Free plants. Half a dozen Mulleins (Verbascum thapsus) are growing in this gravelled area courtesy of self-seeding. Obligingly several more have propagated themselves into the pots nearby. Fifty quid if you went out and bought them!

 

Entering the season of the autumn tidy-up.

 

One of Jif's beautiful borders at the music school. 

 I came across two of my beekeeping friends staring intently at a dense patch of Ivy along an old brick wall not far from their collection of hives. As noted in my previous entry Ivy has flowered very early this year and may finish early. Ivy is the last big hit of nectar and pollen for honey bees so that would have consequences. 

 Moreover they observed they were seeing wasps on the flowers but no honey bees. They speculated the flowers may be of less interest to the bees for some reason e.g. less pollen and nectar as a result of the drought. If so that would be double trouble.  

 Common Ivy (Hedera helix) is common indeed and has flowered very early. I saw it in flower in London in mid-August and not long after in Hertfordshire. This is undoubtably a response to the prolonged drought and heatwaves; many plants have flowered earlier and for briefer periods this year.

 Typically Ivy is in flower September/October/November feeding various pollinators well into autumn including honey bees. Ivy honey is known for its dark colour and deep flavour. My bee keeping friends are worried the Ivy season will be cut short and with it the honey.

 Gone but not forgotten. The triennial Giant Echium I grew in my front garden five years ago died after flowering in its third year. It shed thousands of seeds which have been germinating in the vicinity. A handsome specimen bloomed in my neighbour's front garden this year. [see entry dated 17th. May]

 More are on the way. The one by my gate I should be able to tease out of the mound of loose soil it has rooted in and transfer to the adjacent border. The blue flowered Echium pininana is becoming quite common around London but these will be the red flowered Echium wilpretii which is rarely seen. 

 That is assuming they make it through the winter. The former has become increasingly frost tolerant as it naturalises but E. wildpretii is probably closer to its forebears on the Canary Islands where they both hail from.