garden survivors end of April 2023

I noticed a large nipplewort rosette in my neighbour's garden. It was so large I had to go get my expanding rule.

nipplewort rosette Lapsana communis

56 cm across, one of the largest rosettes I've ever seen.

nipplewort rosette Lapsana communis

my fox was in the garden, about where the nipplewort rosette was in this photo

fox garden

the path through my garden had a lot of dirt accumulated so decided to remove it, I discovered some eyelash fungi, I'd found it in a pot a couple years ago which I lost, so I'm very happy to rediscover some in my garden.

eyelash fungi

eyelash fungi

I've never noticed this on a foxglove before, smaller shoots amongst the leaves. Usually there's one large rosette of leaves and a flower spike in the middle. In the midst of the drought and heatwave last summer, it did not bloom properly and over-wintered. I've never had one over-winter, only the first year plants which bloom the second year. Those foxglove shoots not to be confused with the 2 verbena bonariensis shooting up amongst the leaves.

foxglove

While I was next door I noticed the veronica longifolia which I'd given to my neighbour, is looking good - much better than mine.

veronica longifolia

and an enormous moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria) rosette in a pot I'd given her

verbascum blattaria moth mullein

The drought and heatwave last summer had a profound effect on my garden. It seemed to have killed off my auriculas or the slugs did who were desperate and at anything surviving. This is my only auricula this year. The drought and heatwave also seems to  have killed my Chinese lanterns which did not grow at all last year. I was hoping there's be some remnant of life in the roots but no sign of it so far this spring.

auricula

surprisingly the monkshood has survived, I have this one in the ground

monkshood

and this one in a pot which I think grew from collected seed I sowed

monkshood

end of April 2023

Socks with my snapped off tulips - I don't know if it was the wind, birds or even foxes

Yesterday I noticed the first ajuga in flower this year

ajuga

muscari and tulips (Princess Irene, I think)

muscari and tulips

Little Princess tulips with the muscari and tulips in the background

Little Princess tulips

Verbascum blattaria, moth mullein makes a fab rosette the first year, this has overwintered as a rosette and should bloom this year.

verbascum blattaria moth mullein rosette

claytonia

claytonia

claytonia

cerinthe

cerinthe

honesty leaves

honesty leaves

a very small seedling I noticed yesterday, think it's a speedwell

speedwell seedling

speedwell seedling

sheepsbit

sheepsbit

sheepsbit

bud on the sheepsbit above

sheepsbit bud

this pot which started off as sheepsbit, has lots of self-seeders, I don't even know if any sheepsbit is left in that pot

sheepsbit

A catsear I saw in a pavement crack with buds at the end of the flowering stems.

catsear Hypochaeris radicata

Two autumn hawkbit nearby. I only know it's autumn hawkbit as I've observed the flowers in previous years. Otherwise I find smooth hawk's-beard (Crepis capillaris) and autumn hawkbit (Scorzoneroides autumnalis) difficult to differentiate until I can look at the flowers.

autumn hawkbit Scorzoneroides autumnalis

autumn hawkbit Scorzoneroides autumnalis

I grew this centaurea from seed but I lost track of what it is exactly. Despite some slug damage, the 3 pots of it have survived the winter. I hope they bloom this summer and become identifiable. I see I have a number of self-seeders in the pots: green alkanet (of course), foxglove, poppy, teasel, great hairy willowherb). I'm going to try to carefully remove them, saving some where feasible.

centaurea

centaurea

centaurea

mid-April 2023

Buds

fringecups

fringecups

sage

sage buds

calendula

calendula

water avens

water avens

Centaurea dealbata

centaurea dealbata

parrot tulips on the left Little Princess tulips on the right

parrot and Little Princess tulips

closer view of those Little Princess tulips

Little Princess tulips

later in the day when the sun went around leaving the table in the shade

parrot and Little Princess tulips

a couple days before

Little Princess tulips

a claytonia has self-seeding with the Little Princess tulip below

Little Princess tulip

claytonia with flower buds

claytonia

this was one of my claytonia from 2 weeks ago but I noticed the photo this morning and what a great rosette it makes in the right conditions, this started a while ago and over-wintered

claytonia

I beautiful yellow rose at the back of the garden which was there when I moved in (20 years ago) and flowers every year with no help or intervention from me.

rose buds

bluebell buds, I had loads of bluebells in the flowerbeds forming huge clumps preventing other plants from growing, I thinned them out and now just have a few at the back of the garden

bluebells

bluebells

my first red campion flowers blooming

red campion

I'm a recent grower of red campion after sowing it with a mix of wildflower seeds a couple years ago. Last year I saw how much the bees love it and this year I see what a strong self-seeder it is, competing with green alkanet for the most prolific self-seeder in the garden. Below, red campion on the left, green alkanet behind on the right.

red campion green alkanet

some muscari above starting to wilt but another pot below looking great

muscari

I bought this Centaurea dealbata a few years ago. The pot was invaded and overwhelmed by, I think a dandelion. I don't think I had any Centaurea dealbata flowers last year. Now I see a bud (lower right) and it's been invaded by a poppy. I love poppies as well as centaureas (of all kinds). Do I leave the poppy to bloom? or try to move it? I suspect it would not react well to moving so I will leave it to bloom and in future try to remove self-seeders before they get so big.

centaurea dealbata

centaurea dealbata

My "pond", hardly a pond any more as it leaks badly. Purple loosestrife in the centre, yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) on the right which I hardly get any flowers from, Veronica beccabunga spread over the pond.

I noticed that my one comfrey plant has sprouted next to some of my green alkanet so useful for comparison. The comfrey (on the left) is more upright, has longer leaves and a different pattern on the leaves than the green alkanet (on the right).

comfrey and green alkanet

comfrey and green alkanet

London rocket (Sisymbrium irio)

I saw London rocket for the first time last year (April 2022) in Whitechapel, east London and have been on the look-out ever since. After a suggestion of Tower Hill, I observed it there yesterday (March 2023).

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

london sisymbrium irio

london sisymbrium irio

there were some very small plants growing in cracks

london rocket sisymbrium irio

plants in the shade were not nearly so developed

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

some were quite small

London rocket Sisymbrium irio

 

thale cress

thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana

good view of the texture of the nepeta leaves on the right

thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana

thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana

late February / early March 2023

some new growth after a few warmer days recently, it's gone back to bitter cold

muscari

muscari

bergenia

bergenia

muscari and tulips

tulip bulbs, so dry! I can't believe I have to start watering already but it's also bitter cold so don't want it to freeze

one of the most interesting things are these seedlings which I don't recognise, I await future deveopment!

some crocus buds

crocus

I have a lot of violets self-seeding, nothing significantly different about these, I think the colour-difference is just because one was in the sun more

violet seedling

violet seedling

fox-and-cubs

fox-and-cubs rosette

fox-and-cubs

forget-me-nots, some years I have more than others, this year I don't think I have so many

forget-me-not

forget-me-not

I noticed a forget-me-not with some longer leaves, I don't know if I've seen those before or not

the grey-green leaves above are Centaurea montana - I think. I have one I'd grown from seed last year. It hadn't bloomed. Now I see a number of small plants but they couldn't have self-seeded as there were no flowers to produce seed. Do they spread via roots?

I'm still watching these larger-leaved spreading small plants. Are they sheepsbit? which are the thinner-leaved plants on the right. Will they have thinner leaves as they develop?

sheepsbit

a few small rosettes / seedlings, left to right, plantain, wood avens, red campion, teasel

not sure what the seedling is on the left, I suspect on the right is green alkanet

speaking of green alkanet, I try not to have green alkanet in my pots as I have it all over my garden but sometimes it gets away from me - that pot at the back in the middle is green alkanet - a large one! at this point, I'll let it bloom this spring and plant it out when it's finished

I bought these plug plants from British Wild Flower Plants. I'm not very impressed but awaiting spring to see if they improve.

teasel vs verbascum

early Verbascum blattaria (moth mullein) rosettes can be confused with teasel rosettes (not so much by me as I have lots of both in my garden!) but some I've noticed recently are quite similar

this verbascum is quite small so the distinctive wrinkled texture of the leaves is not so evident

verbascum blattaria rosette

teasel rosette showing the distinctive prickly texture of the leaves

teasel rosette

lots of larger verbascum rosettes in the garden at the moment, smaller newer leaves grow in the centre (similar to dandelions), those older larger leaves on the outside often have red down the middle of the leaf

verbascum blattaria moth mullein rosette

verbascum blattaria moth mullein rosette

verbascum blattaria moth mullein rosette

both verbascum and teasel crowding out and being crowded out by dandelion rosettes

verbascum blattaria moth mullein rosette

verbascum blattaria moth mullein rosette

so many of my pots are stuffed with self-seedeers, below, left to right, red campion, verbascum, ox-eye daisy, below  them, forget-me-nots

compared next to each other, the Verbascum blattaria (moth mullein) rosette is different from a teasel rosette, both have wrinkled leaves but the verbascum has shiny smooth leaves whereas the teasel is rough with prickles, outer edges smooth ovate on the teasel and lobed on the verbascum

teasel rosette

teasel rosette

early flowers in my garden

rosemary

rosemary

primula

primula

muscari

muscari

bergenia

bergenia

hyacinth buds, very small hyacinths because they were previously forced, I try to plant out the hyacinth bulbs after forcing them for Christmas flowers in hyacinth vases indoors

hyacinth

hyacinth

hyacinth

hyacinth buds

I finally planted the sea squill bulbs I received last autumn. They aren't fully hardy so I guess they shouldn't have overwintered in the ground anyway. I've never grown these before so not really sure the best time to plant them.

sea squill bulbs

while sorting out some pots some bulbs got left under the table on my patio, at some point they started growing

I gathered them all up and planted them in this trough

a local Eastern rocket

I noticed some rosettes in a tree pit round the corner from me at the end of December 2022 and thought this one looked a bit different from all the other smooth sow thistles

eastern rocket rosette

5-1-2023 a wider view of all those rosettes in that tree pit

tree pit Camden Street

and a closer view of that rosette in the centre which I started thinking looked like Eastern rocket possibly

eastern rocket possibly

28-1-2023 looking very Eastern rocket-like

eastern rocket rosette

4-2-2023

eastern rocket rosette

13-2-2023

eastern rocket rosette

local rosettes - February 2023

Walking through a local park on the way home from the station today I noticed some rosettes. Veolia / Idverde is regularly spraying weedkiller in there but I don't think they've started yet this year so I'm joying the plants while I can.

catsear

catsear

nipplewort

nipplewort

green alkanet

green alkanet

hedge mustard

hedge mustard

hedge mustard

hawkweed oxtongue

hawkweed oxtongue

shepherd's purse

shepherds purse

shepherds purse

bristly oxtongue

bristly oxtongue

bristly oxtongue

geranium molle

geranium molle

geranium molle

creeping thistle

creeping thistle

lawn daisy (Bellis perennis)

bellis perennis

salad burnett

salad burnet

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

ragwort

ragwort

black medick but

I'm not sure on this, the only thing I can think is close is horseweed but didn't know it could be so hairy

horseweed

I think this is horseweed

left to right, horseweed, willowherb (small below), red valerian

I went back a couple days later to look for Eastern rocket, couldn't find any but I did find some others

wall lettuce

wall lettuce rosettes

I think this is a dandelion but will try to keep an eye on it and see how it develops

dandelion

a younger example of black medick than the other day's

black medick

red valerian

red valerian

wood avens

wood avens

creeping buttercup

creeping buttercup

a larger ragwort than the other day's

ragwort

dock

dock

red deadnettle, admittedly not very rosette-like, one of the few things in bloom

red deadnettle

another in bloom, shepherd's purse

shepherd's purse

those distinctively shaped seed pods make identification of shepherd's purse easy (excuse the poor photo)

shepherd's purse seed pods

seedlings

I've been watching some seedlings, these pots started with my sheepsbit plug plants but I see these fatter-leaved seedlings, are they earlier sheepsbit? I'll continue to watch and see how they develop.

I bought some sheepsbit plug plants last year. I potted them up, some died, I have 4 pots of them now, left to right, black pot with seedlings not looking very good, turning brown, next orange pot looking good, black pot on the right looking ok, above that the pot has been invaded with poppy seedlings and maybe others. The last time I tried to remove unwanted seedlings it was a disaster so going to repot the entire pot in a larger pot and hope both the sheepsbit and poppies will bloom. The other three pots in the row above, black rectangular pot globe thistle and a wall lettuce, selfheal and claytonia in the black pot and hairy bittercress and a poppy in the orange pot.

closer view

the sheepsbit which are not looking very green, I don't know why when the others look very green and healthy, I suspect wood avens self-seeded but want to grow on to confirm

I took all those suspected wood avens and green alkanet and potted them up

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