23-5-2026 I happened near the pyracantha yesterday and noticed the buzz of bees. At a magic time of year it is alive with bees.
I've never seen so many bees on the alliums. They were a good buy.
The dandelions were the best buy - completely free!
22-5-2026 I love houndstongue and green alkanet. The bees love them as well.
20-5-2026 every time I look at the rough hawkbit, there's an insect on it!
another yellow composite (affectionately called DYC (damn yellow composites)), beaked hawk's-bit (Crepis vesicaria) with a hoverfly
red campion with bee
Verbascum Arctic Summer in bud with the first caterpillar, I expect there'll be lots more
wallflower
Centaurea montana
water figwort, look at that stem! I find them amazing plants
some of my Crepis vesicaria are on the ground now, probably helped by the foxes, this one has adapted by sending the flowering shoots upwards from that horizontal stem
nipplewort, self-seeded with the poppies, I might have removed it before but hadn't noticed it, now with those buds, I will let it bloom
closer view of those buds
onionweed (Asphodelus fistulosus)
I've observed and grown poppies for years. Yesterday it occurred to me, why are some Papaver somniferum quite upright
quite upright but shorter
upright and taller but not as tall as the first one
but some sprawling
bee on Centaurea montana
green alkanet with bee
One of my recent successes is houndstongue which I grew from seed. This year's plants are from seed collected in 2024 that I sowed last year. Houndstongue is biennial. I still haven't figured out how to have it in bloom every year. I don't have any seeds to plant this year to grow for next year's flowers. I guess I need to save some for the interim year of the seeds I'll collect this year and only sow half of them.
teasels growing quite tall and filling with water
bristly oxtongue growing taller (teasel plant in front)
I like what I have growing on this shelf!
lots of buds:
drumstick alliums
polemium
water figwort
rough hawkbit just blooming
13-5-2026 bees on Crepis vesicaria
and dandelion
cornflower bud
alpine poppy
9-5-2026 I sowed seeds for the dame's violet last year but didn't think they'd germinated as I don't recall seeing any seedlings and now some unknown plants turned out to be the dame's violet and it's blooming (Socks and Olaf on the right)
This cuckoo flower appeared in my garden last year. I never had one self-seeding before. I thought it might not return this year but the other day I saw it in my garden. I feel so blessed.
I had beaked hawk's-beard (Crepis vesicaria) self-seeded in the garden when I moved in but no flowers the first year, about 20 plants blooming the 2nd year and some self-seeders this year, about 10? I'm not limited to the ground, this is in a crack in my patio.
side view of the buds and flowers, showing that 2nd row of phyllaries
allium with a bee
a butterfly (must check which) on the speedwell
green alkanet with a bee
and another
a wallflower which came in one of my wildflower seed mixes last year with a hoverfly
this wild parsnip came in one of the wildlower mixes, didn't expect wild parsnip but I guess it's a wildflower
houndstongue, I originally grew from seed a few years ago, had flowers in 2024, collected seed and grew them, being biennial, it's taken 2 years to have flowers again
I planted Scilla hyacinthoides bulbs a few years ago but never had any flowers resulting. I tried again last year and have 1 flower (the other 2 bulbs are blind) just flowering.
I have a few woolly thistle, 3 rosettes? I had some last year from seeds sown the year before. At least they've come back. Seen nothing of the nodding thistle sown at the same time 2 years ago. Had only 1 or 2 plants last year. Was hoping for some self-seeding this year but don 't seem to be any.
I love the look of the pulsatilla seedsheads
buds 5-5-2026:
dame's violet (Hesperis matronalis)
houndstongue
prickly blue poppy (Meconopsis horridula)
Centaurea montana
alpine poppy bud
a few days later, flower bloomed
allium
Centaurea montana Amethyst
ribwort plantain
allium
poppy
I was surprised to see a Korean dandelion in bloom yesterday. I sowed seeds Sept 2024 and didn't think I had any germination, let alone seedlings and plants. I do keep any dandelions that self-seed in my pots and plant them out in the garden when I can. I planted out a number in recent months so one of them must have been this Korean dandelion which I didn't realise I had.
another seed I sowed around the same time as that dandelion was Dame's Violet (Hesperis matronalis) and again, didn't think I had any germination but now I seem to have two plants with buds blooming imminently
other seeds that appeared to have done nothing 2 years ago, turned out to have germinated, grown and produced beautiful flowers: prickly blue poppies (Meconopsis horridula)
wasp beetle I saw in the garden yesterday
one of a few small houndstongue plants I have in the garden that I grew from seed that looks like it's going to bloom soon
Lesser knapweed plants, finally planted in the ground, I'd had them in a pot until recently. I've been making a real effort to plant out my pots.
