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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.

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

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

wall lettuce as well pops up whenever and wherever it can

new rosettes

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

closer view of the possible Eastern rocket

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

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.

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).

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

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

Rocky

nasturtium (to the right in the photo above)

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

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

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

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

another wall lettuce down the road

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

common hogweed in my garden

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

hogweed seedheads

morning glory Heavenly Blue

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

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

self-seeded Grandpa Ott morning glory

evening primrose

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

new buds on my small scabious

close-up of that new 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

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

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

and some rosettes from yesterday

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

hawkweed oxtongue

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

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

and a nipplewort I am certain of

two rosettes the next day, hedge mustard

hoary mustard

near there, creeping thistle, I love the buds

and the next day, hairy bittercress

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

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

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??

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)

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

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

closer view of that borage

another borage plant nearby, flowers just starting to open

borage blooming

better view of the green alkanet top right

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 with flowers

closer view of green alkanet leaves

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

wider view of these plants in my garden

teasel, the ultimate textured leaved plant

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

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

I need to go back to sow thistle school. I saw this rosette yesterday (25-10-2022). I would have said smooth sow thistle but I think I need to consider prickly sow thistle. It's time to admit I didn't know much about differentiating smooth and prickly sow thistles but I will observe more carefully now and post the differences.

I saw this catsear rosette first yesterday (25-10-2022) and came across another that was quite fuzzy in the centre and wasn't sure if that was typical - it is - catsear rosette leaves are quite hairy. Sadly the other photo did not come out well so will go back and take more photos.

I went back and photographed that catsear rosette yesterday (30-10-2022)

close-up of the centre of the catsear rosette - quite fuzzy

Green alkanet, self-seeded in a pot, it survived the drought and heatwave and now it is enormous. I try not to have green alkanet in my pots (it self-seeds all over my garden) but this one got away. It will die back after flowering which might not be until Spring now. Another pot of forget-me-not bottom right.

I'd not grown red campion before but it was in some wildflower seeds I sowed and my goodness did the bees love it! I didn't know that or would have grown it before. I also didn't know it self-seeds like mad so I have it in a lot of pots now getting ready for Spring.

the drought was so severe even teasels were dying, these seedlings in pots survived and are now thriving after rain and my watering, they are enormous

This nipplewort started off as a seedling I thought was nipplewort but wanted to confirm, also I'm not sure if bees like it but by the time of all these flowers the bees were gone. It has turned into a magnificent plant. A couple of red campion flowers to the upper right, nasturtium leaves at the top.

Rocky with Oxford ragwort, verbascum flower spike with seedheads and verbena bonariensis to the left

Rocky with a pot of borage to the left

Rocky at rest, he's usually running around like mad but he does like to photobomb my photos so jumped up on the table when he saw I was snapping pics

scabious survived but it was smothered at the back of the flower bed and I didn't really water the pot much during the drought but I love scabious so must look after it better

the sea holly had a surprising revival, not sure these will fully bloom, sea holly are rather fickle for me although I love them and keep attempting to grow them

water figwort as rescued from another garden, it's survived, curious to see if it blooms next year

self-seeded calendula, best calendula flowers I've ever had and I wasn't even trying

I've had masses of shoo-fly plants sprouting from my home-made compost. I let them grow, maybe too much but they have produced some nice flowers the bees liked when they were still around.

my pelargoniums are looking great now but they had been rather sad looking during the drought and heatwave and had not bloomed, I hope they manage to flower next year

disused platform at Barbican station, would love to get closer and get a good look at these self-seeded plants

if only I could get a closer look

wall lettuce in east London

closer to home, lots of wall lettuce

a wall lettuce seedling I discovered in my garden

Oxford Ragwort

I think I am finally coming to terms with Oxford ragwort. For some reason, I've found it hard to differentiate between Oxford and common ragworts, actually groundsel which looks similar to Oxford ragwort. This is Oxford ragwort. Note the black on the end of the phyllaries.

the Oxford ragwort above is in my back garden, this plant is in my front garden and I think it is groundsel, I don't see the same black bits but I will watch as it develops

tiny shepherd's purse in a pavement crack

6 sheep's-bit small plants I bought from NatureScape

this is the only one that doesn't look very good, hope it will recover

a sheep's-bit seedling I had previously

Erigeron karvinskianus back in July when the drought and heatwave was seriously affecting my plants and this small pot just wasn't large enough for this plant. I see a bit of green, bottom left, so am hoping to revive it.

I cut all the brown bits off and there was a bit of green.

after only a couple weeks of careful watering, that shoot has grown and I see seedlings on the other side

6 weeks later, flowers and a number of those seedlings, mostly erigeron but some others, are growing

Two marshy areas along the Thames, Swanscombe I went to in May 2022 and Rainham in September 2022. (The Swanscombe photos are after the Rainham photos.)

End of September 2022, we went to look at birds but it was too windy. The walk along the sea wall was great. Swanscombe Marshes is across the Thames (to the right).

Dartford Crossing in the distance

closer view of that sea mayweed

closer view of the leaves

it's late in the season, the flowers are spent (sea aster, I think)

another sea aster, I think

lots of sea beet

although it's not red in the centre as those above, I'm pretty sure this is sea beet as well

and lots of perennial wall rocket

mallow

field bindweed

bristly oxtongue

chicory

dandelion rosette

hoary ragwort, not something I see very often and this is well past its best

a magnificent rosette, I'm thinking Eastern rocket but I hope to go back and see how it develops

quite fuzzy in the centre like other eastern rockets I've seen

verbascum

hoary mustard rosette

verbena, flowers just coming to an end

masses of narrow-leaved ragwort

mugwort

creeping cinquefoil

Swanscombe Marshes mid-May 2022

Crosswort, not seen this before (excuse the poor photos, the bright sun did not help)

I usually see Crepis vesicaria starting as a basal rosette close to the ground but at Swanscombe there were lots of small plants with those lobed leaves upright rather than low to the ground.

there were also some fasciated Crepis vesicaria

hoary cress

young hoary cress plant

I saw lots of sea beet, both near the shore and inland where it seemed very dry so at first I wasn't sure what it was.

this one was closer to the shore

annual wall rocket

second trip to Rainham Marshes end of October 2022

lots of possibly shepherd's purse rosettes, hope to go back and check them and confirm identification

and these two which may be shepherds purse but I'm not as sure as those above

there were also rosettes that looked rather Crepis vesicaria-like although I've not seen them at this time of year, again, hoping to go back and see how they've developed

close-up of the centre of the rosette above

then some rosettes that looked like hedge mustard

and this one I have marked as "unknown", I'm really not sure

centre detail close-up of the rosette above

I think this must be a dandelion [

a return trip to Rainham Marshes 29-11-2022

I wanted to see if some plants were any more identifiable. I took this photo to pinpoint where some of them were as I had difficulty finding them again.

uncertain rosettes

the next two are a bit different from those above

lots of bristly oxtongue at Rainham Marshes

white campion

wondering if this is stonecrop

dry skeleton stems of hoary mustard

hawkweed oxtongue

hoary mustard rosettes

ribwort plantain

narrow-leaved ragwort

creeping thistle

I think this is charlock (Sinapis arvensis)

 

There were a number of rosettes I suspected were shepherd's purse, first saw in September, then October, then November. It seems too cold for them to bloom and maybe they'll be dormant until spring?

My Oxalis triangularis has done amazingly well this year. This pot has given this plant plenty of room and I divided some which are doing well in small pots and blooming.

Agastache anisata

nipplewort

wall lettuce

snapdragon seedling

green alkanet seedling

green alkanet small plant

hogweed

foxglove drought-stunted flower