ju1i3's blog

I can't believe the summer is coming to an end already. It seemed like there'd be plenty of time for sowing seeds and growing things but it's almost Autumn.

After it rained, after the drought and heatwave a few weeks ago, some plants came back to life including this delphinium which has a second flower spike. Behind it is the sunflower which has some new small flowers off the main stem.

another delphinium has come back from slug damage and now has buds

the new batch of borage is blooming and attracting bees, although I only seem to have a few in my garden

some of the sea holly flowers dried up and died but new ones have bloomed

snapdragons have self-seeded, above a pink one on the right and below a white and lighter pink and a calendula

a pink water lily in bloom and 1 bud that's either going to open or is finishing, I can't tell which

I haven't seen a yellow water lily in bloom this summer so far but I see there's a bud

the morning glory has a good flush of flowers today and the passionflower has intermittent blooms

cleomes and Polly Pocket

the sedum just below the cleomes is in bloom now, I thought it was called something like "rhubarb and custard" but on googling I can only find "Stewed Rhubarb"

and just below that, a perlargonium - best value from the garden centre - free for loyalty card holders, been going strong for months

There were lots of chicory flowers in St Pancras Old Church churchyard and lots of bees enjoying them. Difficult to get a photo in focus but on the left is a bee with white pollen baskets either side.

also lots of bristly ox-tongue with bees

I usually just hack away at the ivy as it usually seems to grow pretty fast but the other day I just pruned the stems without buds and was careful to leave the buds to produce flowers for the bees.

If only the fruits of the passionflower were nice. They aren't.

My early borage died in the drought and heatwave, then I had a couple small plants, now I have a lot of borage buds and flowers. I just wish I had bees enjoying them. I don't have many bees this year, sadly. There's been a huge construction site nearby (and a number of smaller but still large ones, as well) and I do wonder if it's disturbed the environment to such an extent that I have fewer bees in my garden.

my neighbour's squash is spreading over another neighbour's garden and into mine (vine on the left)

it's the only thing they grow in their garden and they built that monstrosity (with the posts sticking up) just for it, it's growing up that olive tree

and down the other side

my mint started to bloom, see more about mint at my Lamiaceae page

This salvia was blooming when I bought it earlier this year, then the slugs got to it and it was a bare stick, then I moved it inside and it recovered but no flowers, not until next year I imagine. I think it was something like "Salvia Blue and Black" but I'll have to see if I can find the label.

a delphinium I thought was too slug-damaged has new buds

the heat has brought out the water lily flowers

I always have honesty self-seeding around the garden but last year I planted the seed myself and had spectacular results. This was one of them. I'm going to plant some of those seeds again.

a lone viola has appeared in the sea holly trough, the agapanthus to the left have not bloomed this year and there's no time to now, that sea holly in the foreground hasn't sprouted flowering stem - hopefully next year, I didn't notice the slug in the flowerbed to the right when I was taking this photo

Please don't use cut plastic bottles as cloches in the garden. Animals can get them stuck on their head. I mentioned this before but it's worth repeating.

I can finally do something in the garden as the heatwave has cooled down. I've been tidying some things and was going to prune back these dried stems of the poppy when I realised the new flower is growing from the dried stems. We shouldn't be too much in a rush to clear things away. (catnip at the front, honesty to the left, sea holly behind, nasturtium on the right)

I continue to notice Japanese knotweed locally

surprise viola springing from a pot

For the last couple of years I've been doing pots for my neighbour round the corner. One pot had agastache, another had a hollyhock. I removed those and replaced them as they died back. Now agastache and a hollyhock is growing between the paving stones.

A neighbour nearby has a whole row of mint along the edge of their front garden and right now while it's in bloom it looks amazing. That hoverfly is enjoying it as well.

After seeing that fab mint, I pulled mine out from the crowd of pots while I was tidying up a bit and looked carefully and it has buds. Looking forward to some flowers.

I've seen gipsywort before but this example yesterday along the canal was so fresh and new I just had to photograph it again.

The weather has been so extreme so many plants are out of their natural rhythm. I don't know if the ivy should have buds right now or not but it seems quite early to me.

These are in my garden.

These are along the canal.

I love greater knapweed. Now that it's rained a bit, they are looking so much better than during the heatwave drought.

The comfrey has come back as well now that it's not so hot and dry. And the bees are enjoying it.

Difficult growing conditions have meant some plants have not bloomed and won't be blooming at all this year and some have bloomed incredibly early. My Chinese Lanterns are a disaster. The first orange lantern weeks ago, months early. I did try to grow some in pots and as I watered my pots, they have done well, unlike the ones in the ground, which I can't share a photo of as they are so heart-breaking.

also in a pot, some self-seeded borage with lots of buds

I wasn't sure how the morning glory would cope with this shady corner of my neighbour's patio but it's been fine. Not as shady as I thought. (Scarecrow on the chair under the table)

the toad lily has lots of flowers but they're small; I'm afraid I'm underwhelmed

beginning of July the toad lily didn't even have any buds, I guess the hot weather really accelerated things

The globe thistles bloomed early and are already past their best. In previous years, August was their prime time.

the lupin has only bloomed because I've been watering it - a lot

but all the watering has helped the slugs, they've started on this hosta which I've been keeping out of their reach recently - but they've found it

and they went for the hyssop seedlings which had been doing so well, I just see a slug trail

even though it's so small, this nepeta has buds, some plants react to difficulties by blooming - to ensure seed production and long-term continuation (prickly sow thistle on the right)

I have no idea why this poppy is so small (in a 9-cm pot) and so much later than the others (nipplewort or smooth sow thistle seedlings in there as well)

the heat has helped the cleomes which have some prominent buds

a couple days later, the flowers have started to bloom

the ever reliable Japanese anemone, appear totally unaffected by the heatwave

a self-seeded calendula

a few days later, the first bud has opened

I love green alkanet and have it all over the garden in the spring but it's totally unnecessary to have any in pots. My agapanthus didn't bloom this year, whether because of the weather or being crowded out by the green alkanet, I don't know. It's time to remove all the green alkanet from pots. I'll start on that when the heatwave ends, in theory tonight (August 7th).

It's been a very difficult time in the garden and wider environment. It's hot and dry. So hot and dry I don't even want to think about it. I refuse to waste water watering the entire garden and have only been watering pots and the recently planted rhubarb and a few others recently put in the ground. I only planted the wild bergamot in the ground recently after growing them from seed sown last summer. I could not even begin to get that larger pot in the ground until it rains and softens the rock-hard ground. If this weather continues, these are the kind of plants I will need to concentrate on.

the morning glory flowers are here and there on the patio

this sunflower was from free seeds with a seed order, only 1 germinated and grew but for free - I'm happy

close-up of the sunflower, which just opened this afternoon since I took the photo above this morning

the next day, a bee has found the sunflower

I wish I could say the cats are enjoying the catnip but it's been so hot and they seem so uncomfortable they've only had a bit of it. At least the bees are enjoying it.

it was hit and miss with the slugs but I did manage to achieve 10 catnip plants from seeds (sown in May)

this was a catnip plant I had grown from seed in a previous year - and it survived

finally a lupin flower spike, after repotting this a few weeks ago

a few days later the flower are opening, revealing my favourite colour

I've never grown toad lily before so looking forward to seeing the resulting flowers from these buds.

10 days later the first flower is open

I saw this beetroot in a neighbour's vegetable plot in their front garden.

I could see the similarity with the sea beet I saw on Hayling Island recently.

As well as the sea beet above, I saw a few other plants on Hayling last week, thistle

horned poppy and thistle

a certain amount of woolliness

sea holly

hottentot-fig

wild carrot

echium vulgare

the spent echium was all furry

also saw sea purslane, golden samphire, rock samphire and sea kale, see South Downs and Coast

the artichokes in the front garden are amazing - magnificent purple flowers beloved by bees and growing without any rain, I planted them originally in my garden, bought a very small plant for my neighbour 2 doors down (far right in the pic) and they self-seeded themselves next door, the garden in between

Sadly, not everything can stay undeveloped so it's good when a new development has a decent wildflower area, as the new Crick Institute does, not far from St Pancras Old Church and the canal. Those are bees on the globe thistles. This area has full sun so the globe thistles are in bloom, mine aren't quite yet.

there were dusky cranesbill

close-up of some of the globe thistles

helenium

I didn't know this euphorbia before, google tells me euphorbia griffithii.

I don't know if it's attractive to bees. I didn't see any around it. But then I'm seeing a lot fewer bees.

contrast that with this epic fail at Gasholders

they've put in flowerbeds - in a very controlled way

great burnet and yellow yarrow ?

but it hasn't stopped them from using weedkiller nearby

thank goodness red valerian can still self-seed by St Pancras Lock

just to the left of the lock, my most frequent non-plant photographic subject, the Post Office Tower, in the distance (railway line out of St Pancras just beyond the canal, new Somers Town pedestrian bridge to the left)

and further along the canal there are some wildflowers that haven't been chemically treated or controlled

purple loosestrife

woundwort?

great hairy willowherb

wild buckwheat, not sure how "wild" it is, I've had it in my garden from bird seed

large drifts of common orache and

fat hen

huge teasels

bees on the lesser burdock

This large-leaved plant is at the edge of the canal, I'm not sure but I think it's white butterbur (petasites albus or maybe the other butterbur, winter heliotrope petasites fragrans). I guess flowers would be definitive but not sure when they'd appear. Must note specifically where it is, in case the leaves die back, so I know where to look for flowers.

the morning glory is producting new flowers every day, exquisite colour

new morning glory bud

this SylvaC pot had various self-seeders a month ago, since then the deadnettle has died as there are cracks in the pot and it dried out, I put the verbena bonariensis in another pot

the foxglove was dry enough I could ease it through the crack and I repotted it in this pot, I'll see how it does

in spite of the slug holes in the leaves, the Big Daddy hosta is blooming

the garden is dry dry dry, I'm watering the pots but I can't water the entire garden

The 5 pots of scabiosa Perfection Blue seedlings have been a magnet for self-seeders, I guess because they're getting watered, this pot has a nasturtium, a verbascum, a green alkanet and a violet? I'll look at them carefully today. -update- also snapdragon and viola self-seeding in these pots

willow? seedling in the pot on the left, deadnettle, foxglove, verbascum, agastache in the next 2 pots in the middle and surprisingly nothing else but the scabiosa seedling in the pot on the right

Victor seeking some shade in the garden, echium Blue Bedder on the right, sea holly on the left

I've put 4 of the largest cleomes in that black pot on the left (up on the table to avoid slugs) and put each of the nepeta cataria in a large pot. That one was partly eaten by a cat (visitor Jeffrey) and Polly Pocket also ate a few leaves..

I am so happy to have sea holly - that I haven't spent a lot on in the garden centre. Slugs have eaten those from last year as soon as they started coming up this year - but I collected and planted seeds from them last year and now this year, they are blooming. Not as exuberant as those from the garden centre last year but they're getting established, have the challenge of growing in pots and coping with drought (which they'd be able to cope with after getting established). The stems are starting to turn purple, in that fantastic electric way they have of doing so.

close-up of one of the flowers starting to turn purple

I am intrigued with these new forget-me-nots. They have appeared in these "garden in a pot"s   I tend to have with things that have self-seeded, this example with stachys byzantina, ox-eye daisy, hollyhock and this tiny-flowered forget-me-not, much smaller than my usual forget-me-nots which have all finished now for this year.

these are my usual forget-me-nots flowering back in April, the flowers are enormous compared to the one above, I'm wondering if common or wood forget-me-not??

close-up of some of my usual forget-me-nots

close-up of the recent tiny-flowered plant, field forget-me-not??

close-up of the flowers

I love buds, sometimes more than the flowers. These phlox buds are great. I got 3 small plants but the slugs got 2 of them so this is my only one left.

the blue of these cornflowers is exquisite

scabious

red admiral butterfly on the echium blue bedder

all purple / blue flowers today, here's a chicory I saw the other day in Allen Gardens, east London, one of my favourite flowers

I don't know why some morning glories flower so quickly when they are so small. Most are still growing and no flowers yet.

the flower seems to be glowing

flower bud of my Big Daddy hosta

I can't believe it can still flower with this kind of damage - and the Japanese anemone is untouched

I am still surprised when I get flowers from seeds I planted. I shouldn't be but it's so often hit and miss. Black Swan poppies and echium Blue Bedder. The poppies only last a short time so in just the last few days I have 3 seed heads without petals. The terracotta pot on the right on the bricks has an echium vulgare which I put next to the echium Blue Bedder to compare the flowers, difference in size but otherwise extremely similar.

the bees are loving the poppies

I have one largish red poppy plant after sowing seeds the last few years. One of the more difficult plants to grow from seed.

the bees are loving the poppies, and the tomato flowers but so far haven't managed to get a photo of one on a tomato flower

View from my stairs down to the garden, flowers: cornflowers, delphiniums, verbena bonariensis, foxglove, knautia, scabious, corn cockle, tomatoes, poppies, honeysuckle, nepeta; buds: globe thistle; still awaiting buds: lupin and monarda.

I love veronica. The fancy cultivars are nice but don't last. The bog standard ones at least come back every year. The bees will visit but not when there are exciting things like poppies.

harlequin ladybird I noticed yesterday (22-6-2018)

nice acanthus spinosis flower this year, none last year because of slug damage

Sadly no iris flowers this year. They were choked by green alkanet and too dry. The weather has been terrible. Drought in my garden unless I water it and I'm only watering my pots. I can't water the entire garden.

the daisies and forget-me-not are finished in the compost pile garden, now teasel, morning glory and the blackberry hanging basket (I have no place to hang it)

Two things happened recently, I saw this trailing bellflower on a church wall in a village in the Surrey Hills on the way home from the South Downs and I realised just how much the trailing bellflower is self-seeding in my garden and round the corner. It seems to have taken off in my garden much more extensively in the last year or two. It's such a picturesque effect of it trailing on walls and in the garden, I thought it's finally time to take notice (which for me is taking photos and blogging about it). I used to call it campanula without knowing which one but on researching it I think it is Campanula poscharskyana, commonly called trailing bellflower.

the buds are beautiful as well

a large clump is growing by my pond in a half barrel in my garden

from the other side shows how extensive it is

and it's growing from this wall on one side

it's all along the back wall of my garden, although difficult to capture the magical effect of it with my camera

round the corner, it's outside 2 of the houses

and even in the street

I also saw it at the dump a couple days ago

looking at some other plants in my garden, somehow a delphinium has survived the slugs and is blooming, black viola in the background, just self-seeded in that pot

a week later the delphinium buds have opened, also in the background a small echium vulgare, which self-seeded, behind the black viola

and I realise there are actually 2 different delphiniums, slightly different

a bee is enjoying the echium Blue Bedder

Victor decided to use a brick for a pillow today. Nepeta (catnip) to the left, scabious to the right.

I'm having some difficulty with the sea holly. I am growing them in a trough to keep the slugs off them and because of lack of room in the garden to plant them in the ground. I guess I'm not doing something right as the flower stems at the top are collapsing. I guess my watering regimen is all wrong - too much water after not watering and them drying out? At least a couple of times watering has perked them up but lately I see the stems are permanently damaged so cut those off. I need to let the trough dry out a bit now after over-watering I think. And from what I'm reading online, I should have put in more drainage. 

red poppies still going strong, a week after the pic further below

3 zantedeschia flowers so far this year, last year I had masses but I think other plants are crowding them out

last year the green alkanet crowded out the fox and cubs but this year I made a small area free of it for them and I've been rewarded by the fox and cubs flowering

I didn't plant anything in this SylvaC pot but these plants found their own way there: deadnettle, forget-me-not, foxglove, verbena bonariensis - basically my typical selection of self-seeders, just suprised no green alkanet

the foxglove looks perfect in the crack to the left of the salamander - as a decoration - but it can't grow and flower there

the pots I planted for my neighbour round the corner are looking good - and the hollyhock has self-seeded between the paving stones - they are amazing plants - even in that position, fat buds ready to bloom

a few days later the hollyhocks are in bloom

I pruned the honeysuckle and it responded by bursting into flower. The smell, in the evening especially, is amazing.

I have a new hardy geranium in the back garden. I think it was one of those perennial specials last summer, like buy 5 for the price of 4. It's settled in and is blooming well this spring.

one from the front garden is blooming as well

also in the front garden, the poppies are still blooming

the first lesser knapweed

in the back garden, the slugs love this acanthus (spinosis, I think) but somehow it's blooming this year, last year it didn't bloom as it was so badly eaten

I've tried to grow monkshood from seed a few times without success so when I saw these plants at a garden centre, I decided to buy them as it was the only way I was going to have monkshood in my garden.

Something I grew from collected seed last year that did work is chinese lanterns. They are flowering - very subdued white flowers - but it means there'll be lanterns in the fall.

I seem to have spectacular success with seeds or total failure. The lesser knapweed were a success and they've self-seeded like mad.

The globe thistles have been a huge success. They've taken over! They've blocked the sea holly planted to the left but the sea holly in the trough in front seem to be doing well.

The globe thistles are also taking over this flowerbed. I moved some that had self-seeded here last year and they're back!

At least these iris foetdissima are out of the way at the back of the garden. They bloom, even in the shade.

I planted some next door and they're blooming as well.