I have some serendipitous potatoes, they were forgotten about in a basket in my kitchen and sprouted rather than turning into vile foul-smelling slop so as I felt sorry for them they went into a heap of leaves under a window and now look!!!
Our neighbour has just come and left us a bag of pondeuse for the hens!
She raised her pretty head this year from a gritty tangle of ivy under a roadside hedge in our garden. Normally she would have been decapitated by the mower, but when she seeds I shall try to propagate her in pots. Not sure of her name…
Wallflower…
Cheiranthus, wallflower in English, giroflée in French.
They are mainly biennnial ,so need to be sown yearly, although you may get one or two which last for more than one season.
Thanks for that practical advice, Jane 
Again a late arrival to the subject, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about mowing over flowers - at least not here. Everything in our garden hs an incredible recovery rate, with concomitant increased size - flowers,shrubs, trees and of course grass! It doesn’t seem possible that less than a year ago we were all concerned about the drought (apparent) decimation.
Probably the most remarkable thing about our garden (and please note I know two things about gardening - nothing and bugger-all) is the incredible Virginia Creeper that arrives about a month ago, and within two weeks has shrouded our house with its beautiful coat. This will stay with us until November when it will turn bright red, then orange and within a month all the leaves will drop and my job is cleaning them up which I don’t mind as I am knee deep in a magical mound of colour Plus I know it will be back next year - even if maybe I will not!
yes, I know - ‘concommitant’
Shush shush dear Norm. You are too hard on yourself, be kinder. Trust your precious instincts. Concomitant is pristine in its perfection, pal, bang on the money! 
Many years ago one of our neighbours offered us what looked like an old bucket half full of rainwater with an unidentifiable mass that could have been a root in the bottom. We had nothing to lose so we stuck the rotting mass in the ground and waited to see what happened.
This did!
the wonder of nature never fails to astonish and amaze this old ‘townie’ and even more welcome from my own non-sleeping bed!
almost time for another pain-killer, buy no more sleep
Due to lock-down our local farmer couldn’t visit and mow the lawn for us. So the grass grew and grew. I’ve always wanted to let the grass grow, have a wild flower meadow - this was my chance !! Amongst the uncut grasses we had the purple pyramid shaped orchids, a few ‘hanging man’ orchids (I think that’s the name) - and hundreds of white and pink bee orchids, as well as the large moon daisies, clover, buttercups, poppies etc. I thought it was lovely.
Then ‘lockdown’ eased, the farmer turned up with his cutting gear - and I managed to protect a strip of grass close to the house where I have a mini wild flower meadow. Felt at one stage I would have to lie down in front of the mower to save my bit of meadow ! At least this year I was able to prove we had the bee orchids, and others - in the past I was told I was imagining it, and all the grass had to be cut…
We also seem to have more butterflies around this year.
I am confused, it is your lawn, so surely you decide what he does and doesn’t mow.
And when…fauché tardive is the best way to cut to keep the wild flowers going. We cut ours beginning of July.
But hanging man and bee orchids are lovely, so a delight to have. But they must have been there every year, just perhaps not seen them, as they take years to establish.
V L - Oh I wish it were my decision - it’s not.
I have an OH with Alzy and an obsession about wanting a lawn to look like our former UK surburban lawn (despite being an acre in size). I have asked, pleaded, threatened, cried - but he says it’s ‘his house, his garden,… and he’ll decide…’ !!
House is in joint names - but ‘he’ regards it as ‘his property’… and life for me can be difficult.
A control freak with Alzy - which leads to problems. So this year’s lock-down was - sorry - a blessing in disguise for my lovely wild flowers. Taken lots of photos because next year I’m sure I’ll face same battle - and with an OH who can be ‘difficult’… not something I look forward to.
God how grim 
sorry and bon courage.
l, too, have a French friend who is convinced he is the arbiter of what happens in my garden. Got home last week to find him lopping branches off the cerisier. Now if he had chopped the dead branches, that would have been a different matter. As it is, those which hid my neighbour’s hideous and discoloured polytunnel have gone. All in the name of helpfulness!
Jan - I feel for you - really do. Grow some bamboo? Put up half a dozen large parasols ? Believe it or not OH did similar in our garden in UK. I had lovely, sheltered, private area - shielded from being overlooked by all the other 3 bed semis all with small back gardens. Parts of hedge and tree had grown to give perfect back garden privacy - then OH decided the branches ‘were in the way’ - and they all got cut back - bang went any privacy from nosy neighbours…(no more topless sunbathing for me…!!)
I would be so upset in your place - you mean a ‘friend’ who you hadn’t invited in, just ‘decided’ what you needed doing to your tree - really ? Jeepers, that’s just awful; you have my sympathies - some people have no idea of the hurt they can cause do they ?
