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  1. dw1305

    What's this fern?

    Hi all, They often grow out of <"rock walls">. Cool, shady and damp, but not too wet? If it is Pteris cretica it is a lime-lover, I'm not sure about the other species, it is quite a big genus. Have a look at <"The sails">. cheers Darrel
  2. dw1305

    What's this fern?

    Hi all, I'm <"pretty sure that is right">. Probably not entirely hardy. cheers Darrel
  3. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, This is <"Azara serrata">, it is easy as a semi-hard wood cutting, and has a lovely "fresh green" leaf, but usually it doesn't flower very well. I've let it grow this year (it flowers on "old wood"), it hasn't been frost browned, and it has flowered really well. Cheers Darrel
  4. dw1305

    Fish tank water on the garden

    Hi all, I think most of us use our water change water to water the house plants, garden containers, gardens etc. I've never had any issue, but it will be interesting to hear what other people have found. cheers Darrel
  5. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, That is even better <"than it was last year">. Not many Rhododendrons in our part of the world, it is all limestone here, but spring has worked it's magic. The tulip is "Lilac Wonder" <"Tulipa saxatilis (Bakeri Group) &s;Lilac Wonder&s; (15) | Candia tulip &s;Lilac Wonder&s; Bulbs/RHS...
  6. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, This pot was where I stored some "spare" Dendrobium pseudobulbs (<"D. kingianum"> & <"D. x delicatum">). I never did anything with them, other than totally neglected them, but they are looking very smart. Cheers Darrel
  7. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, Beyond horrible. cheers Darrel
  8. dw1305

    Bulbocodium Narcissus

    Hi all, They've actually gone over already, so full flower in mid-January. There are hundreds of species of Narcissus, but these "Hoop-petticoat" ones all come from Spain, Morocco etc., so I'd guess they wouldn't enjoy Minnesota and yours are different. cheers Darrel
  9. dw1305

    Bulbocodium Narcissus

    Hi all, Cheating a little bit because they are at work. They live in a trough in what would appear to be <"unsuitable conditions">, but nobody has told them and they've done really well. Cheers Darrel
  10. dw1305

    Show your house plants

    Hi all, <"Spathiphyllum "Mauna Loa"> is the larger cultivar you normally see, but you can <"get much bigger ones">. Cheers Darrel
  11. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, It must have been pollinated. I'd try sowing them in the pot with the mature plant. It probably won't work, but you don't have anything to lose. cheers Darrel
  12. dw1305

    Mysterious Garden Algae/Bacteria!

    Hi all, Not sure, I'm going animal rather than vegetable, but I like the mosses. The "grey, furry" one is a Grimmia pulvinata & the green one a Bryum, Tortula, Synthichium or Barbula sp. <"Common mosses on walls - British Bryological Society">. Possibly Tortula muralis? Because of the shape...
  13. dw1305

    Mysterious Garden Algae/Bacteria!

    Hi all, I'm pretty sure it is dog safe. It is allegedly edible, but I'll be honest it really doesn't appeal <"Nostoc Num Nums - Eat The Weeds and other things, too">. cheers Darrel
  14. dw1305

    Mysterious Garden Algae/Bacteria!

    Hi all, It will be on a shady gravel path or similar, it is <"common on limestone"> based bare ground. cheers Darrel
  15. dw1305

    Mysterious Garden Algae/Bacteria!

    Hi all, Cyanobacteria, it is a Nostoc sp. Cheers Darrel
  16. dw1305

    South Facing Window

    Hi all, We've got a thread <"Wine cooler DIY terra base">. It certainly does, as well as not having black, plastic pots directly exposed to the sunlight. cheers Darrel
  17. dw1305

    Name this Cactus!

    Hi all, I got one via a <"dead relative"> of my wife's about 25 years ago. They are very easy to propagate as a cutting. They are low maintenance house plants (just need cool, light and dry in the winter) and only really offensive the day the flower opens (and that is pretty offensive). Each...
  18. dw1305

    Name this Cactus!

    Hi all, Not a cacti, but Orbea variegata. <"Orbea variegata - Wikipedia">. Did it come from me? cheers Darrel
  19. dw1305

    Quercus ?

    Hi all, Quercus ilex (Holm Oak) - <"Evergreen Oak | NatureSpot">. cheers Darrel
  20. dw1305

    South Facing Window

    Hi all, It is a risk in a closed case. A lot of S. African etc. bulbs like a summer bake while they are dormant. The Scarborough Lily (<"Cyrtanthus elatus">) is a good one. cheers Darrel
  21. dw1305

    South Facing Window

    Hi all, Caputia tomentosa? cheers Darrel
  22. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, I'll post 2023's photo. cheers Darrel
  23. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I <"love Lavender">. I always say to people that making your garden more wildlife friendly doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of all your non-native plants. If you have a sunny, dry spot? Grow a Lavender <"or some Marjoram">. This ornamental Marjoram (Origanum laevigatum) is just...
  24. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, A couple of soggy "alpines" from the garden. <"Scutellaria suffrutescens">, which I acquired <"after a UKAPS thread">, by @ScareCrow . and <"Androsace lanuginosa">, which "flowers in the monsoon" apparently, and is probably enjoying itself right now. cheers Darrel
  25. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Go on, I do. but I'll need to swap it for something. I'll have a think for what might like the NE of Scotland. cheers Darrel
  26. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Possibly <"Geranium x oxonianum "Claridge Druce"> it is very tenacious of life and sets seed freely, I've seen it "wild" in all sorts of places. cheers Darrel
  27. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I've grown a few over the years, but they've all dwindled away eventually. One problem is that they are haute cuisine for Lily Beetles. About the only one that survives long term is Lilium pardalinum, and that never looks like it is enjoying itself. cheers Darrel
  28. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I love a Turk's cap Lily. If I had somewhere cool and damp I'd definitely have a go with that one. Maybe a move to Alba beckons. I look longingly at the Nomocharis and <"Lilium nepalense"> lilies even though my garden could be more unsuitable...
  29. dw1305

    Do you agree with Alan

    Hi all, Well that is good news. I'm sure some-one has suggested it as an answer to their snail <"problem">, but not for me, personally <"I don't do magic bullets">. cheers Darrel
  30. dw1305

    Do you agree with Alan

    Hi all, That is the real question, how many people sit on their front garden lawn? I'm going to guess it is a very small proportion of front lawn owners, and that 99% of <"front lawn interactions"> involve a single home owner and a mower. I don't think this applies to our stateside members...
  31. dw1305

    Do you agree with Alan

    Hi all, That looks great, it would make me happy every time I saw it. I just love the Helianthemum, Erigeron, Osteospermum, Aquilegia, Campanula, Sedum, Verbena bonarensis etc. I definitely think <"not watering"> and <"limited intervention"> is the way forward. Same for me, I converted the...
  32. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, That one is "Garden Yellow Loosestrife" <"Lysimachia punctata">. It is a good grower. cheers Darrel
  33. dw1305

    Do you agree with Alan

    Hi all, Noooooo, if you see a plant you covet, you must find out if it will grow as a cutting, and what type and when ........ then you locate a plant, and take a cutting. If / when it grows, you have a real feeling of achievement, even if you could have bought it for £2 and saved a lot of...
  34. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Nice Rhododendron, unfortunately it is pick a name with these, but it looks like a R. williamsianum hybrid. They like a sunny position, but are a bit prone to frost damage to the new growth and flowers (the plant itself is really hardy). I really like <"Temple Belle"> and may yet find...
  35. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, The Pocket-handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) on campus is flowering really well. It doesn't put on much of a show most years, so I assume this is because of the hot weather in 2022. cheers Darrel
  36. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Not quite that bad, but an air frost last night in Corsham. cheers Darrel
  37. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Cheating, because it is at work again. I bought some Tulip "Little Beauty" bulbs in the autumn, but afterwards I wasn't sure about them and eventually planted them in the <"gravel at work">. They've just started flowering and I think I may have made a mistake with them, because they are...
  38. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, This is 2023's incarnation. It has had another run in with the <"Large Narcissus Bulb fly"> since 2019, but that has meant that it now has two flowering size bulbs. cheers Darrel
  39. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I tried that this afternoon, there were plenty of plants that looked a little the worse for wear (or a lot the worse for wear) but they still had their original (and "aspirational") price tags. Here are a couple from the garden, they were plants that I bought originally, but have done...
  40. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, Bit of a <"sad update on this one">. I've lost my Pleione. The leaves died off a bit earlier than I was expecting in 2022, but I didn't think anything off it. I don't water them through the winter, so it was only about a month ago that I went to repot them and found their weren't any...
  41. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Your mossy stones are nice. That is actually an Aponogeton sp., A. distachys <"https://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/P/Pondweed(Cape)/Pondweed(Cape).htm">. cheers Darrel
  42. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, This is the 2023 incarnation. It is still hovering somewhere in between life and death, after division into four bits. This is the best section. Cheers Darrel
  43. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, I like that one. It will be <an xCambria">, but I don't know which one. cheers Darrel
  44. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I like Trachelospermum (Star Jasmine). I have a <"variegated one"> at home, and they are the red leaved climber, to the left of the Rose, <"in the planters at work">. cheers Darrel
  45. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, The last one, had this one for the last twenty years since my wife's grandma died. It gets a prune when you open the freezer door. I've also had this one for twenty years, Haemanthus albiflos. Cheers Darrel
  46. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, Still not an orchid, but this is 2022's incarnation of our <"dead relatives" Christmas Cacti">. cheers Darrel
  47. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Cheating a little bit again, because it is the campus garden rather than at home, but these are from the sub-tropical fruit gardens of Bath. One for @foxfish , the <"Chinese Gooseberry">, or "Kiwi fruit", (Actinidia chinensis). These may come ripe in November, it depends a little bit...
  48. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, This one has <"had an outing"> in this thread before, but it is doing a better at home than it did in my room at work. cheers Darrel
  49. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, That one may be <"Megachile ligniseca">, but you can't really ID them from a photo. Bees are really variable in size (you sometimes get tiny Common Carder (<"Bombus pascuorum">) bumblebees for example), but I'd guess that these are different species. cheers Darrel
  50. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, The Bee is a <"leaf-cutter bee"> (Megachile sp.), she doesn't have pollen sacks on her legs, but collects the pollen on the underneath of her abdomen. cheers Darrel
  51. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, This one is cheating a little bit, because it is the lab. garden. We have a number of Hares (Lepus europaeus) on Campus and they are a lot less wary than normal. This was taken from the window with the <"fish-tanks in it">. cheers Darrel
  52. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, <"Kentish Belle"> is much showier. Abutilon <"Cynthia Pike"> is the other option. cheers Darrel
  53. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, A sunlit <"Abutilon megapotamicum">, from a misty Corsham this morning. It isn't a showy flower, but it flowers for <"eight months of the year"> and has survived the S. Cotswold winter for the last fifteen years. It is a slow grower, but otherwise trouble-free, and also easy to propagate...
  54. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, Definitely that is the key, but I think all these the plants have a <"finite life span"> and eventually the old plant will die. I've found this with all the tropical epiphytic Gesnerids. Because they root so easily from cuttings (including leaves) I'm imagining that in the wild they...
  55. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, Apologies, because it is another couple of non-orchids, but these are "Scarborough "Lily"" (<"Cyrtanthus elatus"> formerly Vallota speciosa), at present in the tea room at work. The Scarborough Lily is fantastically inappropriately named, because it is both S. African and an Amaryllid...
  56. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, And it hasn't got any better. I don't water the garden, so it is in a pretty sorry state (the Crocosmia really haven't enjoyed it). What it has allowed me to do, is to see which plants don't mind a bit of drought. This one, <"Sphaeralcea 'Newleaze Coral'>, has been absolutely...
  57. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, That one is Ornithogalum dubium. I had it for a while in the glasshouse, but it failed to re-appear one spring. cheers Darrel
  58. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, The recent wet weather has extended the gardens flowery period a bit. I only water the pots, which means that a couple of weeks of dry weather tends to crisp the garden up a bit. Front: Back cheers Darrel
  59. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I'm a <"Dierama fan">, they aren't really value for money, because for most of the year they look pretty scruffy, you can't move them and they object to having other plants around them, but these have seeded into the gaps in the patio and they looked lovely this morning. cheers Darrel
  60. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I'm a believer in "live and let live", but I do hand pick (and kill) Lily Beetle (and Vine Weevil) adults and larvae. I creep up on them, put my hand under the leaf rosette and then hopefully the beetle falls into my hand. You can find the larvae on the leaves and scrape them off, but...
  61. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I really like them. The ones with very dissected red leaves (like Acer palmatum "Garnet") are slow growers and need to be in the shade to keep the root cooler and avoid scorch damage to the foliage, they also don't like being anywhere too breezy. Ideally you want to water them with...
  62. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I'll probably have some idea from the pictures and a bit of googling. cheers Darrel
  63. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I might try Echium pininana again. What does the "Period Clematis Collection" look like? I'm really keen on a lot of the older viticella type clematis. But only briefly, and it is a small garden. If I owned <"half of Guernsey"> (mentioning no names), rather than a small suburban...
  64. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, When I got home I found that the "Dragon Arum" (Dracunculus vulgaris) had come out. It isn't a hard working plant, because it only flowers for a few days every year (and it smells "interesting"), but it is quite spectacular. Cheers Darrel
  65. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Front and back garden from Sunday. These few weeks (middle of May to middle of June) are "peak garden". It is usually all down hill from here. cheers Darrel
  66. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, It just works. A lot of the plants are "Cottage Garden" flowers (London Pride, Welsh Poppy, Columbine etc.) but all it really means is that they have stood the test of time. They can be your low maintenance back-drop. cheers Darrel
  67. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, "Wild" is the way forward. No pesticides, no artificial fertilisers etc. and grow the plants that want to grow. Daisies need a lot less mowing than grass, insects like them and they enjoy being trampled on, all advantages as far as I'm concerned. I'm a fan of Welsh Poppies etc. too...
  68. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Babington's Leek (Allium ampeloprasum), Arum italicum "Pictum" and Horse-Radish (Armoracia rusticana)? cheers Darrel
  69. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, It has rained over night here (first time for several weeks) and the Front Garden has perked up almost instantly. cheers Darrel
  70. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, You should be able to get <"xCambria "Nelly Isler"> fairly easily. cheers Darrel
  71. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I wasn't sure how they would get on, but I planted them in a sunny site under the S.E. wall of the house and they've done pretty well. They've survived here at least ten years. cheers Darrel
  72. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, A lot of people aren't keen on Grape Hyacinths (Muscari spp), because they spread, but I look on it as bonus. Bees like them as well. Edit: I should have put some names on the photos: The yellow one is <"Muscari macrocarpum"<, the Wedgewood blue one is probably <"M. armeniacum...
  73. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, This is a Dendrobium x delicatum, it has had a cold winter (in the glasshouse) and that has provoked into flowering. cheers Darrel
  74. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, They look absolutely phenomenal. It is always difficult to know with splitting and or repotting with orchids. I divided into four sections, one bit is doing well (flowering today) but the other three are still lingering somewhere between life and death. cheers Darrel
  75. dw1305

    Expensive pot plant

    Hi all, It was explained to me as: Not selling a product for what it cost to produce, plus a profit margin, but selling it for what <"the market would stand">. If you sold the trees cheaply it undermined both their value and the value of the brand. I believe the manufacturers of...
  76. dw1305

    Expensive pot plant

    Hi all, Same business practice when I worked on a <"large commercial nursery in the 1980s">. We must have destroyed 7 out of 10 of the plants we produced. cheers Darrel
  77. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, The purple flowering one is a <"Dendrobium kingianum"> cultivar. They usually flower late Winter / Early Spring for me. The other one is the "Gooseberry Orchid" Coelogyne cristata, which should flower about the same time. I have eventually <"re-potted mine">, and it is still sulking...
  78. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, Yes, that looks a <"likely ID">. I really like these x Cambria type orchids. cheers Darrel
  79. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, I should have said that it is absolutely gorgeous, whatever it might be. cheers Darrel
  80. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, That one looks nearer, with ruffled upper petals. cheers Darrel
  81. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, It might be <"Brassolaeliocattleya Greenwich "Elmhurst">. cheers Darrel
  82. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Snails for me and the large <"Lupin Aphids">. cheers Darrel
  83. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I think Google is probably mistaken. cheers Darrel
  84. dw1305

    Show your orchids!

    Hi all, Another non-orchid (and a <"serial appearer"> in this thread), but our bathroom "Amazon Lily" (Eucharis "grandiflora") has decided that autumn has come early in 2021. cheers Darrel
  85. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Probably because it was an Oak (Q. cerris), they famously transplant really poorly, even when they are small. When I worked on the nursery (on the open ground), digging up trees in the winter they were one of the few deciduous trees which <"were always root balled">. cheers Darrel
  86. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Box (Buxus sempervirens)? cheers Darrel
  87. dw1305

    Garden lights shorting out - Ants

    Hi all, I live near the top of a <"hollow limestone hill">, but I still worry about flooding. I grew up on the edge of the Wye valley, and even though the river is about six miles away, you could see the <"flood at Letton"> in the winter. cheers Darrel
  88. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Yes, it is another Volucella sp. <"Volucella zonaria">. cheers Darrel
  89. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I think the first one (on the Agapanthus) might be Eupeodes bucculatus, which is <"rare in the UK"> I'm pretty sure that is right. cheers Darrel
  90. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, This is my offering, Eryngium giganteum. My wife isn't keen on it, as its bit spiky when you get out of the car. cheers Darrel
  91. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, They are all a good as a "popular science" books. He is an academic at <"University of Sussex">. cheers Darrel
  92. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Brilliant. I have <"Buddleia x weyeriana">, but not B. globosa. I've just bought Dave Goulson's new book <"Gardening for Bumblebees">, well worth a read. cheers Darrel
  93. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, I've never tried it. I first noticed it, as a wild plant, about ten years ago in the cutting of the rail track (just NE of the <"Box tunnel">). I was quite surprised because it had been a rare plant and very much associated with warm places (S. coast and urban heat islands) in the UK...
  94. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Pilosella caespitosa sounds likely, the only real difference would be flower colour. I love Flax (L. perenne), but it has never persisted in the garden. This is Salsify* and my Hieracium. * Apologies for the slippers. cheers Darrel
  95. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, The yellow ones are really tricky to identify. There is Hieracium (maculatum) spilophaeum growing in the verge outside of a house just down the road, and at some point I'll liberate one, but after that you are really struggling for a <"definitive name">. I've got an unidentified...
  96. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, On the edge of the gravel? It is Pilosella (Hieracium) aurantiaca ("Fox and cubs"), it is <"incredibly invasive"> but easy to pull out of the gravel and popular with Bees. cheers Darrel
  97. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Strangely the garden started to improve when I stopped "gardening" as such, and basically just went to a policy of minimalist intervention and growing the things that want to grow, rather than growing the things I want to grow. I now plant very little in the way of new plants, and I...
  98. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Mainly purple for me as well. The genuine wild plant is purple. Once or twice I've had pastel bicolour ones appear, but not as nice as @jamila169 plant. The garden is looking a bit flowerier now Cheers Darrel
  99. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, Rewilding is very <"on point at the moment">. cheers Darrel
  100. dw1305

    Get your garden out

    Hi all, The wet weather has made everything grow, just need some sun now to bring the flowers out. Cheers Darrel
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