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
And a Happy New Year to you, too!
ReplyDeleteLea
Thanks, and to you too. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteYou too. Hope the sox get reunited with their partners!
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year VP.
Thank you, and to you too!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!!
ReplyDeleteA great quote with which to start a new year VP. You are obviously a fashion trend setter as it's now possible to buy unmatching socks :)
ReplyDeleteMy friends bought me some for Christmas a few years back - 3 different socks!
DeleteYou've made me smile. Wishing you a very happy and contented 2014. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your New Year's wishes everyone :)
ReplyDeleteFinding this quotation reminds me of a conversation NAH and I had on a windsurfing holiday. After a long session on the water, I came back and proudly told him I hadn't fallen in once. "You weren't trying hard enough" was his reply. He was right, I'd played safe all morning and so hadn't really got any better at the sport in the process.
This is a quotation I'll be bearing in mind all year, along with "Actions speak louder than words".