Plant Quiz #2. Do you know this flower?

That strange plant in a previous post is known as a 'Shoofly' .Thank you to a sharp eyed neighbour who spotted it at RHS Wisley a few weeks ago and remembered the name! Nicandra physalodes is apparently common on wasteland in Peru. My two specimens leaned over in the recent gales. Apparently hardy, lets see what happens next year. Even if these two plants do not survive, they have produced thousands of seeds.

Now here's another!

About 40 cm tall in the flower bed, and now looking a little worse for wear this upright plant is another that stood out amongst the seedlings grown from the 'lottery mixture'. The suprising pink flowers are held close to the foliage.

As usual you can get a closer look by clicking on the image.

Beginnings of Autumn

Suddenly there's a new perfume in the air. As other plants fade ivy is in bloom everywhere, and bees are making their last sorties for nectar. To be stored as over-wintering food.

And spiders patrol their webs on every bush.