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
Cheerful! (If I tried to do something like that, the pegs would have fallen off in no time!)
ReplyDeleteVery artistic :)
ReplyDeleteI use just plain ones to close the tops of bags, but aren't colored ones so much prettier!
ReplyDeleteHappy Gardening!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie
Lucy - thank you - cheerful was my intention :)
ReplyDeleteGaz - ;) Thanks for following :)
Lea - we do that too - much cheaper than buying the bag clips!
I have a borderline nice comment with a company backlink, so I've removed the backlink to leave you with the comment...
ReplyDeleteJan says:
They look all rustic and lovely! Such nice block colours.
Thanks Jan!
DeleteI use pegs for all sorts of things around the garden but never thought to use them to close seed packets. What a good idea!
ReplyDeletehi - guess what? just got an email confirmation from RHS - I've got a press pass for Chelsea :-)I hope you got one too x Amanda x
ReplyDeletePeg....most useful around the garden, except the ones which blow of the line and into the awkward to get corners :)
ReplyDeleteA very arty Wordless Wednesday!
Margaret - these are teeny tiny pegs I picked up in a craft shop. I wish I'd bought more of them!
ReplyDeleteAmanda - That's fantastic news :) I'm still crossing my fingers for one!
Angie - you're right - they're used for a million and one things here :)