Another circuit

A route I do not walk very often, so I picked up this hoarding, outside a 1930s bungalow perched on something of a small slope. The second such hoarding to appear on our estate, so it must be the lastest fashion in such matters. And, presumably, another bungalow about to acquire a second storey? Perhaps to be demolished and replaced by an altogether bigger house?

The telephone did a good job on this solitary, but striking hollyhock flower. Brought out the delicacy of the interior in a way that it often fails to manage. Maybe it helped that it was not as bright as it had been.

Just checking, Google Images (GI) gets it right, starting his little essay with: 'The flower in the image is a pink hollyhock (Alcea rosea), a popular cottage garden perennial belonging to the mallow family (Malvaceae)...'.

He also does well enough on a supplementary.

A healthy looking plant in the instant garden down Manor Green Road, even if some of the leaves are going a bit yellow round the edges. GI says ' Arum Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica), commonly known as a calla lily, featuring lush, glossy, arrow-shaped green...', which seems plausible enough, but there must be a few plants looking something like this. I associate to leaf beet, one of the few things which did well on my allotment, the Stamford Green one that is. But maybe we will get some flowers at some point, which would resolve the matter. In the meantime there is reference 1.

The coffee shop which has taken the slot the butcher had had for all the time we have been in Epsom, has now opened. The Drop. Which was not busy when I passed, which made me wonder how long it takes to build up some trade in an off-High Street location like this one, with sometimes tricky parking. A sort of waiting that I would be no good at at all. Elaborate spreadsheets and graphs logging takings by the hour and all that sort of thing.

I once had a hairdresser who once told me of doing something of the sort when he first started out on his own account.

Dropshot coffee of reference 2 looks to be Romanian, but I have yet to check whether that is indeed this one. See also reference 3, from back in June. Our fine Costcutter just visible far left.

Another plant which probably likes the hot weather - although one supposes that it quite likes lots of water too.

Fruit or flower?

I consult GI to learn that 'The image shows a hardy banana plant, most likely a Musa basjoo (Japanese banana), featuring massive green paddle-shaped leaves and a central emerging new leaf stalk...'. Helped along with a few supplementaries I now know a good deal more about bananas than I ever did before. Certainly at the time that I was able to inspect the real thing, in the garden of a care home in the Canary Islands, perhaps twenty years ago now.

The catch here in Epsom might be that while we are getting the heat, these plants also use up a good deal of water, which might be more of a problem, although GI tells me that used bathwater is good enough. Something that FIL was into, in Devon, back in the 1970s, when we had another serious drought. Him first, then MIL, then the garden. While here in Epsom, half a century later, we have not got quite that serious yet - if only because showers have rather displaced baths. Which has taken a long time; we have always been bath people in the past.

A rather striking bed of mixed somethings, maybe dahlias. I was quite taken with how different all the flowers were.

GI wasn't having it, so he does not always agree with one. '... Zinnias (Zinnia elegans), specifically a variety often known as "Dahlia-Flowered" Zinnias...'.

And in response to a supplementary, gush aside, he goes on to explain how these compound flowers are organised, with the very different appearance, one sort from another, b.eing mostly down to maturity, to different stages in the lives of the flower heads as a whole.

While I have probably picked up an error in Wikipedia at reference 4. I should say that I catch Wikipedia out much more rarely than Gemini - but then I don't check him much.

I am rewarded with more gush, but I have learned the GI can be pointed at Wikipedia pages - without necessarily supplying the full address - and that he can read them and comment.

The house behind the substation, noticed from time to time. 99% finished, signs of dustbin life and occasional sightings of the occupants/owners. But is the house actually being lived in yet? My bet is no.  I think I have suggested before opening a book on the street's Whatsapp group on the date of occupation.

And another book on how long it will take the occupiers left to get rid of the battered bicycle right, seemingly chucked into their front hedge. Been there a few days at the time of snapping.

PS 1: around 19:00 this evening (Tuesday), our two new thermometers were recording 76°F down and 80°F up, despite it looking cloudy outside and it feeling cool inside.

PS 2: more corroboration on the banana front to be found at references 4 and 5. No diagrams and not many photos at reference 4, but reference 5 has been lavishly illustrated. Including the photo above, turned up by Bing. The trunk-like stem dies after flowering, but it seems that the rhizome underneath pushes out new shoots, which grow very fast.

Perhaps I shall ask the owner how often it flowers.

References

Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zantedeschia_aethiopica.

Reference 2: https://dropshot.coffee/.

Reference 3: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/06/two-tier-serration.html.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinnia.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_basjoo.

Reference 6: https://www.promessedefleurs.com/arbustes/arbustes-par-variete/bananiers.html.

Group search key: 20260816.