Buddleja davidii

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Buddlejaceae
Genus: Buddleja
Species: B. davidii
Binomial name
Buddleja davidii

More commonly known as the Butterfly this is considered a weed by some people. You'll find it growing in wall crevices I've even seen it growing on the gable end of a building.

However it attracts Butterflies which is an amazing asset to any garden.

They are vigorous growing shrubs with long arching stem that will reach 3-4m in height and near 2m across. It flowers July to august and produces amazing panicles of flowers ranging in colour from deep purple through reddish purple to lavender and white.

This is the most commonly occuring variety but there are several other's well worth looking at,
1) Buddleja Globosa - Orange ball like blossoms
2) Buddleja alternifolia - Pale Purple
3) Buddleja Royal Red - Reddish Purple

Buddleja will grow in most soil types (including chalk) but prefer a deep loam and a warm sunny position.
B. Alternifolia prefers a dry site

Planting them is best done in autumn time well before 1st frost's appear.

Pruning best way to control the vigorous growth is to prune early feb to within a 5cm or so of the old wood. Being as vigorous in growth they will quickly make new growth.

B. globosa requires little or no pruning but will 4-5m in height.

Helianthus annuus

More commonly known as the Sunflower. The above picture shows an un-opened bud.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Helianthoideae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Genus: Helianthus
Binomial name
Helianthus annuus

The sunflower is the state flower of the US state of Kansas, and one of the city flowers of Kitakyūshū, Japan.

The sunflower is often used as a symbol of green ideology, much as the red rose is a symbol of socialism or social democracy. *The sunflower is also the symbol of the Vegan Society.

During the late 19th century, the flower was used as the symbol of the Aesthetic Movement.
Subject of Van Gogh's most famous still life, Sunflowers (series of paintings)

The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine.

The sunflower was chosen as the symbol of the Spiritualist Church for many reasons, but mostly because it turns toward the sun as "Spiritualism turns toward the light of truth". Modern Spiritualists always have art or jewelry with sunflower designs

This is probably more like the picture most folk have of a sunflower.

The uses for this plant are numerous, we all know of sunflower bakery products but did you know a peanut butter alternative known as Sunbutter is also made, sunflower oil for cooking, it is also used as an alternative to produce hypo-allergenic rubber well as you can see lots of uses and very versatile. I prefer to think of it as an ornamental plant that can attract a vast range of wild birds into our gardens!
A rarely known use was as a symbol of the solar diety (sun god) by the likes of the Aztec, Otomi people of Mexico and the Inca's in south America.

Sun flowers have a type of phototropic response called heliotropism (sun turning); the leaves and flower heads of young sunflowers follow the sun and their orientation therefore changes from east to west during the day.
The movements become a circadian response and when plants are rotated 180 degrees, the old response pattern is still followed for a few days, with leaf orientation changing from west to east instead.
The leaf and flower bud phototropism occurs while the leaf petioles and stems are still actively growing and once mature the movements stop. The movement occurs as the petioles bend or twist during the day and at night they unbend or untwist

Sunflowers can be used to extract toxic ingredients from soil, such as lead, arsenic and uranium. They were used to remove cesium-137 and strontium-90 from a nearby pond after the Chernobyl disaster.

One of the most useful and versatile plants around.

Papaver somniferum

This is the flower bud of the Opium Poppy. You can see the lovely texture to the outside of it, some folk would say it has the feel of moleskin. I just think it tickles and feels lovely.

An interesting fact about all Poppies is that their seed is very long lived, that is why they often appear at roadside's where there has been construction work carried out. The seeds have layen dormant and are brought to the surface during the construction only for them to start growing and flower. Some seeds have been found that are several 1000 year old and were still viable.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Papaveraceae
Genus: Papaver
Species: P. somniferum
Binomial name
Papaver somniferum

This lovely plant has many uses, a valuable food source, a source of many medicines that are in the opiate group, there are also criminals who use this plant to supply Opium to the drug trade and finally as a decorative garden plant see next pic.

Personally I think it is a much maligned plant, yes it is used by drug lords, however the vast majority of use's are legal and we would never think of them. Next time your having a poppy seed roll or pastry remember it is from this plant to!

Nigella damascena

This pic show's the seed pod of a this lovely annual plant. Commonly known as Love-in-The Mist it is a plant of Mediterranean origin and needs full sun. preferring a well drained soil it will grow in most soil types.

It has very fine foliage and delicate flowers and sits well with large leaved plants such as Euphorbia, Arum lillies and Irises.

Seed can be sown in the autumn or early spring, sow them where in their final situation around 1/2 inch deep.

Hawthorn

Crataegus monogyna this is the common hawthorn and such an amazing usefull plant for those interested in bird life for the garden. Other common names for plants from this genus are may, mayblossom, maythorn, quickthorn, whitethorn, motherdie, and haw. You can see why using proper names is best lol.

They can make excellent specimen trees but are probably more useful in wildlife terms as a hedge. The Romans actually used them as stock hedging because of their many thorns. These days however those thorns are best used to provide protection for smaller garden birds. House Sparrows, Finches, The tit family can all nest in the branches of the tree/hedge in relative safety because of the thorns.
The berries that are produced profusely in autumn also provide much needed winter food for our feathered friends.

There are a few stories about this plant as well.
Firstly during the Crimean war the smell of these reminded folk of the smell of gangerine so it became associated with death.
This was also true in Wales, where it was called Mother Lies Bleeding at one time. This happened after the reformation of the church in the UK when it became illegal to be a catholic. During that time of difficulty for the catholic church they would meet in peoples houses and the use of hawthorn blossom in someone's house window showed where the services would be held during spring. So anyone found with hawthorn flowers in the house was assumed to be a papist and killed.

Weird how these things get started and sometimes stay for such a long time after that people often forget where they started from.

The Glastonbury Thorn

The Glastonbury Thorn

This is a lovely story,

A tree that belongs to the Hawthorn genus, however unlike all other Hawthorn's this plant flowers twice a year. Once In spring like they all do and a second time at Christmas.

Many people believe that Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain after the death of Christ. When he arrived in Somerset he rested on his staff and gazed upon the scene of Glastonbury Hill. His staff reputedly taken from a tree, which grew from a thorn in Christ's crown of thorns. When Joseph came to move on he found that his stick had taken root! This is supposedly why it flowers at Christmas time.

True or not I don't know but a great story if your a believer or just like your folklore!

1st

I love my plants and since having to stop don't get the chance to do much about it these days. So I thought I'd start this blog where I will post a pic of a plant and some of its more interesting facts daily.
Not only growing facts some may be superstitious some may be folklore just all round plant fun.