garden withoutdoors

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

teasel rosette showing the distinctive prickly texture of the leaves

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

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

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

rosemary

primula

muscari

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

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.

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

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

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

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

28-1-2023 looking very Eastern rocket-like

4-2-2023

13-2-2023

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

nipplewort

green alkanet

hedge mustard

hawkweed oxtongue

shepherd's purse

bristly oxtongue

geranium molle

creeping thistle

lawn daisy (Bellis perennis)

salad burnett

smooth sow thistle

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

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

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

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

red valerian

wood avens

creeping buttercup

a larger ragwort than the other day's

dock

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

another in bloom, shepherd's purse

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

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

in the world of cats and foxes, the cats are in charge

Eastern rocket (Sisymbrium orientale)? I need to keep an eye on it

thale cress? I need to keep an eye on it

Rocky doesn't seem to mind the cold and is in and out of the garden all day

giant scabious? I think during the warm spell after the cold spell, things started growing and now they're frozen again

teasel and dandelions

crocus bulbs

a few days before, everthing was green and I noticed some hedge mustard in nearby tree pits

shepherd's purse

There are magic times when plants grow but no spraying of weedkiller yet. Shepherd's purse is one of those opportunists that take advantage. Beautiful distinct seedpods allow easy identification.

I think those white buds are shepherd's purse but would love to confirm, will try to go back and check, chickweed above

this as well, nearby, leaves just aren't the usual shepherd's purse but that is so variable

wall lettuce as well pops up whenever and wherever it can

new rosettes

most look like smooth sow thistle but the one in the middle, wondering Eastern rocket

closer view of the possible Eastern rocket

nearby another smooth sow thistle (or pretty sure it is but always like to confirm if I can)

It's been so cold this month and the garden covered with snow a good part of the month, I was surprised to see this scabious in bloom the other day when I went into the garden.

Just before Christmas I noticed this wall lettuce and looking back at recent photos I see some from October. At first, I wasn't sure if it was wall lettuce or nipplewort but assured myself it was indeed wall lettuce (Lactuca muralis).

Snow in the back garden 12-12-2022 after the snowfall the night before. The freeze seems to have killed a lot of plants although from here it looks beautiful.

front garden