Blogs

friend's building work started, garden churned up (previously lawn) but left so it gave the poppies (and others) a chance to bloom

Sweet William catchfly (Atocion armeria)

poppies

purple toadflax

beaked hawk's-beard (Crepis vesicaria)

pink linaria

catsear

lesser swinecress

the latest speckled petunia

I am loving this Verbascaum Arctic Summer I bought at the garden centre, a bargain as 1 of 5 perennials for £20

not sure which side is a better view, some of my seedlings in the background - growing from seed is slow! especially this year when it's been so cold, so it's great to buy some small plants at the garden centre (I can recommend Plants Direct (Roundbush Lane, Aldenham), I've tried different garden centres since moving and this is the only I've been to more than once)

self-seeded Lauren's Grape poppy

self-seeders at the base of the poppy: spotted persicaria (love those leaves), teasel seedling, red poppy in bud, forget-me-not and others

latest hardy geranium blooms

I do love self-seeders. Left, an iris I found in a pot I bought from a garden centre, hoping it's a reasonable iris. Right, Iris foetidissima I found in a pot I brought with me from my old garden where I had lots and lots of Iris foetidissima. Surprised I've only found 1 seedling in the pots I brought as I used to have lots of seedlings. I'll have to have a closer look, maybe there are others.

red poppies, purple loosestrife and other water plants behind, awaiting a pond I'm planning to dig - just a shallow one

my first verbascum blattaria in bloom a week ago

another in bud yesterday

An update on the M+S Flower Shop Pollinator Flowers Bee Attracting Selection started end of March: mostly white tunic flower (Petrorhagia saxifraga) and something similar in pink (still researching, no details of species given on packaging) and I see the odd corncockle and cornflower in bud. Nothing like the photo! I am a sucker for this type of product - they saw me coming. Always hopeful but ultimately disappointing. And haven't seen a bee on anything in this pot but the weather has been terrible and I don't have many bees in my garden to be fair.

 

 

 

M+S Flower Shop Pollinator Flowers Bee Attracting Selection

 

 

The cornflower pot is in bud and does what it says on the tin - cornflowers! Also started end of March.

 

 

 

 

 

green alkanet - my garden is getting to be the kind of garden I like - lots of green alkanet - I love it! the bees love it!

 

 

 

sawwort

 

 

navelwort

 

 

3rd navelwort is partly under the fox-and-cubs leaves

 

 

fox-and-cubs, flowering stem with buds, one red spreading stem bottom left, that navelwort middle left

 

 

ladybird larva

 

13-6-2024  I bought this pot from ebay and this lamb's ear was in it. I just left it knowing they were resilient and the bees like them.

close-up of the first flower

also bought from ebay, these two pots into which I put my seed-grown nasturtium, it's been so cold, surprised to see buds yesterday

the water figwort's been blooming happily

what happens in my garden: trying to grow from seed, self-seeders I love such as poppies, overly enthusiastic self-seeders such as selfheal which has filled up too many pots

9-6-2024 more Lauren's Grape poppy flowers open, views from both sides

as well as the Lauren's Grape poppies, I have common / field / red / corn poppies self-seeded, I also see some opium poppies there that had self-seeded in the pot I planted there but not sure which variety so awaiting flowering, some of my seedlings above and below the poppies, sawwort above, nepeta to the left

more red poppies with Victor in the background

latest geranium flowers, the previous owner of this garden obviously likes geraniums as there are lots in the garden

water figwort, I had some small-ish seedlings which I popped in the ground and surprised to see them blooming in a very short time

ox-eye daisy, I had lots in my last garden but only 1 plant seems to have come with me to the new garden

8-6-2024 scabious flowers looking great, bees have been visiting

First Lauren's Grape poppies in bloom from self-seeding, not sure when they self-seeded but some time last year. I did plant some seeds but the seedlings are miniscule. It's been so cold this spring, my seedlings (from seeds that actually germinated)  are so small I can't imagine I'm going to see any flowers from them this year.

first flower (Petrorhagia saxifraga, I think, the flower varieties are not listed on the packaging) from the M+S Pollinator Flowers Bee Attracintg Selection pot

M+S Pollinator Flowers Bee Attracting Selection

M+S Cornflower Bee Attracting Mix

latest speckled petunias

this one is only half-speckled

this one has no speckling but got into the speckled mix

bees are loving the giant scabious (Cephalaria gigantea)

I am loving the speckled petunias - I don't often buy bedding plants but for these I made an exception

prickly sow thistle, lots in my new garden, yellow flowers are cheerful

I've found various wild plants in my new garden

hawkweed oxtongue

bristly oxtongue

a few beaked hawk's-beard

bee on a hardy geranium

bee just inside one of the foxglove flowers at the bottom

ladybird larva

I was worried it was only 1 or 2 bees in the garden I kept seeing but today I saw 4 at once so I know I have at least those four and I saw a smaller bee, definitely a different type so I have at least 5. Two on the giant scabious (2 photos, I just love seeing them up there), 1 on the melancholy thistle and 1 on a dandelion. I couldn't photograph the small one which was on a green alkanet.

a few days before

after the rain finally stopped, a bee on a dandelion; dandelions have become a treasured plant in my garden and when the bees are feeding from them, I am happy

foxglove, hoping I might see a bee go into a flower but I don't have that many bees in the new garden, sadly

lupin, one day might see a bee

jacob's ladder just coming into bloom

my seed-grown Centaurea montana finally in bloom

cultivar Amethyst bought from a garden centre

giant scabious in bud

Annual Mercury (Mercurialis annua), large female flower fruits - usually I have to hunt under the leaves for them but these were so large, so easy to see

male flowers for comparison

pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria judaica) flowers

Frankenstein Plants

that's what I call plants growing through each other and so close together they look like one plant but on closer examination they are separate plants, 2024's Frankenstein plants so far

May 2024

hawkweed oxtongue (Picris hieracioides) at the base of a willowherb (Epilobium species)

bristly oxtongue (Helminthotheca echioides), smooth hawk's-beard (Crepis capillaris)?, shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

April 2024

a few different shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), forget-me-not (Myosotis species)

There's an entire garden growing in the cracks in my new patio - and cats!

left to right, wall speedwell, deadnettle, poppy, selfheal, sowthistle

buddleja, wall speedwell, selfheal, smooth sowthistle

mouseear and I'm not sure, similar to green alkanet but it doesn't usually have that textured leaf, will have to wait and see

verbascum and violet, I think

not sure and prickly sowthistle

prickly sowthistle

Geranium molle

deadnettle

sowthistle, prickly I think

not sure on this one

common whitlowgrass, I think

some late additions I noticed after I took the first set of photos

spotted persicaria (Persicaria maculosa)

This was growing in a crack on the patio but wanted to pot it up and see what it was as I didn't recognise it. I can't believe I managed to get it out and it's looking fine now. It was looking quite poorly for the first couple days. I'm intrigued by the centre.

and I noticed nasturtium which was probably from seeds I sowed recently, one must have fallen on the ground, also deadnettle and not sure on the left

I live for moments like this, a bee on my melancholy thistle

a few days later

bee on the houndstongue (upper right)

closer view of the bee

I also saw a bee on this aquilegia but didn't have time to snap a photo.

It can take a long time for seed-grown plants to bloom but this is my longest. I sowed Centaurea montana seeds in 2021. I only had 1 seed germinating. It was in the pot for the last 3 years and seemed to expand but never bloomed. I planted it in the ground recently and noticed a bud yesterday.

the ladybirds seem to love the giant scabious

ladybird on red campion

my first scabious flower

it's been so hot, the cats have found cool places to stay

Erigeron karvinskianus

water figwort buds

Eastern rocket seen on a day back in Camden Town

I get enormous satisfaction from plants flowering after I've grown them from seed. It can be difficult though. I've had a lot of failures. A lot of seeds that never germinated and some plants failing after the first year.

My giant scabious has buds. It flowered last year for the first time after seeds being sown 2 years before that. It can be a slow process.

I couldn't decide which photo (above or below) was better so I'm posting both.

I grew this houndstongue from seed. It was the only surviving plant from 1 packet of seeds, sown 2 years ago? I need to check. I'm hoping those are flowering stems starting in the centre.

this self-seeder has me confused, I don't know what it is, it's in a pot that I thought had seedlings in it I wanted, I guess I should just repot it and see what happens, patience required! but sometimes I'm impatient

same pot just different views

I saw a lot of Danish scurvygrass this week on a main road near me. I'd not seen it before but once I started looking there was a lot there.

an ivy-leaved speedwell growing through the scurvygrass and a sow thistle on the right?

shining cranesbill (Geranium ludicum) and Danish scurvygrass (Cochlearia danica)

the environment along the main road there where the Danish scurvygrass is thriving

I discovered ajuga in my new garden

two small globe thistle seedlings in the navelwort pot below, I was disappointed they were looking so poorly as I thought they were my only globe thistles after moving but I realised I have at least 3 plants in the pots below this one

globe thistle in the pot below right and a small one in the pot below to the left

more dandelions and forget-me-nots in bloom in my garden in a pot

bluebell to the right, geranium to the left

white bluebell behind to the right, usual blue / purple bluebell in the front, campanula to the left

houndstongue

garden in a pot: forget-me-not (blue flower just visible far right), red campion, foxglove, dandelion and selfheal I just found under the plants, probably others, will wait and see

Identifying seedlings

I have a lot of seedlings / small plants in the pots I brought with me in my move. Some I'm not sure of but will follow them closely.

I think these are giant scabious (Cephalaria gigantea) ? maybe small teasel (Dipsacus pilosus) ?

these look a bit different from those above so not sure

self-seeding from the seedhead, not absolutely certain which but will go back and look at my photos

small leaves look like wood avens but that larger leaf in the centre looks possibly common hogweed, will see how it develops

various things here, green alkanet, small teasel or giant scabious, honesty

teasel, verbena bonariensis, a couple unknown

closer view of those unknown bottom right

willowherb, I'm guessing great hairy willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) ? as I think I had it in my last garden but not sure, will have to check my photos

lots of willowherb, red deadnettle in the centre, oxeye daisy to the right, speedwell bottom right

chickweed in flower and navelwort

closer view of those chickweed flowers

navelwort, 2 small globe thistle seedlings

globe thistle, forget-me-not, scabious

globe thistle, small teasel

globe thistle, foxglove, and?

artichoke, wilting but I hope it will revive

acquilegia, forget-me-not, scabious

selfheal, cleavers, speedwell

sawwort

I had lots of passionflower in my last garden. I potted up one of the seedlings to bring with me. It was looking good but it has died back. How quickly we forget! I can't remember if they all died back during winter in my last garden. I will see if this one comes back to life. I very much hope it does.