severely mown, the only plants surviving are low-growing rosettes such as dandelion

and buck's-horn plantain

I don't expect a wildflower meadow but 15cm, or even 10, would allow something to grow

the first two I'm pretty confident they are Crepis vesicaria and a couple of the dandelions in my previous post I think might be

and some of these I'm not certain of

The time of year for magnificent dandelions which will overwinter as huge rosettes then in the spring, fresh smaller leaves will take over, I look forward to observing these. I hope they survive. The last time I saw such nice examples, they were mown down, sadly.