ABC Wednesday......

V is for VERONICA

The other day I dug out around the lawn in the front garden. It had previously gone up to the front of the house and this part was hard to mow. Also, it was very bad quality here, very patchy and with lots of weeds. (The not nice weeds, not the weeds that I let grow and call "free flowers".)

I took these pic's this morning, and it is quite overcast here today....

I wasn't sure whether to plant something round the edge, or whether to just leave it "cut in" as a neat edge to the grass. (As you may have gathered, I like the back garden a bit "wild and natural" in places, for the wildlife, but I like the front garden to be a little neater!)

In the end we went off to the garden centre, with the intention of getting some small marigolds. But look what I brought home instead!

And no, not just because I knew I had to find a "V" for this week!

The common name for "Veronica" is "Speedwell". This took me back to my childhood....

I grew up on a housing estate called "Weeds Wood Estate". I walked past Speedwell Avenue on the way to school, up Yarrow Road and across Silverweed Road. School-friends lived nearby; Jo was in Myrtle Crescent and Kim was in Sedge Crescent.

It was never a luxurious place to live, but OK as council estates go: lots of trees and grass verges. But I've heard that since that time, it has gained a horrible reputation as being quite rough and a place to avoid. E.g., Buses no longer drive through the estate after 6pm, as kids attack both vehicle and driver. Wouldn't have happened in my day..... (Oh, I sound old!)

I wonder whose idea it was to call the place "Weeds Wood Estate". If they had called it "Wild Flower Estate" would it have turned out better, do you think?

I'm curious to find out how big these will get. The label said 20cm (8inches) but my book says three times that high!

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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