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
I took a picture of snowdrops in Hyde Park on Monday!
ReplyDeleteLu - there are snowdrops which flower at this time of the year, though having said that my 'normal' ones were flowering before Christmas last year! I think these have been fooled into flowering early too.
ReplyDeleteoh my what a wonderful surprise
ReplyDeleteWell they certainly brighten things up. I keep forgetting some flower early.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I liked the word snizzle - very appropriate :-)
They have obviously been talking to my poppies!
ReplyDeleteYikes, poor confused things. It looks so wrong too, daffs being so "essence of spring".
ReplyDeleteDonna - surprise yes, but I don't think they should be blooming just yet. Does anyone know of a December blooming daffodil variety like we have in the snowdrop line?
ReplyDeleteEG - I LOVE the word snizzle :)
Dobby - absolutely ;)
Janet - I wonder if this happens regularly in Cornwall?