This housing estate in south London is my favourite for plant-hunting. Not too tidy or gardened, but not too quiet or edgy either. There’s clearly need here – with a busy and efficient foodbank run from the community centre – but I feel relatively safe kneeling or lying on the pavement taking photographs of plants. […]

Edging the pavement in front of the care home, I find eye-catching green sprigs of Springbeauty (Claytonia perfoliata). The fused and slightly fleshy leaves beneath clusters of delicate five-petalled flowers are unmistakable. This plant, native to western North America, is edible and has a mild fresh taste. Also known as Miner’s Lettuce, research suggests that […]

I hummed and hawed for quite a while before I decided it was legitimate to drive the 30 mins south to Hutchinson’s Bank in Croydon. I knew it would be a long shot but I was hoping to find something in flower on these chalky slopes and to practice my skills at identifying plants at […]

“Do you want me to give you a leg up?” my sixteen year old asks. A bit of low-key trespass clearly appeals. The plant-dotted ruins and rain-filled pits are intriguing but we decide to be sensible and stay on the right side of the fence. This is what remains of the Crystal Palace marine aquarium, […]

We’re on the upper terrace of Crystal Palace Park scanning the ground beneath a scrappy hedge. “They’ve cut it back too much,” my friend says sadly, “There were lots here last February but perhaps there won’t be any this year”. And it really doesn’t look very hopeful. The turf is quite churned up but we […]

It’s an overcast day in South Norwood Country Park but I’ve brought my camera, ever hopeful. Picking our way through the mud, my friend, her dog and I come across a small tree with flowers emerging snowy white just as the sun makes its presence felt. I’m pretty sure this is not a Blackthorn; for […]

I blame Stephen Moss – writer, birder and all round nice guy – for getting me started on compiling a garden bird-list. After reading his latest garden bird in the Somerset Levels, I sat down with a cuppa one morning to remember everything we’d ever seen in our five by six metre suburban back garden […]

I’d have felt adrift from the botany twitterverse today if I hadn’t posted a picture of a female hazel flower. I was particularly pleased with this one which growing directly over a couple of male catkins; the red styles looking like the fiery breath of a tiny dragon. What passes for quite a lot of […]

The banks on the east side of our local rail station are carpeted with the round fresh green leaves of Winter Heliotrope. A few frothy pink flower spikes have appeared in the sun, with a warm unmistakeably almond scent, despite my Rose’s guide saying they smell of vanilla. I read that all the naturalised plants […]