garden withoutdoors

My first flower of 2018, polyanthus

the polyanthus seedlings are distinctive with that wrinkled first true leaf (the 3rd leaf on the seedling), I grew the plants above from seed last year so got to know the seedlings

I love buds, sometimes even more than the flowers. These are rosemary buds. My rosemary has been blooming on and off through the winter.

Happy New Year

I seem to be in St Pancras Old Church Yard quite a lot taking photos, I thought it would be nice to present it properly - and the Hardy Tree. In the centre background is the Crick Institute which is behind the British Library on Euston Rd, London NW1. On the left background is just a bit of St Pancras Station. This historical church and churchyard has survived, against the odds, extremely close to central London.

this is the west side of the Hardy Tree, in the background is a new wall they erected when working on the railway lines out of St Pancras Station, just peaking above the wall are the gasometers they've moved and re-erected as part of the canal redevelopment

north side of the Hardy Tree

east side of the Hardy Tree

south side of the Hardy Tree

an old twisty tree, corkscrew hazel? in the churchyard

I first saw butterbur in the churchyard

mahonia, unlike mine with rather flat sprays of flowers, this one has upright branches of flowers

horseweed, in the background is the coroner's court / mortuary that was built in 1886

the fatsia japonica have striking seed heads developing this time of year; this one is in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church

another burial ground, St Andrews, off Grays Inn Rd

another burial ground, St George's Gardens, and a view of what I seem to see wherever I go: the Post Office Tower

a close-up of that euphorbia; I'll go back to see it in bloom

the euphorbia with aucuba in the background

another view of the Post Office Tower, from St Pancras Lock

from the flowerbed near there, I'll check what that is but I love the cage around the bud -update- rudbeckia?

back in my garden, late scabious surrounded by spent globe thistles and sea holly

I was trying to capture the buddleja at each side of the bridge when I noticed the interesting graffiti; I couldn't fit the whole bridge in one shot

ivy seed head

(Mama Cat Trust Fox Rescue)

Cosmos on a gorgeous sunny day, 22-9-2017 first day of autumn, Avenue Gardens, Regent's Park. I didn't notice those shiny buds until I was at my pc - I love them. I must go back for another pic.

phlox, I love the colour and scent but in my garden the slugs love them too, also in Avenue Gardens

I'm not sure what this is (yet) - Bidens? can't find the exact one.

Scarecrow and the yucca flower

the angelica I planted earlier this year won't bloom until next year but it looks like it's gotten well-established

a wall of wall lettuce

hanging out at my local watching a giant crane (and London is a land of cranes at the moment so that's saying something) working on a building site by the Regent's Canal in Camden Town - and looking at weeds

close-up of those weeds, left to right wall lettuce, smooth sow thistle, dandelion and oxalis throughout

epic fails

new building, new garden with bamboo - and a giant dandelion! the largest I've ever seen, round the corner from me, London NW1

It's about 50 cm across

a public area planting that's going a bit wrong, that bramble, not the thickest I've ever seen but going in that direction, Hampstead Rd, London NW1

the russian vine is consuming the sign for Warren Evans which is not readable now, Camden St (Camden Road station in the background)

the Virginia creeper is escaping, nearby road, London NW1

that squash my neighbour is growing has taken over that tree

ridiculously small window boxes, not enough soil to grow much of anything and how do you reach them to water them? nice collection of horseweed, Whitechapel, east London

Seeds want to grow no matter what. I can't tell what they are but I'll pot them up and see. Probably deadnettle, maybe snapdragon.

- update -

I planted those seedlings above and yes, they are indeed deadnettle

another damn yellow composite, I am going to study these in more detail and try to come to terms with them, Warren Evans courtyard car park, London NW1

underside of one of these damn yellow composites, Camden Rd, London NW1

these damn yellow composites could turn into my life's work and it's only 1 page in my wildflower book!

not sure if this is creeping thistle or another, will go back and look at it further

I think it is creeping thistle. It's just a small example, just off Camden Road, 15-9-2017.

one of the foxes knocked a large pot over revealing these slug and snail eggs, I've mushed all those I could, they rolled away and were difficult to get

You can't get too close to The Hardy Tree (in St Pancras Old Churchyard) as there are railings around it so this is the best pic I could get of the fascinating fungus growing amongst the gravestones.

wider pic of the fungus in situ

I dearly love "my" foxes but they are naughty when they dig things up. I noticed a very small echium Blue Bedder which had self-seeded and bloomed. By the time I went to take a pic it had been dug up.

I'm still trying to figure out all these Damn Yellow Composites, a hoverfly on one.

I saw that growing in this walled car park / courtyard which is a nice protected environment for plants.

you can only go in when the shop is open (and the gates are open)

I have finally, after weeks, if not months, of photographing the emilia, got a shot in focus.

new flowers from the scabious, more appreciated now as there's less in bloom

just the time for the Japanese anemone, they require zero attention and suddenly late in the summer start blooming

first flower from one of the lupins, in the colour I prefer

unlike this colour which is "okay", at least there's a bee on it

I tackled repotting the Chinese Lanterns first as they seemed most in need. The spreading stems became clear when I started removing them from the seed tray.

I had to move those middle two plants together as they'd spread to the adjacent cell in the seed tray.

additional stems forking from the main stem, on the right one just starting can be seen

I don't know what happens with them next. How long to flowering? When do those forking spreading stems turn into new flowering stems? I put about a dozen in this black trough.

half a dozen in this green trough

another half dozen in this trough which had a verbascum in it already

The final half dozen in this pot. I have a lot of Chinese Lanterns! Why are they so great? They put on a magnificent display, the slugs don't eat them (although I see something has) and they are tolerant of the shady conditions in my garden. I want to see if they are as tolerant of being in a pot.

A reminder of the Chinese Lanterns fruiting. These are the ones I collected the seed from last year and sowed this year, growing into the small plants above. I took these photos today (4-9-2017). BTW this flowerbed is north-facing with a fence behind covered with jasmine, ie it's shady.

the green lanterns, above and below, will turn orange

While out front with my camera I snapped my yucca flower, just opening, I prefer it when the buds are closed and it looks like a giant asparagus. I think it only blooms when there's been a hot summer which there has been the last few years but with global warming maybe it will bloom every year now.

the sea holly seedlings in the seed tray were next in need, after repotting I put them on top of the mini greenhouse to keep them away from slugs

I have gathered up all my remaining seedlings, having repotted a few as necessary, some I don't recognise. Sea Holly top right and bottom left, aquilegia top left, bramble or blackberry middle top, honeysuckle? to the left of the bramble at the top.

close-up of that seedling bottom right - update - in a couple days it's become clear it's a verbena bonariensis

I can't believe it's the first of September! How sad the summer is almost over although the morning glory is at it's peak. The purple flowers are the vigorous Grandpa Ott, the odd pinky one is another variety which has only just flowered.

the sunflower from birdseed dropping to the ground has bloomed, honesty to the right, aquilegia and cranesbill to the left, lots of green alkanet and chickweed

a new flush of knautia flowers

and fresh flowers from a white scabious and an echium at its base

this is that pot back in May, it's taken 3 months for the scabious to bloom, I think the echium must have bloomed and died back but the one above I don't know if that's the centre one below or another one - that self-seeded?

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed in the garden yesterday so decided to do what I do best: make a list and take photos. I have two main tasks, 1. pots that need repotting and 2. pots that need planting in the garden. I have a ridiculous number of sea holly small plants now but don't want to plant them out yet as the slugs will devour them and I have no place to put them! so I want to repot them until I decide.

Tray 1 with small and large pots with sea holly and some forget-me-nots self-seeding and no doubt other things. Looks like a globe thistle towards the back. (I notice things at my pc when processing a pic which I didn't notice in the garden.) Two pots of hyssop and two of majoram from the garden centre. Thought some late flowers would be nice for the bees - so much is finished in my garden. Herbs are just about the only affordable thing at my local garden centre (£2.49 each / 5 for £10). Not sure where the herbs are going so will just repot.

Tray 2 with sea holly and I see mallow, hollyhocks, teasel as well as the forget-me-nots self-seeding and uh oh a plantain there I missed. That last one is the only one I will dispose of.

Tray 3 with smaller sea holly seedlings/small plants still in the seed tray. I think I have enough sea holly!

my tray of chinese lanterns, still in the original seed tray (is that a cheeky enchanter's nightshade at the front? - update - no just part of the chinese lantern plant)

Pots to plant in the garden, on the left fox and cubs which self-seeded in that pot. A few fox and cubs self-seeders there already that didn't get anywhere as they were overwhelmed by green alkanet which I've now cleared and hope to keep that small space free of it. On the right veronica, embarrassingly still in the pots they came in. Dierama small plant at the back which I grew from seed.

self-seeded verbena bonariensis in a pot which I figure should be planted out

more veronica which I at least repotted but it needs to be planted properly in the garden now

a wider view of that flower bed (on the right), I tried moving the globe thistles, one still there at the front

a new one self-seeding this year, I'm going to try moving that, centaurea montana on the right - that's what I want there

another thing growing in that flowerbed

last week of August, I have a second flush of flowers from the scabious, both purple:

and white:

passionflower:

the morning glory are really just getting into their stride

the cyclamen coum is blooming and the slugs haven't eaten every bit yet

I find it very difficult to dig up plants - even if it's for the greater good. This flowerbed was overwhelmed with green alkanet, which the bees and I love but enough is enough. I'm going to try to keep just this small area free of green alkanet and let the fox and cubs, centaurea montana and the dierama I just planted to grow. That lavender pot was blocking light was well so I'm moving that.

I removed the green alkanet seedlings and hope the fox and cubs seedlings in the middle will have a chance next year. They didn't this year. The lower left corner are my centaurea montana.

the garden is looking dry and sparse but Victor isn't too bothered, so much bloomed early because of the hot dry weather

in looking at the pots more carefully I see a small red unexpected poppy

a close-up of that

there's a new nasturtium in bloom and in looking at it I see a tiny viola has appeared

a close-up of that viola

I noticed another tiny viola had appeared

purple morning glory flowers appearing daily (they only last a day)

closer view of that lupin, that plant has had a number of smaller flower spikes, keeping the pot off the ground to keep them away from the slugs that love them

the crocosima Lucifer are finished and I thought these smaller ones were as well but a few late flowers have appeared

the Michaelmas Daisies are early this year, I presume because of the hot dry weather

they are growing around the Chinese Lanterns

the Chinese Lanterns are early as well, I already have orange lanterns, as well as green ones (which will turn orange) and flowers (which will turn into lanterns)

another greater knapweed flower

Japanese anemone, doing really well this August

lots of buds

and lots of flowers

this one small viola has had lots of flowers (I grew from seed and it has nothing to do with the "Pansy" pot behind from the garden centre which I'm just reusing, would have moved it if I realised it would be in the pic)

it's a bit sprawling

this pot had a foxglove crowding out the hosta so I removed it, now it has a teasel doing the same thing, with lots of water it has grown enormous in a very short space of time

Emilia javanica Irish Poet, the seed packet makes them look neat and upright

but instead they are sprawling and very small flowers relative to the size and number of leaves

I noticed these caterpillars on the under a nasturtium leaf.

a close-up of them and googling reveals them to be caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly

My camera can't capture this but the artichokes are a magnificent purple and they are in my garden, the garden next door and the one next to that. Front gardens have a lot to cope you: rubbish and recycling (dry, food and garden waste), rodents, litter, traffic, dogs, pedestrians. Plants have to be tough to cope with it all. Gardeners have to be tough to cope with it all. Last time I was out there planting the hollyhock seedlings the woman next door threw her cigarette butt right into the flowerbed where I was working, while I was working.

a morning glory ended up in the front garden next door

I have struggled with the greater knapweed. It's not nearly as resilient and prolific as the lesser knapweed. The position is also not great, too near one of the artichokes. I did try seeds this year. Not a single seed germinated. Will look out for plants and try another and plant it in a better jplace.

this year all the morning glory are the result of self-seeding from the plants I had last year and unlike last year they have single flowers opening up in various places, they are gorgeous but last a brief time - just one day? I'll have to keep track

early this morning the cats were desperate to get out into the front garden, at 5:15 it was still a bit dark but I wanted to capture the scene

yesterday it was a hot sunny day so the bees were out in force on those artichokes, this one, closest to the door (as shown above) being shorter is easier for me to take a pic of it from above

the bees are also loving the lesser knapweed

I saw a bee on the snapdragons but my pic only captures it just to the left of the flower, just under the verbena bonariensis on the left

taking this pic of a butterfly on the lesser knapweed took great patience waiting for it to land so I could get the shot in focus

the globe thistles are just starting to bloom and the bees (two different kinds) can't wait to get to that nectar

Scarecrow is blissfully enjoying being in the garden, being in the sun and near the catnip.

those hollyhocks I planted at the end of the garden next door annoyed one of the neighbours (it's a garden shared by two council flats, I guess he thought if he wasn't planting something nobody was going to, what a nasty thing to do do dig up a flower for no reason, he got the smaller plants as well)

AFTER

this was BEFORE

Polly Pocket in the catnip

a butterfly enjoying the catnip as well, comma butterfly I think, just googled it

Scarecrow in the flowerbed using a brick for a pillow, catnip in the foreground