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
I still remember as a child the joy of walking through a deep layer of fallen leaves and kicking them in the air. I still get the urge!
ReplyDeleteLeaves, leaves and more leaves. Once you start looking at them as a valuable addition to compost they don't seem quite such a chore to pick up.
ReplyDeleteI to love kicking through piles of crunchy leaves and still do . It's one of life's pleasures.
VP .. it still looks like summer there girl ! aside from a few leaves on the ground ? LOL
ReplyDeleteWe Canadians go through a more dramatic change .. sort of a menopausal change compared to slight PMS seasonal change ? haha
Sorry ... I am naughty .. I know : )
EG - so do I! It's one of the highlights of the year :)
ReplyDeletednd - my niece won an art competition a couple of years ago for her picture of leaf jumping. I still love to jump!
Joy - it's changing oh so rapidly here. Will be posting more soon.