Emma Cooper

This is tree spinach, Chenopodium giganteum, an amazingly beautiful edible plant that I grew for the first time last year. I didn’t grow it this year, but it self-seeded itself up by the compost bin and survived being transplanted into a pot. I have a second plant that also self-seeded – in gardening parlance they’re ‘volunteers’.

As the hot weather wears on and my plants and I both wilt, I am dreaming up a new plan for the garden next year that will mean it won’t suffer quite as much in hot and dry weather (which no doubt means that next year summer will be an endless succession of dreary and wet days, but that’s a temperate climate for you!). I’m also hoping to cut down on the mad rushes that the garden sometimes presents – times when there’s more work than can reasonably be done.

Self-seeders are going to play a part. Many of the flowering herbs in the garden are already taking care of their own propagation. A couple of days ago I potted up thirteen lemon balm seedlings (and left more in place); as well as the tree spinach I have potted up wonderberry seedlings as well. I haven’t sown borage or calendula or violas for years but they are gradually spreading throughout the garden. Nasturtiums also pop up here and there. I also have potatoes, oca and lavender that I didn’t plant.

Allowing plants to self-seed is one way to cut down on work in the garden, but it does mean that you need to be able to recognise seedlings so that you can weed out the ones you don’t want and leave the ones you do. I’m reasonably good at picking out seeds I have sown before (and improving) but I quite often get stumped when things arrive in the garden unexpectedly.

Take this beautiful little flower, for example:

It has taken up residence with my garlic chives, but I don’t know what it is!