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pauldebois

Photographer based in London. Work: Lifestyle, gardens, landscape and people.
Photos & features through: www.gapphotos.com
Alter ego: rowing coach.

Professor Nigel Dunnett, pioneer in natural planti

Professor Nigel Dunnett, pioneer in natural planting, who sadly passed away a couple of weeks ago. Taken outside the London Olympics stadium during its development in 2011.

Yesterday I was contacted by the Times, asking if they could use this photo in an obituary appearing in today's paper. As the deadline was 60 minutes, and the fact I was at another 2012 Olympic venue, Lake Dorney, I missed the window. But a nice reminder of a day spent wandering around the site with Nigel and @veronicapeerless, discussing the planning and ideas behind the planting for Which? Magazine.

#gardenphotography #naturalplanting #meadow #wildlifemeadow #nigeldunnett

Mum with her friend, who is 102 years old. Amazing

Mum with her friend, who is 102 years old. Amazing!

#familyportraits

Taking a footpath shortcut through Richmond and St

Taking a footpath shortcut through Richmond and St Mary Magdalene Church, I found this lovely rose. No idea of the variety. And also two large trees…I think Dawn redwoods. Wondering why they were planted so close to a building! And also if these might have been from the original seedlings propagated at Kew after the tree’s rediscovery after WWII.

#urbanplanting #publicspace #rose #dawnredwood #richmond

Urban flowers, Kensal Rise and Park Royal. Geran

Urban flowers, Kensal Rise and Park Royal.

Geranium robertianum, recycled planters on house boat and foxglove mural. Urban life.

#wildlings #graffiti #herbrobert #foundflowers #urbanlife

Two Taureans. #familyportrait

Two Taureans.

#familyportrait

Thames life … a small pile of Egyptian geese. Am

Thames life … a small pile of Egyptian geese. Amazed I was allowed to get this close as the adult birds have a lot of attitude!

#thameslife #riverlife #egyptiangeese #babybirds #riverthames

Aquilegia, grannys bonnet, columbine - several nam

Aquilegia, grannys bonnet, columbine - several names, but always pretty.

Wildlings from the garden which have popped up randomly every year since 1997. And never in the same place.

#flower #flowerphotography #cottagegarden #wildlings #urbangarden #aquilegia #grannysbonnet #columbine

Black poplar - guerrilla planting, somewhere! Fi

Black poplar - guerrilla planting, somewhere!

First time I've planted anything myself.

Black poplars are the most endangered native timber tree in the UK according to the Woodland Trust. So few remain in fact that it is estimated there are only 7000 trees left in the UK. Hopefully there will be two more to add to this total.

I thought they were over winter casualties, but after cutting out the deadwood, new shoots have emerged and are currently 35cm in height.

#populusnigra #blackpoplar #guerrillaplanting #nativetrees

Mortlake - old names. When I was at school, the o

Mortlake - old names.

When I was at school, the origin of the name Mortlake was given in history lessons as being derived from a plague pit located in the area, which is quite plausible.

But apparently the name is recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086 as Mortelage several centuries earlier. Etymology is a fascinating thing, with one explanation from old English given as 'mort' being a salmon and 'lacu' a stream. 'Salmon Stream' is a much nicer origin for the name!

Conjecture maybe, but quite a strong possibility, with a fishery in the area in the 11th century.

#mortlake #oldnames #riverthames #lowlight #oldlondon

Explaining how useful AI can be in plant identific

Explaining how useful AI can be in plant identification to my mum in her care home garden, I had to admit it’s not always right. She thought her luck had changed though, as she asked for a box of matches. 🤪

It is very clever though and can refine ID searches.

#plantnames #urbangardens #botanicalnames #gardenphotography #acerpalmatum

Shady corners of the garden. One of the best times

Shady corners of the garden. One of the best times of year for colour with everything still fresh.

#flowers #flower #flowerphotography #editorialphotography #featureshoot #urbangarden #smallgarden

The Pink Lodge and Isleworth Ait - boat’s eye an

The Pink Lodge and Isleworth Ait - boat’s eye and bird’s eye views!

#rowinglife #isleworthait #richmonduponthames #riverthames

Rock pools, shapes and formations, Cape Trafalgar

Rock pools, shapes and formations, Cape Trafalgar and Conil de la Frontera.

The coastline here is permanently changing due to erosion, leaving fascinating rock forms.

#rockpools #rockshapes #naturalart #naturalsculpture #andalucia

Seville Las Setas and Parque de María Luisa. #s

Seville

Las Setas and Parque de María Luisa.

#seville #parquedemaríaluisa #lassetas #shapes #architectureanddesign

Cape Trafalgar. Wandering along the rugged coast

Cape Trafalgar.

Wandering along the rugged coastline around the lighthouse today. The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 was a couple of kilometres out to sea from this point.

#andalucia #capetrafalgar #cliffwalk #rockybeach #wandering

Wandering along the coastal paths. Hoping to find

Wandering along the coastal paths. Hoping to find orchids, but no luck so far. I’ve found them in the past, though those areas are now private gardens and houses and are inaccessible. But some wildflower finds along the way.

1. Hedysarum coronarium or Sulla clover (left) and hairy thorny broom. The broom leaves a lovely sweet scent in the air.
2. Cliff top flowers and purple Jerusalem sage.
3 Cistus (left) and Star of Bethlehem. Cistus varieties grow well in London and in the evening reward you with a heavy incense scent. And the Star of Bethlehem I’ve seen growing wild along the River Thames in Mortlake.
4. Moraea sisyrinchium or the Barbary nut.
5. A pink thistle which I don’t know the name of. And lavender, which is just starting to peak.
6. Asphodel, apparently a symbol of peace. And a pretty white flower I don’t know the name of, which appeared in large drifts like snowdrops.
7. Lantana and Bermuda buttercup. Lantana is an escapee and is everywhere - in roadside ditches to cliff top paths. Much favoured in public spaces as it’s pretty much indestructible! Though I believe it’s classified as an invasive species. And one description of the Bermuda buttercup said it’s beautiful in someone else’s garden but an intractable enemy in your own. So neither are attractive propositions!
8. Wild carrot seed head from last year. And an Alium just getting ready to flower.

#spain #andalucia #conildelafrontera #barbate #wildflowers

Setting moon, rising sun. Early morning walk alo

Setting moon, rising sun.

Early morning walk along the cliff tops, Conil de la Frontera.

#andalucia #conildelafrontera #wandering #firstlight #moonset

Semana Santa, Holy Week procession, Conil de la Fr

Semana Santa, Holy Week procession, Conil de la Frontera.

#conildelafrontera #semanasanta #andalucia #easter

I'm not often in big boats, but fun racing with th

I'm not often in big boats, but fun racing with these guys in the Vesta Masters Head of the River today!

#tidewayscullers #rowinglife #tss #vestaheadoftheriver

Great fun marshalling the Head of the River Race t

Great fun marshalling the Head of the River Race today. The boat race course in reverse. Still a chill so wearing everything we had! And despite breaking down as the last boat went past and getting a tow from a safety launch, I still managed to sneak the anniversary volunteer medallion!

#ptrc #tidewayscullers #headoftheriverrace #rowinglife

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