GREEN THUMB SUNDAY - DEVIL'S WITH HORNS

As I've complained about these little garden devils so much this year I thought I may as well do a post about them. They do make good photographic subjects as they don't move very quickly.

Snails belong to a group of organisms known as Gastropods, which means 'stomach foot'.Common snails have pale grey moist skin. Because of their moist skin, common snails are most active in damp weather and at night.

At the front end are four tentacles, the shorter two are for feeling and the longer pair are eye stalks. The shell of these snails is light brown with darker brown bands following the spiral of the shell. The shell colouration varies in its intensity from pale yellow to almost black.

They are herbivores and feed on decaying vegetation, algae, fungi, lichens and garden plants. Common snails have a symbiotic bacteria in their crop that enables them to digest cellulose - they have been known to feed on damp paper and cardboard.

When conditions become too dry, the snail will retreat into its shell and seal the entrance with a parchment-like barrier known as an epiphragm. Snails can often be found in this state under rocks in gardens or on a wall in a sheltered corner. When sealed away like this the snail goes into a state of suspended animation and can survive for several months without water.
Common snails feed by scraping a ribbon-like tongue covered in horny teeth called a radula, over their food. This allows them to scrape algae and lichen from the surface of rocks and walls. You can sometimes see the trails they leave behind as they eat their way through the algae on a damp wall.

Common snails, like all land snails, are hermaphrodites. Despite this they still need to find another snail to mate with. When two snails meet during the breeding season (late spring or early summer), mating is initiated by one snail piercing the skin of the other snail with a calcified 'love dart'. The exact purpose of the 'love dart' is not fully understood but it seems to stimulate the other snail into exchanging small packets of sperm. After mating is complete the snails will produce eggs internally, which are fertilised by the sperm that has been exchanged. Eggs are then usually laid in clusters (each containing up to 100 white eggs) into the soil or under rocks. If the conditions remain suitable for the eggs, snails will begin to hatch after about 14 days. Newly hatched snails have a small fragile shell and it takes two years for them to reach maturity.

The gypsies believe that the "Earth-fairies" are the foes of every kind of worm and creeping insect with the exception of the snail, which they therefore call the earthy-horse. English gypsies, and the English peasantry, as well as gypsies, call snails "cattle", because they have horns. A girl can win love from a man by inducing him to carry a snail shell which she has had for some time about her person. To present a snail shell is to make a very direct but not very delicate declaration of love to any one. When I think of the number of snail shells in my garden I guess my garden loves me!

green thumb sunday

RUTH'S SHOOTS

If you like to cut flowers from your garden and bring them indoors you may have problems with these......

pollen beetles! This photo is of some on one of my Arum Lily flowers. If after you've cut them you put them in some water and stand them in a dark place (like a garage) for an hour or so and allow just a chink of light to come in...the beetles will all fly towards the light and leave your blooms pest free. ...then you can bring them into the house.

A LONG WALK TO TOWN

As our River walk access is being closed for 10 days I thought I'd better take advantage of it when I went to town to return my audio book to the library. I was prepared that after all the rain it would be terribly muddy but some of the boggiest parts have been filled in with sand since my last walk...HURRAH!

The only problem with walking to town this way is takes so long!!!!...not because the distance is any longer than by using the pavement...it's just I'm stooping every few yards to take photos!!! Here are just a few.................

Oh...senior moment coming up here.......the audiobook I was returning...the whole reason for me going to town......I FORGOT TO PUT IT IN MY BAG!!!!!...oh well; I had a nice walk anyway...

Congratulations to Chris Beardshaw on winning a Tudor Rose Award at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show for his garden "The Growing Schools Garden - learning outside the classroom". Chris had worked with children of all ages from more than 30 schools. As well as providing inspiration, they have designed and made many of the garden’s features and grown some of its plants. It is delightful to see children taking such an interest in gardening and Alton Infant School won Best Small Garden for there entry "Learning to Look After Our World". For more information visit the RHS Hampton Court Web Site.

I'm having problems with my pond this year; the water is like pea soup, usually by this time of year it is crystal clear. It doesn't help much that the fish have eaten all the oxygenating weed I had and I can't get any locally.....and now the pond pump has packed up! I spent a delightful 2 hours in the pouring rain yesterday trying in vain to get it to work but I think it's had its day. It's going to be quite a job replacing it this time of year when the garden is so full of plants as the cable is buried. Hopefully the fish will be ok.....actually I hope I'm ok! after having my hands in the murky depths and then hearing on the news that dog walkers have been warned to keep their pets on leads when walking in lower Colchester Castle Park. It seems a blue green algae was discovered in the boating lake. The Environment Agency visited Castle Park on 3 July and confirmed that the algae which had appeared overnight in the boating lake was of the blue green variety which occurs naturally in river water, particularly during warm damp weather and low light levels. Although not known to be harmful to ducks and other wild fowl, blue green algae can be harmful if swallowed by dogs and humans. It can also cause a rash or irritation if it comes into contact with the skin or eyes and therefore park visitors and pets should avoid coming into contact with the algae and the water in the boating lake. I'm sure my pond water is green rather than blue green .............and I've not experienced any itching.

This morning I'm off to help with the School Sports Day; more heavy rain last night but sunshine this morning so hopefully it won't be called off. The teacher of the class I've been helping has been so sweet and sent me thank you notes each time I've helped.

I MEANT TO BLOG THAT!

Every Saturday night I try and sort out the countless photos I've taken during the week and often come across a few that I'd meant to post but either slipped through the net or were just to blurred to see clearly. With Leanne and the kids staying plus the fact it had been an emotional weekend I didn't get around to doing it till I got up this morning. As I'd nothing specific to post today I thought I'd let last weeks forgotten few have their 5 minutes of glory.

A few damsels

Lily pads on the river
Windswept Poppy....Bobby Charlton comb over style?

back to back Frog & Hedgehog!

Not the greatest photos...but this Hornet was massive and I didn't intend getting too close!

Cute baby bird in the park
and a cute albino chipmunk

Beautiful Canna leaf

Pelargonium in it's 4th year...a cutting brought home by Mick
Reflection of the garden in a water droplet
Quaking Grass
Don't bees have hairy legs!



This one wasn't a "forgotten" photo...it's last night's sunset

Just had a lovely surprise; Shaz at Us Danes & Our Family has given me one of their awards! What a great start to an otherwise gloomy, rainy Monday morning. Thanks!!!! I shall wear it with pride.

SLUGS, SNAILS AND POPPY, FROG TALES

It's that time of year again...

the Rhododendrons need deadheading......we've had a full 6 weeks of superb flowers but now they are looking quite bedraggled. It's a long job and I normally do a few a day over the course of a week. I know some gardeners don't bother to do it but we always have. Our soil is not naturally acidic so it's also the start of the feeding regime. Every fortnight now until the beginning of August I'll give them an acid feed...both directly into the soil and also foliar; Mick heard once that if you feed them too long after August the buds can turn to growth buds rather than flower buds.....as he was the Rhody King around here I'm not going to mess with his way of doing it. Then in the Autumn and Spring a potash feed and a mulch with cocoa shells.

Although our garden is small we still have our fair share of problem areas....caused most by the North facing aspect and complete lack of sunlight in some parts. One of these areas is behind the Red Rhody ......

the Rhody leans out towards the light and there's this SPACE that looks so bare. I've tried sowing seed or small shade tolerant plants there but nothing works.....a few inches to the left a fern happily thrives; I tried the same type of fern in this area but it failed miserably. What a difference a few inches can make!..........(Did I hear a few sniggers then...LOL)
The bare bit of fence really niggles me....even ivy doesn't seem to want to cover it......
so as a last resort I've hung a basket on the fence filled with some left over fuchsia cuttings, some morning glory seedlings I had left and a couple of begonias. I'm hoping that the fact that it's high off the ground means it may get enough light to do something!...only time will tell...I guess I should say "WATCH THIS SPACE!"........
Another problem we have a lot of is slugs and snails......I was hoping that as it had been a dry winter that the problem may be less this year......but I think the whole of the mollusc population has descended on our garden....................why I try to grow Hostas I don't know...it's a waste of time really....it's as though there's a sign saying "SLUG CAFE THIS WAY" pointing towards them. I think I've tried every possible organic and chemical solution there is.......they even climb the walls to get to the hanging baskets! Some seem to have very weird tastes....I'd planted my Hestia Runner beans in a tub with a few lettuce as a catch crop.....well look....they're eating the bean leaves and leaving the lettuce!!!

I've also had to say a sad farewell to the annual poppies that were smashed down in the torrential rain a few weeks back......I was hoping they'd pick themselves up with all the sunshine lately...or at least flower before I ripped them out.....they had to go though.....I was at risk of losing 3 roses, an hardy fuchsia and an agapanthus which were being smothered by them and I'm not losing perennials for the sake of a few annuals.it's left a bit of a gap (do you like my kneeler...Mick made me that many years ago)....but I've a few busy lizzies left which can go in there just for a bit of colour this year. I've some phlox root cuttings growing that I may try in there next year....I'm worried about the light levels for them though as the Open Arms rose throws a lot of shade over the area.
I remembered to photograph the Poppy flower I'd been watching ................
and the Peony flowers are looking beautiful.....they have a slight scent of Germolene!
I didn't see any butterflies or dragon flies in the garden today....very unusual....perhaps they've taken fright of the crazy woman who lives here and cavorts around with camera in hand......the frogs don't seem to mind though...they're always happy to pose.
It sounds as though we are in for a lot of rain this week; after hearing the news about the horrendous weather there has been in New South Wales I must try not to complain too much.

DOWN ON THE FARM

As much as we gardeners complain about the pests in our gardens you can't help but admire their initiative and dedication as they fight for survival. On Friday (before it started raining continuously!) I was sitting in the garden watching some ants climbing the stalk of one of my plants carrying a small aphid. I realised that there was some ant farming going on and watched fascinated. Aphids are good at sucking sap out of plants. In fact, they're so good at it that they often suck out more than they can digest. The extra juice is secreted out the back of the aphid, where an ant can milk it like a farmer milking a cow. This is a symbiotic relationship, and in exchange for the nutritious juice (honeydew) the ants protect their aphid flocks from predators. Some species even bring the aphids' eggs into the safety of their own nest, and feed the aphid young until they are ready for grazing. As excess honeydew dripping on leaves can cause sooty mould on many ornamental plants maybe the ants are doing us a favour????

POTS AND TANS

The weather today has been superb; more like Summer than Spring and I had the most wonderful peaceful, pottering day. It was beautifully warm and I know I've caught the sun...quite a nice tan building up! The top end of the garden is starting to look like a garden centre...and of course some plants have yet to germinate!!!So much is waiting to be planted out once I feel the risk of frost is past...I really have more plants than space so I'm hoping that Talj and Lynn will take some of the extras off my hands. I must admit that a few I have already put into the soil...I just needed to find more space and the soil was where the space was. The baskets and troughs I'll keep an eye on and whisk them in depending on the forecast....no problems tonight though! The one thing we do need is rain...many pots are really dry and I've had to water them a few times. Sometimes it can be hard to water a really dry pot as the water just pours through...you'll find a tip about that on my Ruth's Shoots blog.

I'm really happy with the Aquilegia so far...the seed themselves about and you never know quite what will pop up.

The caterpillar from yesterday has now made his way onto the Iris
and I spotted quite a few of the dreaded Lily Beetle; this one posed quite nicely before he was DIS-posed

On the subject of pests; I've also found a couple of Vine Weevils in the house so be alert!!!

At one point a lovely Damselfly came to sit next to me; typically I'd just take my camera indoors and it was gone again before I could take a photograph. This butterfly did wait around for a while. I've never seen one like this before in our garden.......does anyone know what it is?????

The flowers of the Pixie Clematis are so "ickle" and very pretty. I understand it's not reliably hardy so I must remember to take care of it during the winter.
When I was pinching out the Fuchsias I decided to pop a few of the pinchings into a pot.....if they strike I'll have a few to give away.

They say we may have some rain in the next couple of days; the garden will love that!....and it did cloud over a little at the very end of the afternoon but not enough to prevent me seeing this beautiful sunset.