A gardener's field notes
I've been working those green thumbs recently and keep surprising myself at how thoroughly enjoyable it is.
The rain has finally given way to much nicer weather here in London. It may be brief but I’m wasting no time making the most of it. I’ve found great solace and happiness in tending to the garden that is on the pontoon behind the studios where my boat is moored. The plants there (including a heck of a lot of Cordylines!) were planted a few years ago but weren’t being actively taken care of and were either dying or in dire need of a good prune. So I offered to help and give a bit of love to everything and got to work. After all of the initial clean-up was done, I could start focusing on building this little container garden and that’s when things started looking a lot nicer.
It’s been a couple of months since I began and now I’m busy planting a load of colourful herbaceous plants in pots which is helping to brighten up the area. Cyclamen, heuchera, nasturtiums, false goatsbeard and a load of herbs have all gone in as well. The pineapple mint in the photo above has also been making some delicious mint tea. Further down the pontoon there’s also a raised bed with sage, chrysanthemum, and some wonderful tree heath.
At the same time I’m also doing a lot of horticultural self-study and building my knowledge as much as I can. Part of that this week has been learning the scientific names for plants as well as the common names. As I learn all about the taxonomy of plants I’m reminded of Emily Dickinson’s Herbarium which is a collection of pressed flowers that Dickinson beautifully catalogued, something she enjoyed spending time on due to her long-held love of botany. This herbaria is something I discovered back in 2017 — long before my fascination with plants began. Or maybe this was the beginning!? I stumbled upon it via Maria Popova and her website The Marginalian (however, it was known as Brain Pickings back then).
Aren’t they just fascinating?
But back to my plants. I’ve also dotted four of these handsome Jacobaea maritima, silver ragworts (see, I’m learning!) around which will add a bit of interest in the winter and look so lovely at night. Four of them cost only £5 at Columbia Road Flower Market; a very famous mecca for flowers and plants here in London. It opens very early on a Sunday but is inundated with plant lovers by around 9:30am. Uncomfortably so in fact. I tend to nip in and out before the throngs of people get there and it gets too busy.
Being on the river means we get plenty of wildlife visiting the pontoon. Foxes run up and down, we have a resident cat in one of the houseboats and there’s a dog that swims down the river next to his owner who’s walking along the towpath. Also, I’m sure there’s a few squirrels burrowing their seeds here and there. We also get a menagerie’s worth of birds such as swans, coots, ducks or even Egyptian geese which make a terrible racket. Honestly, it’s mad. Try having this thing screaming right next to your window at 6am in the morning!
However, recently we’ve had a much smaller (and quieter) visitor on one of the mint plants that is currently sitting on our deck waiting to be potted. A stunning little mint leaf beetle. It’s been hanging around for a few days and I always get silly happy when I see her. As the name suggests, they’re often found on mint plants and look incredibly similar to the tansy beetle which seems to be a lot rarer here in the UK.
One more exciting thing that’s happened in the last week is that I’ve become the proud owner of a small plot in a local community garden. This garden is one of those wonderful places that acts as a third space for the community to experience nature in the middle of the city. They also have 49 plots that are taken care of by locals.
The previous owner of this plot had moved on and has left a beautiful space that’s all mine to do with as I please. The box hedges around the edges have been fairly well-taken care of and add a nice border to everything.
That middle section has heaps of space for plants, vegetables, flowers — anything really. The two heart-shaped topiary plants, one either side of the entrance, are a nice touch from the previous owner. I think I’ll be keeping those! They could also be butts, who knows!? Chie and I spent some time there today clearing away all the old bark chips, stones and weeds and exposing that brick path a bit more. Fellow Substacker Jack, writer of
, came to help out for a little while which was so kind! We also put down a fresh layer of manure on top of everything to introduce some nutrients into the soil to get it ready for planting.
After a couple hours of work. The brick is far more exposed now which makes a nice divider for everything. For now, I’m still wondering what should be done with it though. I feel like there’s a small window of time left to plant a few things before the cold British winter sets in.
For anyone who may be a bit green fingered please do let me know down in the comments what you would do in a space like this. I need all the inspiration I can get! 🌻🍃
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SJF