Gardening

[Tizer]

Maybe it's a problem in Australia but not here in the UK, Cathy. The flowers are an important source of nectar for bees late in the year when fewer other plants are flowering. It also provides cover for many nesting birds. Of course it can be a problem if allowed to grow over a house but that shouldn't be done in the first place. Also there are ivies with lovely variegated leaves and they can make good ground cover.

[Cathy]

Flowers on Ivy ? , never seen that, or bees and birds . The Ivy in my garden comes from a neighbours garden, all
very nice if it can be contained. The runners underground are a good metre long, and can be extended in two or three different directions, and take a lot of strength to pull out. It pops up all over the place and strangles smaller plants in it’s path. It’s invasive and if you haven’t planted it, you don’t want it. OK in pots that can be controlled.

[Tizer]

To get flowers,as shown below, the ivy needs to be a mature shrub. It flowers late in the year and is often covered in bees. It can be a nuisance when the stems force their way fence through the gaps between fence panels and send out runners below the fence into next door's garden. It's best grown away from a fence, or on one that doesn't have a neighbour's garden next door.

[Cathy]

Looks like a Hedera helix genus. I read that it needs to be mature to flower, and maturity may not be reached for 10 years or so, or not at all.
I’ve never come across flowering ivy. Quite a few Ivy’s I looked up said they are a declared pest or weed.
The Ivy I had removed (hopefully for good) was stretching about 6 metres, way too much for a small garden.

Sorry I’ve just read again what you said about maturity.

[Stanley]

That head on the right looks like a virus!

[Tripps]

These are from next door's front garden. thought they were worth a photo. Not sure what they are called, but I think he said the big one was Mrs Someone's Ghost. I'd say they were dramatic - click twice for best effect.. The big bumble bees love them.

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[Stanley]

Striking blossom David, you're right, well worth a pic.

[Tizer]

It's sea holly, Eryngium. There are many different types. A lovely, striking plant and it will grow in poor soil. LINK
This must be to one your neighbour has... Miss Willmott's Ghost

[Tripps]

Thanks for that. I was hoping someone would do the research. I didn't know where to start.

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz confirmed the ID for me straight away, it's one of her favourite plants. Coincidentally we went to the local nursery this afternoon for bags of bark and I saw they had several species on sale. It's native to the UK and seen mostly on shingle beaches and sandy areas. There are several ornamental cultivars now. We like the ones with bright blue flowers. Bees love it too!

[Stanley]

That's noted. Sounds like an ideal candidate for my almost maintenance free front garden.

[Tizer]

I can recommend this unusual version of the snapdragon. It has a different flower shape and flowers for a long time. The bees like them, especially the red flowers. Almost every time I look there's a bumble bee on the red ones!
Antirrhinum majus 'Madame Butterfly' F1 Hybrid, Half-hardy Annual LINK
As they say, available from all good seed sellers!

[Stanley]

My dad was a big fan of Antirrhinums when he took up gardening in later life.

[Tripps]

This is a picture of the offspring of the begonia cutting that I blagged from 'them next door' a while ago. Nearly taking over the kitchen table now. These cuttings were taken in a cold January, and just rooted in water with no real hopes of success.

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[Stanley]

Do they live there permanently?

[Tripps]

Do they live there permanently?

No - They were in the porch, but it's South facing like a mini hot house, and they went all 'Amazon jungle' on me. There are another two or three cuttings waiting to go, but you can have too much of a good thing.

[Stanley]

I thought they might hamper breakfast....

[Tripps]

I thought they might hamper breakfast....

Indeed - but like most I rarely use the table - and I think the candlelight suppers will be a long time off.

I looked up, Angel Wing Begoniasand was disturbed to see that they can exceed six feet high in a season. I'm potting the cuttings today - can't resist something for nothing.

[Stanley]

Hee hee! Triffids!

[Stanley]

I did this pic of my Lilac bush last night. I noticed that some branches have kept greener than others. Two Root stocks?

[Wendyf]

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Amongst other gardening jobs my compost heaps needed attention this week. I have a three year rotation with one active, one rotting down and one ready to use. My active one is full so I had to dig out and spread the well rotted stuff, but look at the worms going to work just under the surface of my fresh heap!

[Stanley]

My midden at Hey Farm was popular with anglers, they said I was the best source of blood-worms in Barlick and evidently they were a favoured bait with the coarse fishermen.
Worms are a vital part of the massive eco-system that supports us and like fungi and insects we don't look after them. See my posts about minerals and micro-nutrients ad infinitum.

[PanBiker]

My midden at Hey Farm was popular with anglers, they said I was the best source of blood-worms in Barlick and evidently they were a favoured bait with the coarse fishermen.

Blood worms don't live in middens they are water borne larvae and found in the mud of ponds, lakes and canals. They feed on the detritus in the mud. Most species are quite small. Yours would be brandlings which are the smaller common digesters found in composts heaps. Bright red with yellow rings also favoured by coarse fishermen. That's me with my anglers hat on.

[Stanley]

I wouldn't argue with you Ian. All I know is that the men who came seeking them called them bloodworms. There were many of them!

[PanBiker]

Blood worm are generally sourced from angling shops that supply bait, usually to order. They are a speciality bait and not everyone supplies them or allows their use on some fisheries. They are reared and farmed similar to maggots (but a different process of course) for the angling community. Keen match fishermen used to source their own and you could see some of them on weekday nights on the canal, sourcing bait for the weekend matches. You use a wide scoop in the silt and mud in the canal margins to collect blood worm. Some match rules ban the use of blood worm as it can give a contestant an unfair advantage. The bait can attract a lot of smaller fish as well which may not survive till the weigh in so quite cruel. Lot's of match rules were changed to only allow the weighing of live fish to discourage the use.

Brandlings are an excellent bait for large Perch and Bream. Better still for the big Perch are wasp grubs, Tench are partial too.

All I can say about the anglers that visited your midden would be that they didn't know their worms. Massaging your ego so that they can keep coming with the best in Barlick accolade. Every composter and midden in Barlick could have the same, my composter bin and Wendy's production line relies on them.