Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city
(The Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer in the City)
After cool and wet weather last month, we have had a heatwave for a few weeks here in Cardiff and one day, for the first time, I noticed the bright dappled shadow of the London plane (Platanus × hispanica or Platanus × acerifolia) I am following in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay.
The tree itself has not changed much in the last month but I have noticed the new Greek street food cafe beneath it has been open during the day on a few occasions, particularly when we had a three-day food festival in the nearby Roald Dahl Plass.
Approaching the plane from the north
Mature leaves against the metallic background of the Mermaid Quay Tesco
There are also some new young leaves – I guess you could call them Lammas leaves, a second flush…
…and more of the same
Meanwhile the seed balls are growing and ripening…
…a closer look
It has been breezy lately, despite the hot weather – here a white plastic carrier bag has been caught in the branches
The plane tree from the south west
Although we have had no rain for weeks, we have had some pretty cloud formations
Now please let it rain…
You can find all my London plane posts here…
The Squirrelbasket 
Wish I could send you some of our rain 😉
I love looking up from under a tree and seeing sunlight through the leaves. So pretty. I’m sure the shade was welcome too. Frances
Thanks for your comments – and thank you for the rain, which has now arrived!
It’s just a shame I have chosen a tree in such a busy place, so I can’t be alone with it…
Best wishes 🙂
Nice … a new term for me: lammas growth (and Lammas Day). I will post a few photos later today (happy for the extension, I had totally forgotten)
Then you might like to add “latter Lammas”, which I came across in a dictionary decades ago. As Lammas is a time for settling accounts, latter Lammas means Judgement Day or, in worldly terms, never…
All the best 🙂