Wednesday 25 June:  Tree Walk Brompton Cemetery, London, for members of the Earls Court Development Company.  Seven people attended this lunchtime wander around the Cemetery discussing its history and, especially the trees growing towards its northern end.  It is hoped that an understanding of the trees growing locally can help when deciding which trees should be planted as part of the development, due to be completed in 2031.

Monday 30 June:  Wander around Yourspace, a delightful but little-known community space in Seears Park Nursery, Cheam, London Borough of Sutton, discussing the traditional uses and folklore of wild plants.  This formed one of a regular series of Monday afternoon gatherings which introduce participants to a wide range of activities, including ukulele playing and reiki.  The excessively hot afternoon possibly inhibited people from attending, and of the five people who turned up, one soon dropped out due to the heat.  Never-the-less, we were able to spend a pleasant 40 minutes or so wandering through some of the more shady parts of the site (which, as it happens, tended to be less intensively cultivated, and thus contained more ‘weeds’).  Our discussions were enriched by people sharing memories of Czech plant-lore which they remembered from childhood.

Images:  upper, Indian-bean tree, Catalpa bignonioides, native to the U.S.A., in full flower, Brompton Cemetery; lower, Yourspace, both June 2025.