Photo: Jared Crossman.
Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) Curly Dock brazenly shoots up in Philadelphia as if to directly taunt their nemesis, the weedwacker. Of course most mowing and/or other cutting only strengthens highly evolved spontaneous plants, as they can generally bounce back with more vigor. I believe this spot is in center city, here in Philadelphia.
Thanks for the photo!
Shattered glass makes a little pool in a field of Crown Vetch, Curly Dock, and many other species on Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia.
We’re firmly in the second-most exciting time of the year for urban weeds: proper spring. It is the time of year when you’re expected to place bets on which areas will thrive, which will burn out too quickly, which will get greedy and result in mowing, and which plants will successfully reclaim spaces for the long haul.
This particular lot, while looking great at the moment, is in danger of getting too greedy early on in the season. All of the stalks of Curly Dock are almost chest-high and it’s the beginning of May. I fear their highly visible spot next to an Irish bar on Frankford Avenue will result in a mow in a few weeks, sadly.
As a footnote, the most exciting time of year for urban weeds is very late summer, where you can see the progress made during the growing season, and admire the most aggressive of plants at their prime, just before things hunker down for fall.
This is an empty lot that everyone cuts through to go between the beer distribution place and the grocery store, in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia. There’s no denying that it’s putting on quite a nice face in spring, courtesy of many Dandelions (Taraxacum).
Many areas are waiting to return to forests when people turn their backs. In cities (and even suburbs and small towns), the freshly-mowed lawn is considered the most aesthetically-pleasing way of treating land that doesn’t have a building on top of it. There’s this fear that when small bushes and a diverse group of natural and invasive spontaneous plants move in, that it’s a place that can harbor rats and snakes. To me, the beauty within the spontaneity of the plant world will always trump manicured turfgrass.
I love the way dense thickets of weeds form in urban Philadelphia. This is an abandoned brewery complex in Northern Liberties, very close to quite expensive real estate (Sept 2012). Its days are sadly numbered.
A persistent Tree-of-Heaven continues to break up the concrete along a sidewalk, despite being cut back previously.
During Philadelphia’s population decline in past decades (though now the tables have turned), many vacant lots appeared in North Philly, opening up opportunities for spontaneous plants to thrive.
Mullein finds some spots to grow on an old brick wall along the canal in Manayunk, Philadelphia in early spring.
Frequent collaborators Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) & Veronica are seen popping up in an abandoned lot as spring begins on North Marshall Street in Philadelphia.
Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) pushing through a concrete sidewalk on the first day of Spring (yesterday), in Philadelphia. It’s snowing today, but the street weeds have started to make a stealthy appearance.
Tree-of-Heaven and Foxtail Grass carving out some shared space against a cinder block wall in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia (July 2012).
While Denmark doesn’t have an official flower, back in 1936 they suggested (in correspondence with Argentina) that it would be the Red Clover (Trifolium pratense), because of its agricultural value (info here).
Additionally, it has medicinal uses, and clover is sometimes used in organic/chemical-free gardening as an attractive way of blocking out other weeds.
Red Clover runs rampant in vacant tree pits here in North Philly during warm weather; this photo is circa May 2012.
Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) helps to shelter passing trash on Front Street in East Kensington, Philadelphia.
It’s tough to stay alive in the winter. Foxtail Grass on Marshall Street in Philadelphia.
A forgotten Christmas decoration on a bleak block in Kensington, Philadelphia. Initially I thought this was Red Root Pigweed, but now I’m thinking it’s more likely Common Lambsquarters.
ZYA
(PEOPLE)
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DSC03933 by sevensixfive on Flickr.
#brownstone #ues #urban flora #ailanthus (Taken with Instagram)
Doel, Belgium.
Since the 1970s this town has been threatened with complete demolition due to the planned extension of the Antwerp harbour. Because...
