SELF PERPETUATION

No, not me - I am just crumbling away.

I am referring to those plants which scatter their seed across the garden and appear in surprising places the next year.

The pictures are of nasturtiums so let me start there.

The first picture, of J. shows the nasturtiums flourishing in the bed outside the kitchen. In the new garden they were idea for ground cover and colour.

In the second year they were so rampant they almost suffocated the catmint which had to be rescued and armfuls of nasturtiums taken the the compost heap.

Of course we now have them forever but that is all right as I selectively weed them and

R. loves them in the kitchen.

Other plants include the poppies - opium, meadow and welsh - yellow and orange, forget-me-nots, alchemilla (you have to dead head before they seed), feverfew, rocket and best of all aquilegias - not the gaudy hybrids but good old Granny's Bonnets.

One surprise self seeding after the harsh winter was Verbena bonariensis - well I think it was as I do not remember them growing where they do now - it may just be they survived and I am going senile.

So this year the nasturtiums came, as predicted, on the banking in front of the house as seen in the third photo.

Though the bright vermillion is the most common

colour there are always some yellow - as seen here - and some darker red.

I would not be without the self seeders but sometimes you have to be a bit ruthless and compost them. (Then the compost is full of seed if you are not careful and they spread even more!)