Underneath the pavement

So often I seem to be dashing out of the house and hurrying off to do something. Head down and scurrying along pavements you often don't spot the changes, a different type of city regeneration. There is lots going on unplanned within the built environment. Like the blogger of Organic Allotment I too have spotted a self sown tomato plant growing out from a crack between the pavement and the wall of a city college. Seeded no doubt from a discarded sandwich filling of a passing student.

This might go unobserved by most of us but nature is always on the look out for opportunities. In the neglected front yard of a terrace house a colony of cinnabar moth lavae are munching their way through a ragworth plant. These beautiful black and vermillion moths only lay their eggs on this plant. The warning stripes of orange and black a message to birds that they have ingested the toxins from this weed and won't be good to eat.
A buddleia bush growing down a crack in a nearby wall offers nectar for bumble and honeybees. They are so attracted to the flowers that there is a bit of jostling going on. It's crowded at this new nectar bar in town.