At the beginning of August, for week 13, Groundsel was our plant of the week as its presence was rather strong, determined to mount a rearguard action in our wild flower garden. Semecio vulgaris flowers almost all year round, thriving in gardens, crop fields and any piece of scrubby left-over waste land. A great plant but containing some toxic ingredients which could make you feel somewhat ill if ingested over a longish period; even animals may suffer in this way too. So getting rid of those plants onto the bonfire was a good thing, its smoke gently wafting over our poppies, corm chamomile and stinging nettles.
Week 14 and the poppies are out in force with cultivated poppies too as garden escapees from the main gardens; our Solitary bee homes on the High Rise Trellis and the drive-by Bridge location are still waiting for their new owners.
Poppies for week 14 of WI wild flower gardening
Phase 2 wild flower garden week 14
High Rise Trellis apartment location for the smart Solitary bee
Week 15 and the Stinging Nettle – Urtica dioica – is plant of the week for its massed hold on our garden and Team WI are hurriedly weeding out these pesky perennial herbaceous plants with their hairy stem and brilliant root system. Butterflies and other insects, plus man too, for nettle tea, are attracted to it, so we are leaving some specimens at the back of the garden for those in need. We also remove chickweed, more groundsel and convolvulus. Our poppies kept us cheerful while we worked.
stinging nettle
flower on stinging nettle
convolvulous
poppy sweep
Week 16 and the stinging nettle is still making its presence felt – ouch – so a few more plants simply had to go. Again our poppies and the purple cultivated variety kept us cheerful while we worked. The seedlings in our second garden are thriving.
poppies and other flowers too
Now in Week 17 our poppies are still brilliantly with us and as such, are our plant of the week again, for the stunning staying power of this pretty plant and its glorious seed head. But alongside our poppies we have amassed an array of chickweed, stinging nettles, dock and various other tiny weeds I’m unable to name….
I’m afraid week 18 must begin with a fulsome attack on those weeds of ours and Team WI will have their work cut out dealing with those pesky weeds; but it didn’t because I was encouraged to transfer a few primroses from KHJH’s main gardens to the rear of our new phase 2 bed and …..
the primroses were dug into the rear of phase 2…
I have foxgloves seeds to plan thanks to one of KHH’s volunteer garden team…and then I’lll get down to that weeding. And hopefully we’ll be collecting seeds soon for future plantings.
Margaret Halstead