some of my recent growing from seed successes
Korean bellflower in bloom after sowing the seeds in July 2024
calendula seedlings from sowing end of May 2026 (just a few weeks ago) - how it should work!;
chicory in bloom from sowing seeds last year;
yellow chamomile (Cota tinctoria) from seeds sown May 2024 but they did bloom last year although they suffered from savage slug damage; Echium vulgare also sown 2024 and bloomed last year;
cornflower from seeds sown last year
cosmos from seeds sown last year
the giant knapweed makes a nice platform to display the insects that like to visit it: thick-thighed beetle and 2 kinds of bee and just hidden to the right in the petals, a white spider
bees on viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare)
bees on cornflowers
bee on the water figwort
I try to have lots of water in the garden for all the animals, large and small. These saucers of water were completely overgrown with grass but thought next week, there will be less rain so accessible water will be more important so trying to get ready for that.
before
after
before
after
a few days later, 4 giant knapweed in bloom
the giant knapweed flower is just blooming
Lauren's Grape poppy
drumstick alliums just blooming
Echium vulgare
is this Echium vulgare as well, similar but a bit different
datura, self-seeded from flowers I grew last year, there are two in this small pot
another self-seeder, borage, this one has lots of buds
prickly sow thistle I thought looked so great, even as an ordinary plant, just exquisitely presenting itself
wild parsnip with a bee (top left) and a hoverfly (bottom right)
anemone
creeping thistle
the Verbena bonariensis buds are just opening
bees, beetles and ladybirds!
bee on dandelion
bee on rough hawkbit
beetle on rough hawkbit
bee on polemonium
bee on knautia
mullein moth caterpillar
Verbascum Arctic Summer
Scarecrow
