Last year we picked up this Mullein from a community garden’s summer fair, which we have just read that it may also be known as cowboy’s toilet paper. We were told in its second year the plant will send up a stem of yellow flowers and it looks like it is on its way with them now. It was only a couple of quid as well. More pics as they flower.
We’ve just tapped up AI and it gave us another few names for Mullein: “velvetplant,” “blanketleaf,” “hare’s beard,” and “flannel plant.” Thank you AI.
And here’s the lily we got for a couple of quid at Crystal Palace the other week. We were expecting something quite large but do you know what, it isn’t all about size is it? Great for a couple of quid.
Please send us details of any plant sales you know about and ones you are involved in and we’ll give them a plug and it doesn’t have to be in south London either.
Great to hear from Wlad (US7IGN) from Kyiv as it’s been a while and thanks for sending us some wonderful pictures from a local park (outside and under glass). There’s a great selection of plants here!
His good friend Sergiy (UT3UFD) who if you remember is growing a banana plant (here) is now trying his hand at bonsai (below). The tree looks great and we do love the flowers!
Thanks for the pictures Wlad and do keep in touch!
Big thanks to Gerry Hectic for sending us a pic of his waterlilies and they look so good. As Gerry told us “The Pink one appeared overnight – the white one was from a couple of days ago and it’s stayed closed so really happy with the new one”.
The ones in our pond haven’t come out yet but they are worth waiting for as Waterlilies are a treat. Cheers Gerry.
Cheers to our mate Will for sending us this musical recommendation, a collection called Bootlegs II by Tribilin Sound and there’s 34 tracks for 10 US dollars which is a bargain. The opener The Poor Man Cumbia has a bit of the warped out sounds of an off-centre pressing and is a do over we think of Barrington Levi‘s Poor Man’s Style. Wonderful stuff!
And we love the mad remix of José María Arguedas’ Carnaval De Tambobamba. There’s a little bit of everything on this set from Massive Attack and Madonna and well worth investigating.
Our favourite gardening trowel went missing this week. It was a christmas present a good few years ago, survived nearly every day use (and numerous knocks and scrapes) and it’s almost like a good friend. We even had to put some plants in yesterday using a large dessert spoon, the shame of it!
We did a daily lap around the garden lifting up leaves and looking behind pots just to see if it have fallen behind something (using the same route every day and lifting the same leaves). The cupboard under the stairs (its usual resting place) was inspected a few days in a row, the Lewisham Garden refuse bin was emptied out twice and we even dreamt about it (the metal part was coming away from the wooden handle in the dream. Was this a sign?)
Today whilst getting the flymo out of its home (a large waterproof plastic outdoor box bought at Argos) we spied said trowel sitting at the bottom of it. What the hell was it doing there? Who moved it to such an odd place? Is it to do with our advancing years? We do rather hope not.
Lost anything in the garden of late and it’s resurfaced somewhere daft? Please let us your tale.
Cheers to Mike & Julia (great photographs as ever Julia!) for sharing a garden update of their roses and ceanothus“popping out to see us”. Excellent stuff and hope all is well in the Midlands.
Here’s one from Niju with Back to past and it’s a lovely bit of slo-mo that would sound great coming out of towers of stereo speakers placed at the bottom of the garden and turned up high at 8.30pm when you’re watering the garden. We know it’s wrong watering at that time what with the slugs and snails attracted to moisture in the evening but sometimes it’s the only time you can do it!
And a big shout to everyone who caught Culture ft Kenyatta Hill at The Fox & Firkin in Lewisham on Sunday alongside the great Ijahman Levi. We were supposed to go but illness put paid to that. Supposedly a great time was had by all!
Compost heap spotted on the top of a barge on the River Lea the other day by Debby H.
And the above seen around the corner from the Weeds HQ. The garden hoover was nowhere to be found and the sign just discarded in the street. Never even heard of a garden hoover here.
A big thanks to Kit, G0JPS who has just returned from a great break on the Grand Union Canal and has sent us a report, alongside some tunes and pictures.
He mentioned in his last email that they were going to navigate the Blisworth Tunnel (the great picture above) and here’s his findings. “The tunnel was really awesome. At 2.8 Km long (that’s 3076 yards or 1 and 3/4 miles in old money) and about 140 feet below ground, it’s not surprising that no shortwave radio signals can be heard in there. I did try!” Brilliant Kit, that you tried the shortwave.
“It takes about 40 minutes to travel through. Some of it is lined with old brick, and some lined with concrete rings (interesting fact – this concrete lining was used as a trial for the channel tunnel lining).” Sounds like a great experience.
“At the very nice village of Stoke Bruerne, just below the Southern portal, by the canal museum, there is a lovely herb garden where we pinched a bit of fennel to liven our chicken dinner up.” Brilliant Kit, that is such a good idea, a community herb garden.
Cheers for that Kit and do keep updating us! Here’s two very apt great tunes he chose for us.
The other Saturday we spend most of the day at an event at the Crystal Palace Subway. You’ve a good few stairs to traverse and have to squint until your eyes gets used to the light when you get into the covered area but it’s an interesting place to view. More on the venue on a great YouTube clip here.
On nipping back and forth from said event (to get supplies of bacon sarnies and cups of tea that had to be consumed outside as the organisers didn’t want the subway’s floor to be discoloured) we spotted a plant stall set up outside the park belonging to a local community gardening group. The selection was wide and the prices cheap so what more do you want? We spent a tenner and got a good handful of plants.
All the pots came with details of the plant printed on paper sellotaped to the side, so we were in no doubt what they initially were until we took them out of said container. We’ve now forgotten three apart from a large lily and another Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ we bought to stick up by the pond.
The first one (above) is not a dock but is very close to one (the new garden volunteers regularly mistaken it for the weed) and supposedly sends up long flowers or seed heads perhaps? Any ideas what we purchased or have we been diddled into buying a dock for a quid?
The next we wrote on a label but the only pen on hand was a silver thick marker and we can’t really make it out properly (could it be Sweet Rocket?) We are sure when we first read up about the plant it said it was invasive, so we just left it in the pot.
The last one (above) Plant.id reckons this is Atriplex hortensis aka Purple Mountain Spinach. We recall being told something like that (French Spinach perhaps?) at the time but not 100% on that. We think we’ve done well for a tenner but just unsure about the names on the last three. Any thoughts on what they are would be appreciated.
Here’s an excellent chilled out tune we found last week on our search for “space” tracks, that is perfect for a Sunday morning. It’s bySpace Afrika out of Manchester and called Self.
And another track called Bobbies Reprise (feat. bobbieorkid) from Rainy Miller x Space Afrika. Well worth investigating further.
STOP PRESS! Thanks to all invoved in the excellent Go Gardening Facebook group (Including Graham P, Jane H and Jackie M) for IDing a couple of the plants above.
Plant picture 1 – The dock looking thing is Persicaria. “It’s a perennial & once established spreads quite rapidly. It sends up tall..usually red…flower stalks with small flowers.”
Plant picture 2 – Sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis) “it’s a biennial or short lived perennial.”
And here’s the lily we got for a couple of quid at Crystal Palace the other week. We were expecting something quite large but do you know what, it isn’t all about size is it? Great for a couple of quid.
“At the very nice village of 
Weeds up to me knees 