Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) are growing more vigorously around the garden than in previous years. I ascribe this to the fact that next door had an evergreen Holm Oak removed earlier in the year which has allowed more ambient light in.
 Foxgloves are biennial and every year I gather their seed and grow a new "crop". I'll be interested to see if they start self seeding now they seem to find the conditions more favourable.
 The classic Foxglove has flowers of rich red/purple hues but there is a white flowered form I have grown before and I suspect that they have intermingled courtesy of the bees. Several I planted out this time round have flowered in pinkish tones as though white has been suffused and stained with red.
 Looking closely at the flowers the speckled markings to tempt/guide bees in are very noticeable...
   

 There are big clumps of Comfrey on the allotment. They may be Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum), which is a naturally occurring hybrid of S. officinale and S. asperum. It grows wild and is a well-travelled variety with an intriguing history.
 Comfreys were known by names like Bruisewort and Knitbone because their leaves used as a poultice were reputed to have such properties. The leaves are also a rich source of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium which has long interested gardeners as an additive to compost and for steeping in water to make liquid fertiliser.
 I believe the name Russian Comfrey stems from the nineteenth century when it was imported from Russia by the Essex smallholder, Quaker and organic pioneer Henry Doubleday. His work was continued by Lawrence Hills under the auspices of the Henry Doubleday Research Association and he developed various strains, notably Bocking 14 which is still widely grown today.
 Perhaps some previous allotmenteer planted it as a green manure but Bocking 14 is sterile (i.e. can only be grown from root or crown cuttings) whereas this one springs up all over the allotment so it must be seeding. Comfreys are very prone to crossing and re-crossing with each other which suggests these might be Russian Comfrey going native or perhaps Common Comfrey (S. officinale) going Russian!   
 Anyway the biggest, fattest bumblebees are all over them...

 

 Not a meadow in the countryside but a neglected patch at the allotments. Growing through the coarse grasses are the plum purple flowers of Aquilegia (not sure which variety it is), some airy umbellifers (probably Cow Parsley) and tall swaying Ox-Eye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare).
 The Aquilegia no doubt seeded from some nearby garden or allotment. Cow Parsley and related umbellifers grow everywhere and Ox-Eye Daisies thrive on disturbed ground- most years they put on a fine display alongside many railway lines.

 After being away from London for several days I see various summer flowers have bloomed. I think we can call it summer now?
 The pink flowered Geranium in the top photo seeds all over the garden and clumps up. I think it's some variation of Geranium endressii, possibly the one known as 'Claridge Druce'.
 The white flowered form of Dame's Violet aka Sweet Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) has a particularly translucent glow as the sun goes down. It's a short lived perennial so I plant some each year and it is starting to seed around as well.
 Pale blue/mauve flowers smother the fresh green foliage of the Trailing Bellflower (Campanula poscharskyana) which loves to scramble along brick, stone and concrete under the impression that it's back home in the Caucasus mountains.
 I'll be in and out of London in the week ahead so looking forward to seeing what comes with each visit...     

 The arching stems of Soloman's Seal (Polygonatum species) are an old cottage garden favorite from the days when cottagers would have propagated plants from the surrounding countryside. It's not "showy" but it's graceful- and bumblebees like to make their way along the hanging flowers.
 Polygonatums are found in woodland settings; they all look similar but the one shown here is P. x multiflorum according to the nursery I bought the stock from originally. I think they must be picky about the conditions they like. The ones I've planted in my father's garden in Hertfordshire are doing fine as seen above but I haven't been able to establish it in London despite the garden being similarly shady.
 Soloman's Seal is related to Lily of the Valley which is another plant that will go great guns in one spot but do nothing somewhere else. In fact Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) grows very happily out of the crazy paving patio nearby (see below) so maybe there's something at work here. My father stuffed a few in the cracks decades ago and off they went, coming up year after year..

   

 The power of chance. I planted the blue-flowered Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) in my father's back garden a few years ago and it didn't seem to thrive, getting swamped by other plants. This year it has stood tall and held its own among the frothy white flowers of Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) which self-seeds prolifically.
 I didn't exactly plan this delightful combination, but I've noticed that if you plant things in spots that correspond to their natural habitats they tend to sort themselves out over time.

 The flowers of Lamium orvala provide a striking example of how flowers lure bees into the flower to be rewarded by nectar. In doing so they brush against pollen which is transferred from 'male' to 'female' flowers as the bee forages. Actually I'm not sure if flowers perceive themselves to be male and female as such but this is how botany describes the process!

 Speaking of bees here a few more on Geranium phaeum, Tellima grandiflora and Pulmonaria Opal...