Events coming up during the remainder of July:

Wednesday 30 July, 1.00 p.m.: Wonderful Weeds  informal session at Oru Sutton.

Report: About 15 people wandered in and out of this informal event which started in Oru’s community garden but later moved indoors due to rising temperature.  We tried to imagine it being the 1920s, when most people still lived in the countryside and before the National Health Service.  At that time people viewed plants differently than we do today; they saw wayside plants as sources of food and medicine and found many other uses for them.   People engaged in the diverse discussion and appeared to have enjoyed themselves.

Wednesday 30 July, 7.00 p.m.:  Summer Plant Walk, Tooting Common.

Report:  10 people gathered at the café on the Common for an evening stroll, first of all discussing any plants that we came across but later concentrating on the plants in the area, formerly known as the Sanctuary, on the east side of the Lake.  At one time (in the 1930s?) this area was planted with ornamental shrubs.  Survivors from that time include winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) native to China, rose-of-sharon (Hypericum calycinum) native to Turkey and Bulgaria, and garden privet native (Ligustrum ovalifolium) to Japan.  Finally we examined plants growing beside the Lake before retracing our steps to the café.

‘Awesome.’

Thursday 31 July, 11 a.m.: Trees in Summer, walk starting from the Woodfield Pavilion, Tooting Common.

Report:  Despite heavy rain earlier and the threat of rain later, four keen people gathered and apparently enjoyed a slow 90-minute stroll around the north side of Triangle Field and the south side of Emmanuel Field.

Images:  upper, Oru Sutton event; lower, strawberry clover, Trifolium fragiferum, thriving on Tooting Common, July 2025.