Quick Garden Tidy Up



Last night was very stormy, so I had a quick run around the garden this morning to right all the blown over pots and ornaments plus putting back this cover over the garden bench before the next spell of rainy weather due later today sets in. I think I got off lightly compared to Gardenpunks last week and the summer storms last year.

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That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

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Jack Go To Bed At Noon

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Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
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The Resilient Garden

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Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

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