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a local Eastern rocket

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

eastern rocket rosette

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

tree pit Camden Street

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

eastern rocket possibly

28-1-2023 looking very Eastern rocket-like

eastern rocket rosette

4-2-2023

eastern rocket rosette

13-2-2023

eastern rocket rosette

local rosettes - February 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

catsear

nipplewort

nipplewort

green alkanet

green alkanet

hedge mustard

hedge mustard

hedge mustard

hawkweed oxtongue

hawkweed oxtongue

shepherd's purse

shepherds purse

shepherds purse

bristly oxtongue

bristly oxtongue

bristly oxtongue

geranium molle

geranium molle

geranium molle

creeping thistle

creeping thistle

lawn daisy (Bellis perennis)

bellis perennis

salad burnett

salad burnet

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

smooth sow thistle

ragwort

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

horseweed

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

wall lettuce rosettes

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

dandelion

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

black medick

red valerian

red valerian

wood avens

wood avens

creeping buttercup

creeping buttercup

a larger ragwort than the other day's

ragwort

dock

dock

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

red deadnettle

another in bloom, shepherd's purse

shepherd's purse

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

shepherd's purse seed pods

seedlings

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

cats are in charge

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

fox and cat

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

eastern rocket sisymbrium orientale

thale cress? I need to keep an eye on it

frosty garden

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

giant scabious

teasel and dandelions

teasel rosette frosty

crocus bulbs

crocus frosty

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

hedge mustard

hedge mustard

hedge mustard

January 2023

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.

shepherd's purse capsella bursa-pastoris

shepherd's purse capsella bursa-pastoris

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

shepherd's purse chickweed

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

shepherd's purse

wall lettuce as well pops up whenever and wherever it can

wall lettuce

new rosettes

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

closer view of the possible Eastern rocket

eastern rocket

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

smooth sow thistle

end of December 2022

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.

scabious

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).

wall lettuce

Snow

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

beginning of November 2022

a hole in my new fence panel allows the foxes to come and go

fox

Rocky

nasturtium (to the right in the photo above)

nasturtium

I need to learn more about how to identify Oxford ragwort / common ragwort / groundsel especially before there are flowers, I saw two examples recently

ragwort

ragwort

autumn hawkbit, a lone plant in a situation which makes is easy to photograph and identify, I've been able to observe it the last few years

autumn hawkbit

side view of the flower showing the shape of the flowerhead - smooth slope from the stem rather than a cup shape

autumn hawkbit

a magnificent wall lettuce around the corner, behind railings so a bit difficult for a full view

wall lettuce

wall lettuce

another wall lettuce down the road

wall lettuce

a wall lettuce small plant I saw yesterday (7-11-2022), those leaves are so distinctive

wall lettuce

common hogweed in my garden

common hogweed

common hogweed

some of the new buds on that hogweed plant, rather pink-tinged

hogweed buds

hogweed buds

hogweed seedheads

hogweed seedheads

morning glory Heavenly Blue

morning glory

that bud started wilting before opening properly, not sure why, lots of buds but not many flowers

morning glory

funny patches of pink on the flowers from this plant, none on the other plant I have

morning glory

self-seeded Grandpa Ott morning glory

morning glory

evening primrose

evening primrose

calendula, they're doing well now after rain and milder temperatures

calendula

new buds on my small scabious

small scabious

close-up of that new bud

scabious bud

purple toadflax plants, I had flowers earlier in the summer but the drought and heatwave seemed to kill them but I see some plants now, new shoots I guess? I hope to see flowers in the spring if not this autumn

purple toadflax

an enormous dandelion I have in a pot, it has both the very large rosette leaves and the later smaller rosette, not sure if that's because of the crazy weather this year but I would have expected those large leaves to die off

dandelion

in a local park, sun spurge in the rain yesterday (5-1-2022)

sun spurge

sun spurge

and some rosettes from yesterday

bristly oxtongue with spotted medick and a dandelion flower growing through it

bristly oxtongue

hawkweed oxtongue

hawkweed oxtongue

I'm thinking this might be Eastern rocket but I'm not sure, chickweed growing through it

eastern rocket possibly

and I'm thinking this might be nipplewort but not certain

nipplewort possibly

and a nipplewort I am certain of

nipplewort

two rosettes the next day, hedge mustard

hedge mustard

hoary mustard

hoary mustard

near there, creeping thistle, I love the buds

creeping thistle

creeping thistle buds

and the next day, hairy bittercress

hairy bittercress

near there, cup and saucer vine (Cobea scandens Alba) in a front garden

cobea scandens alba cup and saucer vine

textured leaves: foxglove, green alkanet, borage, etc

31-10-2022 this is a snaphot of textured leaves in my garden at the end of October, all photos taken in the last few days.

I noticed some very textured leaved plants growing near each other and thought a photo would help with a comparison, foxgloves to the left and centre, borage on the right

foxglove borage green alkanet

closer view of that foxglove above, the leaves on top are lighter and fuzzier than the leaves underneath which look more textured, sadly, in the centre is a tiny flower stem that did not grow and develop properly because of the drought and heatwave during the summer, I don't know what will happen with this plant, they usually flower and die back but this one looks like it may last until next year, will it flower again??

foxglove

the foxglove to the left in the top photo has the very textured leaves without the softer leaves on top, I think because it's a younger plant that grew this year, touching the leaves they are soft, an indicator of foxglove (versus green alknaet which is rough)

foxglove

younger foxgloves that grew this year showing that centre soft texture, they will flower next year, foxgloves are biennial

foxglove

when buds appear (on the borage on the right), borage is easily identifiable

borage foxglove

closer view of that borage

borage

borage

another borage plant nearby, flowers just starting to open

borage

borage blooming

borage

better view of the green alkanet top right

borage foxglove green alkanet

closer view of that green alkanet - and a hollyhock in the centre with more rounded leaves (melancholy thistle in the pot just visible at the bottom)

green alkanet

green alkanet with flowers

closer view of green alkanet leaves

green alkanet

as I was looking at textured leaves, thought the water figwort should probably be included

water figwort

wider view of these plants in my garden

teasel, the ultimate textured leaved plant

teasel

comfrey, this is the only comfrey plant I have in my garden at the moment, easy to identify with the spent flowerhead, unlike green alkanet which I have masses of and foxglove and the other plants I have a number of but the leaves show that similar texture to other plants

comfrey

honesty, I saw this while out today and it reminded me of these textured leaved plants and thought it would be good to include it

honesty

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