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Roger Parsons
19 June 2023 16:08:09

Yes very much so. Wondering too what the cause could be 

Originally Posted by: speckledjim 

See my post above on ants, SJ, or if you prefer:
RHS on Aphids...
https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/aphids 
 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
speckledjim
19 June 2023 16:11:07

See my post above on ants, SJ, or if you prefer:
RHS on Aphids...
https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/aphids 
 

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 


I was wondering what has caused the increased in aphids but may have found the answer
https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/publications/the-influence-of-climate-change-on-forest-insect-pests-in-britain/ 

Higher temperatures increase their reproductive rate
Thorner, West Yorkshire


Journalism is organised gossip
Roger Parsons
19 June 2023 16:18:00

I was wondering what has caused the increased in aphids but may have found the answer
https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/publications/the-influence-of-climate-change-on-forest-insect-pests-in-britain/ 
Higher temperatures increase their reproductive rate

Originally Posted by: speckledjim 


Yes - but don't forget to factor in ants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDbqhqrFz_s 

And parthenogenesis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVTitHBwpN0 

 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
NMA
  • NMA
  • Advanced Member
20 June 2023 08:38:09

Translates: "Noisy little feckers"?
There are some great cheeky names in biology, Latin and English. My favourite common plant name is that of the the houseleek [Sempervivum spp]: said to be the longest plant name in Botany.
"Welcome home husband be ye never so drunk" or "Welcome home husband however drunk you be!"
Photo:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Sempervirum_tectorum1.jpg/330px-Sempervirum_tectorum1.jpg 
.

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 



Indeed Roger and here's one outside my office keeping the fish in a tiny raised pool happy.
UserPostedImage
These plants are also called hen-and-chicks because of the way new plantlets develop in a cluster around the parent plant, resembling a mother hen protecting her chicks. This one appears to be growing out of this woman's head as she spits water into the pool.

Gardening of course is an illusion and contrary to that well known term 'gardening leave' sometimes applied to naughty bankers and other other professionals caught in flagrante delicto and other misdemeanours and then put on gardening leave, is actually an intensive cerebral activity rarely understood by non gardeners.
 
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
+1
NMA
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14 July 2023 15:13:20
Apologies to Retron and Fairweather, both keen gardeners I think living in locations with fail-safe rain deflectors. That aside it’s a novelty this year seeing green grass in July in this part of Dorset after what seems years of high summer parch. With the recent rains the tropical part of the garden Zantedeschia, Cannas and so on looks deliciously tropical though it doesn’t feel it today. Today's rain was persistent and at times heavy so it’s reached under the trees and almost everywhere. Not surprisingly I’m dreading the ‘Cat 8 cyclone’ forecast for tomorrow which might undo all my hard work of the past few months and send the garden into a windswept early autumn.
Nick
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
+2
Roger Parsons
14 July 2023 15:30:14
This is an interesting idea, Nick:
Mini Wetlands...
How a mini-wetland revolution could help UK wildlife beat the heat and boost urban biodiversity
https://www.wcl.org.uk/mini-wetland-revolution-could-help-uk-wildlife-beat-the-heat.asp 
 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
+1
NMA
  • NMA
  • Advanced Member
15 July 2023 07:44:41

This is an interesting idea, Nick:
Mini Wetlands...
How a mini-wetland revolution could help UK wildlife beat the heat and boost urban biodiversity
https://www.wcl.org.uk/mini-wetland-revolution-could-help-uk-wildlife-beat-the-heat.asp 
 

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 



It certainly is for anyone considering a mini pond in their garden, balcony or wherever.

My third pool the old galvanised tank one, started out in fine form. The mini water lily thrives but something I should have thought about more was the explosion of mosquitoes after a couple of weeks. The water was thick with the larvae and the air for a day or two heavy with the insects. That’s all sorted after the addition of a couple of goldfish. So I can sit in my mini Eden again in the evenings in comfort. The problem now is that the weather isn't Edenic any more and the nicotianas that added a beautiful fragrance have their scent blown away in the unseasonal winds I’m experiencing. The issue I’m concerned about is the winter when I know that ice will form easily in the raised ponds especially the galvanised one. My plan in the event of a freeze is to move the fish into a large plastic bucket and keep them in the office for the duration.
Nick
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
Bolty
07 August 2023 15:07:34
My strawberry plants have grown like the clappers this summer, sending out runners here, there and everywhere. I've tried to catch a few of them in small pots, but I've also had to trim a few of them off too. Not sure if it's the strawberry feed I've been putting on them (most likely) or whether it's just been a good summer for strawberries. Anyone else grow them?
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
+1
Retron
07 August 2023 15:59:03

My strawberry plants have grown like the clappers this summer, sending out runners here, there and everywhere. I've tried to catch a few of them in small pots, but I've also had to trim a few of them off too. Not sure if it's the strawberry feed I've been putting on them (most likely) or whether it's just been a good summer for strawberries. Anyone else grow them?

Originally Posted by: Bolty 


No strawberries here, but plenty of blackberries - and lots of apples and pears ripening up on their respective trees. It's been a great year for fruit, as far as I can see, albeit the birds had all but two of the cherries from the cherry tree earlier this year!

Incidentally, I had some roofers round over the past week - and one of them commented that with all the things in my garden, I could do with a pond. He wasn't impressed when I pointed out I had one, and he'd walked right past it - it's overgrown with grass and brambles all around it. The reason is that it's a dragonfly habitat... I've had three lots this year, one of blue dragonflies, one of black-and-yellow, and the current straw-and-brown ones. Amusingly, just after he looked with a bit of a sneer at the pond... no fewer than 10 dragonflies started flying around, more in a garden than he'd ever seen in all his years of roofing. Hopefully he left with an appreciation that gardening isn't just about making everything look nice and neat!


 
Leysdown, north Kent
+3
The Beast from the East
07 August 2023 22:17:27
Always been terrified of dragon flies alongside flying cockroaches you get in the tropics. Seem to be loads of annoying fruit flies all over the kitchen. Have bought a UV light zapper. Hopefully will work 
 
"We have some alternative facts for you"
Kelly-Ann Conway - special adviser to the President
Chunky Pea
08 August 2023 06:42:47
Have been trying my hand at propogating clippings I have nicked from other peoples overhanging bushes the last month or so. Not much success so far, though one, a sort of small brown leafed semiwood, is showing signs of life. 
Current Conditions
https://t.ly/MEYqg 

"You don't have to know anything to have an opinion"
--Roger P, 12/Oct/2022
PGPig
09 August 2023 06:04:59
Fruit flies are a pain, discovered last year that they are attracted to bread (granary) had to put the bread out of the bread bin into an airtight container, not ideal. 
 
Dawn.

Stoke Prior, Herefordshire.
Caz
  • Caz
  • Advanced Member
15 August 2023 17:45:26

Fruit flies are a pain, discovered last year that they are attracted to bread (granary) had to put the bread out of the bread bin into an airtight container, not ideal. 
 

Originally Posted by: PGPig 

Make a fruit fly trap.  Put a small amount of wine in a jar, cover it with clingfilm and punch it with small holes.  The fruit flies will be more interested in it than anything else and they’ll get in but won’t get out.  
Market Warsop, North Nottinghamshire.
Join the fun and banter of the monthly CET competition.
Caz
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15 August 2023 17:49:11
Caterpillars!  Eating my geranium and sweet pepper leaves.  I think they’re the small cabbage white larvae.  The more I pick off, the more holes appear in my leaves!   I’ve sprayed with soapy water and I’ve tried adding vinegar but they keep multiplying.  I don’t want to use insecticide.  Any suggestions?
Market Warsop, North Nottinghamshire.
Join the fun and banter of the monthly CET competition.
DEW
  • DEW
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15 August 2023 18:28:27

Caterpillars!  Eating my geranium and sweet pepper leaves.  I think they’re the small cabbage white larvae.  The more I pick off, the more holes appear in my leaves!   I’ve sprayed with soapy water and I’ve tried adding vinegar but they keep multiplying.  I don’t want to use insecticide.  Any suggestions?

Originally Posted by: Caz 



It doesn't even seem that you can turn the tables and eat them😖

 
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
Caz
  • Caz
  • Advanced Member
16 August 2023 12:24:52

It doesn't even seem that you can turn the tables and eat them😖

 

Originally Posted by: DEW 

Unfortunately not!  🤮. The vomit in that emoji is the colour of the caterpillars!  I have one single frog living in my border that can’t even eat them fast enough and according Google, frogs do eat them. 
Market Warsop, North Nottinghamshire.
Join the fun and banter of the monthly CET competition.
Bolty
17 August 2023 16:50:27
I got a Christmas rose and a Lenten rose (both in the Hellebore family) in the post today. They're one of my favourite plants in fact as they flower right in the middle of winter and bring a surprising level of cheeriness when everything is dead and bare. Safe to say, they're planted now and hopefully should be properly established by December and ready to flower.

I'm thinking of getting a winter jasmine (J. nudiflorum) too, and letting it grow up the legs of the decking, but we'll see.
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
KBasso
17 August 2023 20:58:16
I have a large pond in my front garden with an iron arch over it.  The rambling rose is still growing. I have hawthorn, blackthorn, a variety of wildflowers and an oak sapling. I have nesting boxes in my back garden but no birds ever use them.  In back garden there ere are mature ash, elder and wild cherry trees.  I have goat's willow, juniper, holly, wayfaring, crab apple and spindle trees.  I have a compost heap and and the a rainwater butt (that was put there by a previous tenant) which is not connect to the outside drain pipe (I live in a council rented flat) as the drain pipe is made of metal and would not be allowed by the council to have it connected to the rainwater butt.  I did have visiting hedgehogs but it stopped after two killed hedgehogs were found in my back garden.  I am looking forward to the rain on Friday night.
South Ockendon, Unitary borough of Thurrock, South Essex
NMA
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18 August 2023 09:39:47

I got a Christmas rose and a Lenten rose (both in the Hellebore family) in the post today. They're one of my favourite plants in fact as they flower right in the middle of winter and bring a surprising level of cheeriness when everything is dead and bare. Safe to say, they're planted now and hopefully should be properly established by December and ready to flower.

I'm thinking of getting a winter jasmine (J. nudiflorum) too, and letting it grow up the legs of the decking, but we'll see.

Originally Posted by: Bolty 



The Jasmine looks great during one of those dull winter days. 👍Easy to grow and produce from cuttings.
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
+1
fairweather
19 August 2023 08:27:34

I have a large pond in my front garden with an iron arch over it.  The rambling rose is still growing. I have hawthorn, blackthorn, a variety of wildflowers and an oak sapling. I have nesting boxes in my back garden but no birds ever use them.  In back garden there ere are mature ash, elder and wild cherry trees.  I have goat's willow, juniper, holly, wayfaring, crab apple and spindle trees.  I have a compost heap and and the a rainwater butt (that was put there by a previous tenant) which is not connect to the outside drain pipe (I live in a council rented flat) as the drain pipe is made of metal and would not be allowed by the council to have it connected to the rainwater butt.  I did have visiting hedgehogs but it stopped after two killed hedgehogs were found in my back garden.  I am looking forward to the rain on Friday night.

Originally Posted by: KBasso 


Are your nest boxes facing North? Otherwise the bluetits tend to ignore them. By the way, I was brought up on the Belhus Estate and lived there from 1953 - 1973. A lot has changed but my house is still there opposite the shops in Broxburn Drive. I'm trying to place which Council flats had such big gardens.
S.Essex, 42m ASL
NMA
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28 August 2023 06:20:34
Ridiculous as it seems, I've been watering some containers as we haven't had much rain recently. Even the showers on Saturday were watered down affairs. I'm sure in due course we'll make up for it.
Nick
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
Roger Parsons
28 August 2023 16:52:31
We have Tansy growing in Bardney. I recall Tansy Tart was a medieval delicacy.
Recipe for Tansy pancakes and why we don't intend to eat them! Enjoy.
https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/tansy-pancakes 

 
RogerP
West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire
Everything taken together, here in Lincolnshire are more good things than man could have had the conscience to ask.
William Cobbett, in his Rural Rides - c.1830
Brian Gaze
28 August 2023 17:19:59
Bumper crop of outdoor grown toms this summer has been a big surprise. I was expecting blight to set in during July, but it didn't. Perhaps it shows the importance of things getting off to a good start.

Brian Gaze
Berkhamsted
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"I'm not socialist, I know that. I don't believe in sharing my money." - Gary Numan
NMA
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29 August 2023 08:03:01

We have Tansy growing in Bardney. I recall Tansy Tart was a medieval delicacy.
Recipe for Tansy pancakes and why we don't intend to eat them! Enjoy.
https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/tansy-pancakes 

 

Originally Posted by: Roger Parsons 


I used to sell tansy in 9cm and litre pots. An invasive but beautiful species. And cooking? An acquired taste as they say. 

I'd give this summer 8/10 for the garden and apart from some wet days in July it hasn't really been all that unusable.
A novelty to have lush grass in August and the sub tropical parts look great this year. Apart from a yellow canna which hasn't done that well for some reason.
No toms this year. I overdid it in the Covid year and couldn't deal with all the fruits and got fed up with them. I ran them through a blender and froze the excess but there's a limit to what I could eat.
Nick
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
Brian Gaze
29 August 2023 08:06:06

I used to sell tansy in 9cm and litre pots. An invasive but beautiful species. And cooking? An acquired taste as they say. 

No toms this year. I overdid it in the Covid year and couldn't deal with all the fruits and got fed up with them. I ran them through a blender and froze the excess but there's a limit to what I could eat.
Nick

Originally Posted by: NMA 



We got a Stockli dehydrator to dry toms a number of years ago and it works very well indeed. (No referral link below)

https://www.ukjuicers.com/stockli?gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNtTZNTqKr44pI5DTfRJj_UJ_mhTfUKaX9kcEdQ3F74qMDe7aQo7HenRoCjlcQAvD_BwE 

 
Brian Gaze
Berkhamsted
TWO Buzz - get the latest news and views 
"I'm not socialist, I know that. I don't believe in sharing my money." - Gary Numan
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