Cosmos and Vipers Bugloss

This morning I did a cycle along the Thames and through Home Park. Another visit to the ‘Superbloom’ at Hampton Court where I took these photos. I was surprised to see a few Cosmos flowers in the midst of many poppy seed heads. Many of the first lot of flowers have now gone to seed and the dominant flowers now are a variety of Vipers Bugloss…see extra. This had lots of bees on it at 9.30am as another sunny day. I had to look this up but do remember it now from when I was a child and it was quite common in the fields/ verges where I grew up. I used to go out and pick as many different  wild flowers as I could ( just one or two of each) and come back and look in books to identify them. There was also a class at a local show for the biggest collection of wild flowers at the beginning of August each year which I always entered. I have not seen this in recent years it seems to be more classes for arts and crafts.

Home Park looks so dry and now all the structures and temporary roadways have been removed after the HamptonCourt Flower Show there are many areas of bare soil together with the heavily trampled dry grass. I’m guessing they will wait until we have had some good rainfall before reseeding these areas.

I did go to the allotment picked more courgettes which ai have given away and runner beans which we will eat this evening. But the runners are so dry and do not have many new flowers so overall I think the crop will be significantly less this year unless we have a deluge very shortly.

Having a quiet day at home after visits from the family yesterday.