Seasons Greetings

Christmas lights on Oxford Street
Bustling Oxford Street when I treated myself to a day out in London recently. 

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's to a brighter, kinder 2017.

Comments

  1. Flighty19 December 2016 at 14:11

    Thanks, and to you too. Let's hope so. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. colleen19 December 2016 at 20:59

    Oxford Street looking very civilised there!
    Like you, hoping for joy, hope and kindness in the new year for us all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sue Garrett19 December 2016 at 23:46

    And the same to you, Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  4. Juliet24 December 2016 at 22:53

    Happy Christmas, VP!

    ReplyDelete
  5. VP28 December 2016 at 15:01

    Thanks for your good wishes everyone :)

    ReplyDelete

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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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VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

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Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

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