Bradford SE13 Plant List 1990 - 2023: New Plants 2023 by B.A. ‘Jesse’ Tregale

SE13 is the 10km square taken from the Ordnance Survey Map which covers most of Bradford (Bingley – Apperley Bridge – Tong Street – Queensbury).

After 34 years it is getting quite difficult to find new plants in Bradford SE13 but I do get a lot of help from Michael Wilcox who found most of the new plants. I started early in the year having a walk up to Idle Road where, on the snicket behind the houses, I found several plants of Garden Parsley (Petroselinum crispum ssp. crispum) which had self-seeded in several places with one plant growing between the wall and pavement. Later in the year I noticed some self-seeded plants growing by the Crown Court in the middle of Bradford and, with a closer look, these turned out to be dozens of Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) seedlings growing around the tree and several yards away on the road edge. Unfortunately the area is kept ‘tidy’ but I will investigate in 2024 to see if any have spread further afield and managed to grow.

I did manage to get to Bingley to visit the Bailey Hill Road area which last year had lots of garden escapes. Unfortunately the area had been cleaned up with most of the previous years plants being removed but I did find on the pavement Great Forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla). Michael found some interesting plants. At Apperley Bridge railway station car park he found Galium x pomeranium, the hybrid between Hedge Bedstraw and Lady’s Bedstraw, growing with both of its parents. On the other side of the canal he found an interesting cultivar of Yarrow growing on the pavement with yellowish and reddish flowers which matched Alchillea millefolium‘Salmon Beauty’. There are numerous cultivars of Yarrow being introduced into gardens and with other plants being seeded on the edges of roads and on road islands, many of which could escape.

Another escape was Himalayan Crane’s-bill Geranium himalayense, found as a pavement weed on Carr Bottom Road. A nice native was Slender Sandwort Arenaria leptoclados growing in the cobbles by the canal at Dobson Lock, just up the canal from Apperley Bridge. Also at Apperley Bridge, there was a lot of work being done to prevent flooding of the River Aire and some alien weeds were found including the rather splendid Gold-of-pleasure (Camelina sativa).

Box-leaved x Wilson’s Honeysuckle Lonicera pileata x Lonicera nitida is a rather confusing plant with leaves varying between its two parents. It often self-seeds, as it has on the edge of the canal. A rather fine Snapdragon, white with dashes of red, was spotted by Michael growing out of the pavement by the new shopping mall at Lower Holme Park, Antirrhinum majus ‘Purple Twist’.

And finally, Michael went to look for a Cotoneaster growing by a wall in Mill Street - the Cotoneaster was gone but on the wall he found Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus). Also found, not new but not seen for over 20 years, growing on the canal bank at Apperley Bridge, was a splendid Grape-vine (Vitis vinifera).

All records are mine except: ¹ Michael Wilcox

My total plants seen and recorded for Bradford SE13– 10Km square 1990-2023 = 1880

My full Bradford SE13 list is available and please contact me if you find any interesting plants in Bradford SE13.

Email: rachtregale@blueyonder.co.uk