Hoardings around building sites are usually a 'canvas' for graffiti.
This one on London's Rennie Street (SE1) is a vertical verge - verge being the word we use to describe that wild bit between the edge of the tarmac and the cultured garden or field adjacent.
In rural areas the verge is a reservoir of grasses, wild flowers and some forage-able 'erbs.
Thus, vertical verge seems apt.
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| Buttercups and mallow |
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| Perennial Cornflower |
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| Tiny campanula flowers |
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| Poppy (papaver) - a sad late season one. |
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| Ribwort Plantain (there were also broadleaf plantains on the wall). I love herb plantain and apparently they have some kind of root mychorrizae that makes strawberry plants thrive. Plant them together. |
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| Vipers bugloss (in Australia Paterson's Curse, Salvation Jane, or Riverina Bluebell). It's an echium. Bees love it and I have tried honey made more or less exclusively from it's nectar. (Can't recall the flavour - sorry). |
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| Red campion? |
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| Fox gloves (digitalis) but no flowers. We are still in year 1 - they flower in year 2. |
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| Red clover |
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| Yarrow (achillea) and a poppy? |
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| A whole street of it. |
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| And an e-bike to hire... |
I like the 'vertical verge' idea. Any patch of greenery in the heart of a big city is welcome. And how interesting about the mycorrhizal association between plantain and strawberries. I'd always thought of ribwort plantain as a coarse and ugly weed, but now I'll look upon it more kindly!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail.
Hari Om
ReplyDeleteThat's a delight to see... Patterson's Curse honey is dark and a very slight tang in the aftertaste... Delicious! Thanks for triggering that taste memory. YAM xx
That’s definitely an improvement of hoarding or chain link fences and would be flourishing well after the damp summer you’ve had.
ReplyDeleteA similar idea that you don’t see so much these days are ‘green roofs’ - roofs covered in grass or low growing succulents
How good to see wild nature thriving in the heart of a modern concrete jungle.
ReplyDeleteBreathing life into a barren environment.
ReplyDeleteThat is so much better than a faded plastic sheet or metal mesh. I like it.
ReplyDeletewhat a super idea. we need these here in some places. all those different plants. LOVE IT
ReplyDeleteAmazing the variety of plant life there. And that you can name so many. I wonder how many stop to appreciate the show
ReplyDeleteI cheat - I only photograph the ones I can name. There are lots more.
DeleteWhat a great idea. Bees and other pollinators must love it.
ReplyDeleteWe were very impressed with all the rewilding around london. And the vertical verge is lovely
ReplyDeletePatersons curse was all over our paddocks when we purchased this place,36 years ago!
It took many years of slashing and pulling it up to finally get rid of it.
Yes I definitely cursed Paterson everytime I had to pull one out.
Get some bees - the honey is lush.
DeleteI would think that gravity and rain might slide all of those pretty plants to the floor. It is a lovely idea, softening the landscape of pavement and concrete.
ReplyDeleteyup I wish we had things like this here but there is an abundance of wild boysenberry and rubbish, it's a shame someone can't clean it up and throw some wildflowers out.
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