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
Seeing that arch in the first photo has got thinking that I might get one for the yellow climbing rose I'd like on the plot.
ReplyDeleteHi Flighty - I use mine for growing sweet peas. Don't make the same mistake as I did though - this was a very cheap arch from Wilkinson's. They rot very quickly...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning! Maybe I'll get my woodworking son to build something for me.
ReplyDeleteHi Dragonstar - glad to be of help! I like the idea of your son's bespoke work though. I'm hoping to persuade NAH to do something similar to replace the broken arches on the plot, in particular the 1 I used for my vines!
ReplyDeleteHi KMF - thanks for the compliment! I'm posting these every couple of weeks or so, so that I have a 'time lapse' garden and plot. I think it'll also help me plan some changes as I'll be able to see what's not working and when.