Pollination of Crocus by Insects

Pollination of Crocus by Insects

Pollination crocus
Insects play a key role in pollination and plants reward them with pollen and nectar in a symbiotic process.

Pollination
Children can learn from watching bees buzz around the open flowers on a warm spring day.
The sun encourages the crocus flowers to open. This releases a scent that attracts the bees. The bees drink the nectar and get pollen on their legs and backs. When they fly off to the next flower they transfer some pollen from the first flower to the second flower and this causes pollination.

Pollen on Bee

Some flowers are pollinated by beetles rather than bees and flies.

Book Cover
How Pollination Works and Why Insects are So Important The First Flowers A book explaining how pollination works as a light and funny children’s story available from Amazon at £9.99

At the other end of the educational spectrum is Pollination and Floral Ecology by Pat Willmer costing around £61.75

Book Cover

Read Pollinators for Green Gardening

New for Ponds or Renovated Ponds

New for Ponds or Renovated Ponds

I may be behind the times but here are some new, or new to me, ideas to enhance your garden pond this summer.

New Pond Design

‘Islandscapes’ and Floating Planters

‘The Next Big Wave In Ponds’ (Oh please) ‘enhance the beauty and biological health of ponds, providing innovative filtration and a lush growing environment for terrestrial plants. lslandscapes offer food and fun for fish, frogs and other wildlife’ according to the blurb on Freedomponds.com
Velda do several floating planters made in covered styrofoam.


Ecopond Tadpole Food

I have to admit to never thinking of feeding tadpoles but if I did here is the answer. Ecopond Tadpole Food provides the nutrition that tadpoles need up to the point where they develop back legs (4-6 weeks after free swimming begins). See also frogspawn tips on Gardeners Tips

Preformed Ponds

Pond

Rubberised or rigid plastic ponds are one of the easiest methods of creating a new pond. I bought one in a kidney shape with 3 different depths created by shelves. It saved a lot of hard work once I had dug an appropriate hole!
In one garden I saw such a preformed pond raised up rather than buried and think that is a creative idea if you can support the weight of water.

Pond Liners

Now you can cover black PVC liners with a stone coating. This makes the black edge of a pond look natural with a pebble or stone finish. Sold in various widths it could be used to finish off a butyl lined pond or as a run off into your garden proper. The brand I have seen is Oase Stone Liner.

All these products are available from the links above or a specialist like Bradshaws of York. Amazon supply the preformed ponds.

Pond Renovation

  1. As winter approaches all ponds need a bit of tlc to see them through the winter.
  2. If removing dead leaves and waste from the bottom of the pond leave the sludge on the edge so any small creatures can crawl back into the water.
  3. Repair leaks to prevent having to regularly top up the water. Evaporation is unavoidable so you may want to think of easy top-up methods.
  4. Create ways of stopping leaves dropping into the pond. Nets are unsightly unless semi submerged. Barrier hedges of box to stop prevailing winds may help.
  5. Make edges safe and secure. Reinforce and renew if necessary any childproof measures.

Read more on Preformed Pond Shapes including installation tips.

10 Green Gardening Habits

10 Green Gardening Habits

 

Green Green it\'s Green they Say

Get into Green Habits

  1. Work with nature. Grow native plants which will thrive in your local conditions. If you live in an arid area choose plants which are tolerant of draught. Labouring in a garden is healthy, satisfying, cheap and can be fine tuned to your own vision of your environment.
  2. Grow a good variety of plants including, shrubs and hedges for nesting, nectar plants and caterpillar food such as nettles.
  3. Do not be too tidy under hedges, keep a rough area to encourage wild life, keep a pile of logs or branches to rot down and an uncut grass area with a few weeds.
  4. Put up home made birds nesting boxes, bee nests with hollow tubes, and make areas safe from predators.
  5. Provide appropriate food and water for birds and hedgehogs. Birds and hedgehogs can be great eaters of slugs!
  6. Reuse, recycle, repurpose and retry if you fail, because that is what gardeners do. Don’t worry if your garden is not perfection – it is not a finished painting, but, an evolving organism.
  7. Have a fast compost bin for soft waste and a slow one for twigs and harder matter plus a wire frame for leaf mould. Compost provides one of the best organic soil improvers.
  8. Try growing your own herbs and vegetables without chemicals but using complementary planting.e.g. Tomatoes and French marigolds, Brassicas with Onions and Leeks
  9. Keep your greenhouse unheated but insulate tender plants with straw. You will be less encouraged to buy imported plants from exotic regions and will save fuel.
  10. Maintain your green sense of humour and green fingers but don’t become green with envy when your neighbours buy the latest Chinese electronic gardening gizmo.
The Perfect Rose

The Perfect Rose

Rose

When Roses are in full bloom I can’t resist taking photos of them. With this rose I tried putting white paper behind the rose to highlight its colour. The rose below is taken with a dark background but is still satisfactory.

Rose
Rose

It is far from perfect, but, still very nice.
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Super Star Rose of September

Super Star Rose of September

high trees 141a

Super Star is one of my star picks when it comes to late blooming roses.
The petal colour is a luminous vermillion, a reddish orange with some slight veining to add mystery.
Heavily scented, Super Star spreads its perfume on still September evenings.
Super Star is free flowering with a vigorous growth habit that will see it reach 3-4 feet tall.
The buds and double flowers have a high center that opens out as the flower matures.
As a Hybrid Tea rose, Super Star is a good bedding rose that flowers through the season.

high trees 139

Problems and Comments on Super Star

  • One thorn in the side of Super Star is the thorns that catch the unwary.
  • This rose is also prone to mildew.
  • I am trying to grow a cutting from a 15″ length of firm none flowering stem and will update you later.
  • These photographs are all taken from the same robust tree that was accurately pruned to about 12″ from the ground in early spring.
  • The roses sunny position and disposition make for an attractive garden display.

high trees 138b

Propagation of Super Star

  • The rose was bred and named over 50 years ago by Tantau (1960).
  • The parents were a (Seedling x Peace) x (Seedling x Alpine Glow)
  • Initially raised from seed, The stock was then increased by budding and later cuttings.
  • Modern propagation techniques and vigour of the plant have speeded up the process.
  • Super Star has taken many of the attributes of Peace Rose and the colour from Alpine Glow

high trees 142

Is sponsorship moving in on the naming of the rose?
‘Tropicana rose bush, one of the beautiful orange roses, previously called “Super Star”, is also available as a climbing rose. The ‘Tropican’s gorgeous blooms are shades of orange, vermillion and coral.’ according to Rose Gardening Made Easy

Combine Columbine and Honeysuckle

Combine Columbine and Honeysuckle

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I like this combination of Aquilegia and Honeysuckle. The lobed leaves offset the spiky flowers.

The Aquilegia is flowering with light purple almost lilac, open blossoms with darker spurs surrounding bright yellow stamen.
The Honeysuckle is yet to get into flower but young buds are just forming at the end of the twisting stems.

Honeysuckles
honeysuckle

  • Honeysuckles, part of the Lonicera family, have sweetly-scented, bell-shaped flowers that produce a sweet, edible nectar.
  • Breaking the Honeysuckle’s stem will release a powerful sweet odor.
  • The fruit on honeysuckle are red, blue or black berries containing several seed.
  • There are many Honeysuckle varieties to try but not all are prolific flowerers.

Honeysuckle

Read about Honeysuckle as climbers and Aquilegia Growing

Aquilegia pumilla Alba

Swiss Chard a Vegetable Show Stopper

Swiss Chard a Vegetable Show Stopper

Swiss Chard Traffic Lights

Autumn sunshine sets off the traffic lights in the vegetable plot. A low angle for the rays of sunshine creates an extra opportunity to appreciate this vegetable. I like the leaf texture and think Chard can look so colourful that I will grow some amongst the flowers for next year.

Swiss Chard Varieties

  • Ruby Red has stunning deep veins and can be picked young.
  • Bright Lights is a seed mixture ready within a month.
  • Lucullus with a clean white stem.
  • Bright Yellow as it says on the label
  • Leaf Beet Rhubarb Chard is deep red burgundy coloured.
  • Leaf Beet Bulls Blood is used as a salad leaf.

available from Thompson & Morgan

Eating Swiss Chard

  • Also called Leaf Beet, Swiss Chard is similar to spinach with a slightly bitter flavour.
  • Swiss Chard is pungent and tastes slightly salty.
  • It contains an exceptionally impressive list of health promoting nutrients and is definately one of your five a day.
  • Both the leaves and stalk of chard are edible, although the stems vary in texture with the white ones being the most tender.

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Crocus Buying & Cultivation Tips

Crocus Buying & Cultivation Tips

Croci?

Crocus Cultivation Tips

 

  • Allow foliage to die back. Do not tie foliage because it weakens the bulb and flowers for next year.
  • A little bonemeal in spring will help build up corms and bulbs for next year.
  • Crocus often like a rather heavy but well drained soil. Enrich sandy soil with leafmould.
  • If troubled with mice or squirrels eating corms, place wire netting just below the soil surface.
  • Bring a pot of Crocus into the house when the first buds show and keep in a light cool spot.
  • Allow species crocus to self seed to increase your display in years to come.
  • Suspend black cotton over the buds to stop them being attacked by birds.
  • After the foliage fades Crocus can be lifted and split every 4-5 years to avoid over crowding. Leave them be if they are naturalised under grass.
  • Mulch with garden compost only sparingly 5cm deep.

Types of Crocus

Colchium Autumnale Album

  • Autumn Crocus  flower before the leaves and are also sold as Colchium. If autumn is dry water the corms.
  • Crocus vernalis tend to have larger bulbs and spring blooms.
  • Crocus chrysanthus like sun or light dappled shade and a lighter soil.
  • Species Crocus Tommasinianus, C.sativus, C. angustifolius C. biflorus, C. korolkowii and C. olivieri will grow well under a late leafing shrub.

ledsham crocus

Buying Hints and Advice

  • Buy firm plump bulbs.
  • Avoid bulbs that are in the least bit soft.
  • Avoid bulbs which are already sprouted and showing green.
  • Avoid any bulbs that show signs of fungus, spots, rot or mould.
  • Buy as soon as Crocus become available and plant September-November

crocus

I have just planted 100+ crocus around a new Paperbark Acer and a similar number in a variety of pots and containers. When the containers have flowered the crocus will be fertilised and planted out.

See our other photos
Bulb: A Hand-Picked Selection of the World’s Most Beautiful Bulbs by Anna Pavord is a personal selection and authoritative guide to the most gorgeous bulbs on the earth.
Anna Pavord, world-famous author of “The Tulip”, writes charmingly about her favourite subject from Acis to Zigadenus via Tulip and Crocus.