So this is how the story goes… In September 2020 I sent this photo to my Ward Councillor, Cllr Catherine Rose, who is also the Environment lead for Southwark Council. It shows what a triangle of verge near our house looked like after after Southwark contractors mowed it in August 2020. I said I thought […]

Coombe Lane tram stop in Croydon is not the most obvious place to stop and look at plants but, I do, and I’m rewarded by finding what I’m pretty sure are Wood Melick and the Wood Millet which is pictured here. Close up the Wood Millet flowers are achingly beautiful, with each of the anthers […]

There’s been at least one youth hanging out in our back garden for the last few days. I’m amazed these feisty but fragile-looking bundles of fluff survived last week’s storm. Or perhaps they didn’t and there is a fresh batch of robin fledglings coming to the garden every day. Either way, these young ones already […]

I entirely understand that, given the number of dogs in London, the idea of actually eating pavement plants probably isn’t that appealing, and in general I’m not a fan of urban foraging. So today I’m looking for ingredients for a ‘virtual’ pavement salad. I find some Common Cornsalad nestled at the bottom of a wall […]

It wasn’t long ago that I’d avoid trying to identify a plant in the carrot family – other than Cow Parsley – particularly when it wasn’t in flower. But nothing ventured etc., so here goes…. In Crystal Palace Park, I notice a spray of leaves with a different visual rhythm to familiar Cow Parsley leaves. […]

There ought to be an expression for the experience of seeing something in nature which delights you but you have no-one at that moment to share it with. That does sound a bit sad, although has more pathos than I’d intended. Would ‘nature-sharing rue’ do it? To be clear, I absolutely love walking and nature-watching […]

I haven’t missed pubs, but botanizing in company again feels like an exceptional treat. Today I’m going on a plant hunt in Wandsworth Cemetery with Roy Vickery and a group from the South London Botanical Society. I meet first with Sarah Webley on her patch, Wandsworth Common. This area is new to me and hadn’t […]

“Mum, can I come?” Words which are always a lovely surprise. After negotiating a mix of walking and plant-hunting, we set off in warm sun and arrive at the Woodland Trust site near Biggin Hill as it is starting to cloud over. It rarely happens, but on this occasion the botanical treat was growing right […]

“Yes, yes, YES!” I say as I fling myself onto the ground at the foot of an oak. This is passion, but possibly not of the kind you’re imagining. Lying on my stomach, I raise up onto my elbows so I can point my camera. A tiny and lushly-hairy bee is skirting a recently mined […]