After the Blitz, rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium) sprang from London’s bomb sites like a phoenix, earning it folk names such as fireweed, bombweed, and London’s Pride. A symbol of resilience, in 2002 it was named as Greater London’s county flower. #FolkloreThursday
June 25, 2025 at 11:30 PM
After the Blitz, rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium) sprang from London’s bomb sites like a phoenix, earning it folk names such as fireweed, bombweed, and London’s Pride. A symbol of resilience, in 2002 it was named as Greater London’s county flower. #FolkloreThursday
I already knew that the name Fireweed came from the fact that it would sprout from burnt ground, but the plant became locally known as 'bombweed' due to its rapid colonization of bomb craters in the Second World War
#flowers
#bloomscrolling
#thelittlethings
#macrophotography
#photooftheday
#flowers
#bloomscrolling
#thelittlethings
#macrophotography
#photooftheday
June 13, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I already knew that the name Fireweed came from the fact that it would sprout from burnt ground, but the plant became locally known as 'bombweed' due to its rapid colonization of bomb craters in the Second World War
#flowers
#bloomscrolling
#thelittlethings
#macrophotography
#photooftheday
#flowers
#bloomscrolling
#thelittlethings
#macrophotography
#photooftheday
Chamerion angustifolium, Rosebay Willowherb, also known as Bombweed or Fireweed
Surrey, UK, June 2025
#photography #bloomscrolling
Surrey, UK, June 2025
#photography #bloomscrolling
July 19, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Chamerion angustifolium, Rosebay Willowherb, also known as Bombweed or Fireweed
Surrey, UK, June 2025
#photography #bloomscrolling
Surrey, UK, June 2025
#photography #bloomscrolling
I've always been fascinated by the relationship between past/present/future & in my nature memoir, #LandBeneaththeWaves, I explore temporal connections - both personal & environmental. LBTW begins with Bombweed flowering around the amnesic crater that swallowed my life before the age of 7½. 🧵 1/2
May 19, 2025 at 6:26 PM
I've always been fascinated by the relationship between past/present/future & in my nature memoir, #LandBeneaththeWaves, I explore temporal connections - both personal & environmental. LBTW begins with Bombweed flowering around the amnesic crater that swallowed my life before the age of 7½. 🧵 1/2
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Fireweed/Rosebay Willowherb. AKA bombweed which reminded me of the fecund bombscapes of London in The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
‘the foundations of a wrecked merchant city, grown over by green and golden fennel and ragwort, coltsfoot, purple loosestrife, rosebay willow herb …’
Fireweed/Rosebay Willowherb. AKA bombweed which reminded me of the fecund bombscapes of London in The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
‘the foundations of a wrecked merchant city, grown over by green and golden fennel and ragwort, coltsfoot, purple loosestrife, rosebay willow herb …’
Hampstead Heath this morning
What is this lovely plant?
What is this lovely plant?
July 23, 2025 at 7:34 AM
🙏
Fireweed/Rosebay Willowherb. AKA bombweed which reminded me of the fecund bombscapes of London in The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
‘the foundations of a wrecked merchant city, grown over by green and golden fennel and ragwort, coltsfoot, purple loosestrife, rosebay willow herb …’
Fireweed/Rosebay Willowherb. AKA bombweed which reminded me of the fecund bombscapes of London in The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay
‘the foundations of a wrecked merchant city, grown over by green and golden fennel and ragwort, coltsfoot, purple loosestrife, rosebay willow herb …’
As it's #30DaysWild, I thought I'd share some wild moments from #LandBeneaththeWaves in the runup to Publication Day on 12 June. First up, moths & mental health. My first chapter 'Bombweed' ends 'for moths saved my parents' marriage' and my second chapter 'Moths at Midnight' explores...🧵1/5
June 1, 2025 at 4:28 PM
As it's #30DaysWild, I thought I'd share some wild moments from #LandBeneaththeWaves in the runup to Publication Day on 12 June. First up, moths & mental health. My first chapter 'Bombweed' ends 'for moths saved my parents' marriage' and my second chapter 'Moths at Midnight' explores...🧵1/5
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Rose-bay willow herb flourished in the Blitz as it loves soil that has been scorched. It was found to be growing in 90% of London’s bomb sites & given the names Fireweed & Bombweed — Maude Fromme
img: Cicely Mary Barker
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Rose-bay willow herb flourished in the Blitz as it loves soil that has been scorched. It was found to be growing in 90% of London’s bomb sites & given the names Fireweed & Bombweed — Maude Fromme
img: Cicely Mary Barker
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May 20, 2026 at 10:21 AM
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Rose-bay willow herb flourished in the Blitz as it loves soil that has been scorched. It was found to be growing in 90% of London’s bomb sites & given the names Fireweed & Bombweed — Maude Fromme
img: Cicely Mary Barker
ㅤ
Rose-bay willow herb flourished in the Blitz as it loves soil that has been scorched. It was found to be growing in 90% of London’s bomb sites & given the names Fireweed & Bombweed — Maude Fromme
img: Cicely Mary Barker
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Epilobium angustifolium L.
Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop.
Chamerion angustifolium (L.)
#Fireweed #Bombweed #Onagraceae #RosebayWillowherb #wildflower #villeblomster #flowerphotography #naturephotography #norwayplants #flora #botanikk #natur #nature #norsknatur #Vøringfossen #Norway
Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop.
Chamerion angustifolium (L.)
#Fireweed #Bombweed #Onagraceae #RosebayWillowherb #wildflower #villeblomster #flowerphotography #naturephotography #norwayplants #flora #botanikk #natur #nature #norsknatur #Vøringfossen #Norway
September 22, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Epilobium angustifolium L.
Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop.
Chamerion angustifolium (L.)
#Fireweed #Bombweed #Onagraceae #RosebayWillowherb #wildflower #villeblomster #flowerphotography #naturephotography #norwayplants #flora #botanikk #natur #nature #norsknatur #Vøringfossen #Norway
Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop.
Chamerion angustifolium (L.)
#Fireweed #Bombweed #Onagraceae #RosebayWillowherb #wildflower #villeblomster #flowerphotography #naturephotography #norwayplants #flora #botanikk #natur #nature #norsknatur #Vøringfossen #Norway
Maybe that is not too far from my father's boyhood home, badly hit in the huge bombing raid in January 1941.I used the picture for the cover of Bombweed.
April 9, 2026 at 10:20 AM
Maybe that is not too far from my father's boyhood home, badly hit in the huge bombing raid in January 1941.I used the picture for the cover of Bombweed.
Also known as "Bombweed" after the blitz in London, I believe.
July 31, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Also known as "Bombweed" after the blitz in London, I believe.
Yes, it's the same name for chamaenerion angustifolium, also called bombweed and blitzweed
July 14, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Yes, it's the same name for chamaenerion angustifolium, also called bombweed and blitzweed
As a self published author,I was delighted to be able to discuss the cover, and make use of two personal images. 'Bombweed': a small photo of my father's boyhood home after bombing in 1941. 'Kissed to Death': an image from artist Harrold Maddick of a Victorian seaside shelter featured in the book.
December 16, 2024 at 6:10 PM
As a self published author,I was delighted to be able to discuss the cover, and make use of two personal images. 'Bombweed': a small photo of my father's boyhood home after bombing in 1941. 'Kissed to Death': an image from artist Harrold Maddick of a Victorian seaside shelter featured in the book.
I know it is set in wartime but my 1st novel, Bombweed has some joy in it! Also books 2 and 3 of this trilogy, 'Shadows Over the Solent'. Friendships over decades for the children born in 1944 in the shadow of bombs and parental trauma..
February 27, 2026 at 11:59 AM
I know it is set in wartime but my 1st novel, Bombweed has some joy in it! Also books 2 and 3 of this trilogy, 'Shadows Over the Solent'. Friendships over decades for the children born in 1944 in the shadow of bombs and parental trauma..
Apart from my own?🤗(Bombweed 2018, Silverwood books, Kissed to Death, 2022 ditto. Next due very soon.)
All of The Forsyte Saga by Galsworthy. The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning. I like understanding the present thro' the lens of the past.
All of The Forsyte Saga by Galsworthy. The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning. I like understanding the present thro' the lens of the past.
Loved Rebecca! Do you have any other recs for me? 🙂
January 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Apart from my own?🤗(Bombweed 2018, Silverwood books, Kissed to Death, 2022 ditto. Next due very soon.)
All of The Forsyte Saga by Galsworthy. The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning. I like understanding the present thro' the lens of the past.
All of The Forsyte Saga by Galsworthy. The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning. I like understanding the present thro' the lens of the past.
Turns out willowherb is like poppies. The way poppies came to represent war dead because they move into areas disturbed by eg war. Willowherb also aka 'bombweed' or 'bombsite weed', so goggle tells me. Sad, but good to keep the memory of before it was wasteland.
July 27, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Turns out willowherb is like poppies. The way poppies came to represent war dead because they move into areas disturbed by eg war. Willowherb also aka 'bombweed' or 'bombsite weed', so goggle tells me. Sad, but good to keep the memory of before it was wasteland.
Blimey, I've never seen a patch like that!! Closest visually is big patches of Rosebay Willowherb (Fireweed/Bombweed), or Foxgloves.
February 9, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Blimey, I've never seen a patch like that!! Closest visually is big patches of Rosebay Willowherb (Fireweed/Bombweed), or Foxgloves.
Memory can be unreliable. I just reread my novel 'Bombweed' (Silverwood books 2018) as I am soon doing a museum book event about children during WW2. It was better than I remember. I found myself believing in the characters and wanting to know what was going to happen... 'tho I knew deep down.
December 17, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Memory can be unreliable. I just reread my novel 'Bombweed' (Silverwood books 2018) as I am soon doing a museum book event about children during WW2. It was better than I remember. I found myself believing in the characters and wanting to know what was going to happen... 'tho I knew deep down.
20 years since we inherited mother's unpublished novel about WW2, written in 1947(see pic) when she was 31. She called it 'While the War Went On. We adapted, edited, called it 'Bombweed'. It's now bk one of 'Shadows over the Solent', Bk 2 is 'Kissed to Death'. Bk 3 is 'Kiss and Don't Tell'.
September 4, 2025 at 7:15 PM
20 years since we inherited mother's unpublished novel about WW2, written in 1947(see pic) when she was 31. She called it 'While the War Went On. We adapted, edited, called it 'Bombweed'. It's now bk one of 'Shadows over the Solent', Bk 2 is 'Kissed to Death'. Bk 3 is 'Kiss and Don't Tell'.
Although it's generally called Rosebay willowherb here, it used to be known as "bombweed", because it was (one of) the first plants to spring up on WWII bomb sites.
August 22, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Although it's generally called Rosebay willowherb here, it used to be known as "bombweed", because it was (one of) the first plants to spring up on WWII bomb sites.
Grandmother Dot in WW2 Red Cross gear , and the cover of Bombweed, my book about women in the war ,(adapted from the original novel written by my mother in 1947 with the help of my sister Maureen).
April 10, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Grandmother Dot in WW2 Red Cross gear , and the cover of Bombweed, my book about women in the war ,(adapted from the original novel written by my mother in 1947 with the help of my sister Maureen).
It started when in 2005 I inherited my mother's unpublished but interesting novel about WW2 written by her in 1947.Eventually published in 2018 by Silverwood books . 'Bombweed'.
November 28, 2024 at 8:29 PM
It started when in 2005 I inherited my mother's unpublished but interesting novel about WW2 written by her in 1947.Eventually published in 2018 by Silverwood books . 'Bombweed'.
I learned so much from working on our Mum's unpublished novel, written in 1947. She (Margaret Smith) called it 'While the War went on' and in 2018 with my sister's help I adapted and published it as 'Bombweed'.Silverwood Books, Bristol.
February 26, 2026 at 3:20 PM
I learned so much from working on our Mum's unpublished novel, written in 1947. She (Margaret Smith) called it 'While the War went on' and in 2018 with my sister's help I adapted and published it as 'Bombweed'.Silverwood Books, Bristol.
As an old Portsmouth person, I have been thrilled, supported and encouraged by this group of writers from my home town, where my novels are mostly set. 'Bombweed' 2018, 'Kissed to Death' 2021. The next one to appear in September ,'Kiss and Don't Tell'. Silverwood books, Bristol. Thank you PAC!
February 23, 2025 at 12:39 PM
As an old Portsmouth person, I have been thrilled, supported and encouraged by this group of writers from my home town, where my novels are mostly set. 'Bombweed' 2018, 'Kissed to Death' 2021. The next one to appear in September ,'Kiss and Don't Tell'. Silverwood books, Bristol. Thank you PAC!