Often when you look upwards to the top of older buildings you will see a plant hanging precariously off a ledge or sprouting out of the smallest of cracks. The question of how it originally got there probably has something to do with birds, but after that, it’s the tenacity of plants themselves and their ability to survive and hang on in the most extreme of circumstances. Some are better at this than others, take for example Buddleja (Buddleja davidii), which these days seems unavoidable on any walk in London that passes a patch of wasteland. Invasive species however are different from invading species and whereas the former are cause for concern, the latter are entitled to heroic status in certain urban areas.
Photographer Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze captured a series of urban plants in the districts of Hong Kong in his book Wild Concrete. These images show the tenacity and ingenuity of individual plants in making their unique mark in areas where plants are not expected or required to exist. Seeing the straying randomness of plant forms not given the space to grow true, set against the crumbing lines of degrading high-rises is fascinating; both in inducing an apocalyptic aesthetic and as proof of the biological imperative.
Dear Plant Curator, I just love how heroic plants are, wherever they are! Thanks for this! Dr M