Jack Go To Bed At Noon
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
hey VP I am going private so I will add you to my reading peeps if that is ok
ReplyDeleteWell - one thing about this summer - everything is looking very green and lush. Nice plot views VP
ReplyDeleteKaren
Lovely. So verdant.
ReplyDeletevery pretty
ReplyDeleteHey, the tires are blooming nicely! ;-)
ReplyDelete~ Monica
It all looks lush and wet, the way we Americans think an English garden should look. (Whether it actually should look this way is another story.)
ReplyDeleteIntrigued by the tyres VP - have you plans to use them on the plot ?
ReplyDeleteSOL - thanks, will catch up with you soon
ReplyDeleteAG, HM, Deb, Monica, MMD - thanks :)
Anna - they hold the plastic tarpaulin down. It gets very windy on our site! I also use them for mini coldframes and as a stand for my water butt.