This series is all about the wonders of nature. They are all around us; and having the canal and the Thames nearby simply improves the riches. The weather has helped too – for the most part during lockdown it has been benign and often glorious. This post goes in close, to reveal that beauty in small things which I have posted about before. Mostly from the banks of the canal, but with a couple of excursions to the Thames near Kew and Brentford.
I’m hampered in one regard – I hardly know the names of the plants and flowers I’ve photographed. A project in the making there, I think.
The photos below were taken from May to July. I’ve grouped them by month just to break things up a bit. Otherwise it’s full-on foliage!
May
All from the Grand Union Canal/ River Brent.
Slight focus issue with these foxgloves. I went back a couple of days later to see if I could get a better shot, but they had gone. Someone must have cut them and taken them home. Very selfish.
June
Canal/River Brent again. Starting, like May, at the Brentford end.
July
Starting with the Thames, on the Kew side.
Onto the Isleworth side.
Towards the end of the month I wandered down to Kew Bridge and the shoreline on the Brentford side. After the One over the Ait pub, there’s an alleyway with housing on one side and house boats on the other. That’s where I found a row of fuschia bushes. I think I like fuschias not just because of their extravagant colour and shape, but because they remind me of the West of Ireland, where they grow wild along the coast.
Back to the canal for the last few.
Thoughtsfromwestfive 
John, thanks, a delightful selection. You’re right about the stolen foxgloves – such a shame that someone took them all for themselves!
On the question of identification, there are some brilliant apps – you simply snap your target flower or plant, and they tell you what it is. Ant Mitchell was using one on our recent Dartmoor weekend – he’s really into it too, and would give you the link if he only remembered to look at his phone.
The names that tend to pop up are PlantNet, PlantSnap and PlantFinder. (Variations on a theme…) You’ll see that they get rated widely on the web, and there are may more besides.
We were going a bit app-loopy that weekend. Several of us had apps for identifying stars, so we were merrily naming plants by day, and stars by night. A good and positive use of tech, I think?