Today Post::Breaking news: The invasion

Okay, so maybe I’m being just a little bit over dramatic but I rarely get the opportunity.


When I got to the office today I found this little creature, beautiful as it is, attached to my leg.  I removed it and then it occurred to me.  Could this be a Harlequin Ladybird, Hamonia axyridis?  It was most definitely an unusual specimen.  The number of spots were more numerous than others I’ve come across.

With a little research I had eliminated our native ladybirds and had convinced myself that it is in fact a Harlequin.  So, what do you think?


For more information on Harlequin Ladybirds click here.  I have reported my sighting to the U.K. Ladybird Survey and urge you to do the same so that we can monitor the spread of such invasive species and also populations of our native species.

Today Post::rows of fall crops

When Skippy and I visited Waltham Fields, we walked through the CSA fields as well as the community plots and experimental station. These are photos of the CSA fields. Rows and rows of colors and textures. The last crops, enjoying the late fall sun.

Local farms are finishing up their seasons now. Last crops are roots (carrots, potatoes, parsnips) and hardy greens (cabbage, cauliflower, escarole and kale). Lots of collards too - a southern green, often grown in very warm areas because it resists bolting. Similar to cabbage, but a loose head, great big leafy leaves and mild flavor. I’m trying to grow some, but planted too late this year. A challenge for next year.

The heads of lettuce are fantastic at this farm! Beautiful. I enjoy walking through a field and seeing the such an abundance of expertly grown crops. One of two beautiful heads in a home plot, but here rows and rows!

Today Post::botany of desire - on PBS yesterday

I set the time and date on my calendar. And it was a great show.

I read the book “Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollan, a while ago. A very good read. And the show on PBS was very good also. Lots of exciting information and footage - for a gardening fanatic anyway.

I wrote down a few things that struck me:

“What are the chances that we’d have the same sense of beauty as a bee? Smell, color, symmetry…” Definitely true. Also taste. Not much that’s better than honey!

On tulips: “Flowers are exquisitely useless.” Now there’s a non-bee speaking. And someone who don’t need the pleasure of beauty.

I did like to hear potatoes described as “exciting”.

The Irish potato famine of 1740, caused by Late Blight spreading rapidly in Irish fields planted almost exclusively with a single variety, lasted 3 years. I hope our Late Blight episode in New England is more short-lived. And hopefully it won’t spread outside of New England. I didn’t know that the most popular variety in the US is the Russet Burbank, the variety McDonald’s prefers. Its planted almost exclusively in Idaho’s fields. The big tubers with very high sugar content make long perfect fries. Next year, I’m looking forward to trying some blue varieties. Its exciting to hear about the biodiversity of potato fields in Peru.

Today Post::My Australian Adventure: The Final Installment

Yes, you can breathe a sigh of relief as this is the final post in my Australian series.  It’s been great to blog about some of the sights I have seen and the garden’s I have visited.  Saying that it has been incredibly difficult leaving pictures out and deciding what to blog on as most pictures could become a blog in their own right.

This installment, The Final Installment, continues on from the post entitled: My Australian Adventure: Sydney Botanical Gardens.  The above image was taken in a formal area within the gardens which was to the side of the Rose garden.  I find Rose garden’s to be quite dull as they don’t really capture my imagination, or display any originality.  However, I do find the formality of this section quite pleasing and appreciate the modern elements within a space originating from a by gone era.

Within the Botanical garden’s I came across a man carving aboriginal images in to the trunk of a recently felled  tree.

The images were painted on the trunk and the artist was chipping away around them at an incredible pace.  It appeared as though this feature, not too far from the water front, was to become a very interesting feature of the garden’s, albeit a transitory one as the wood is sure to rot over time.

I watched the artist for a while, mesmerised by the skill and precision he displayed, only to be dragged away to watch a middle aged woman acting as a perch for over six Cockatoo’s.  How I regret not taking that picture!

Moving on from the Botanical Garden’s  I was surprised, when out walking, to come across a flock of Ibis.

My experience of Ibis is contained to Zoo’s and other captive environments where they are considered important and rare.  It was interesting, however, to discover that these birds, although once considered rare in urban settings, are now verging on being classed as pests.

Lizards also featured highly on my trip.  

Lizards could be seen everywhere and I even encountered one straddling a wall.  Very strange indeed.

These Lizards were pictured, having a chat, in the Chinese Garden of Friendship.    Although I was pleased to find some of the native species I was very disappointed not to stumble upon any native Spider species.  From the abundance of Lizard species I would imagine they are having an Arachnid appetiser every now and again.

Green roofs were spotted regularly throughout the city.  This was one of my favourite buildings.  

A little quirky and completely dwarfed by it’s surroundings the roof top garden appeared to house a series of trees.  How did they get there? And, what are they planted in?  I would have loved to visit the roof top to find out the answers to these questions  and to find out exactly what else the garden contained, if in fact it did contain other plants.

In general Sydney appeared to be an extremely green city, by green I mean leafy not environmentally friendly, although I’m sure they are that too.  Sydney houses many parks, gardens; both public and private, and municipal planting schemes which out do anything in my local area.

When out and about in Chinatown I came across a dead tree that had been utilised in spectacular fashion.

The tree had been transformed in to a beautiful piece of art, rather than reduced to firewood as would be the inclination of our local council.

The tree, painted with gold paint, is named ‘Golden Water Mouth’ and is thought to signify good luck within the Chinese community.

I absolutely loved this piece of art and the fantastic use made of the dead tree.

While we’re on the subject of art I thought I would share with you this water feature situated within the notorious Kings Cross area of Sydney.  

The El Alamein Fountain was commisioned as a memorial to soldiers who died in 1942 during  WWII, more specifically in two battles at El Alamein, Egypt.

The sculpture was designed in 1961 by a New Zealander, Robert Woodward.

I think I liked it due to it’s botanical influence.  Although Dandelion’s are not a favourite of mine their seed heads are undeniably beautiful.

My Australian Adventure has been one I will remember for many years to come.  I have visited so many amazing places in Sydney, not all detailed here as I have tried to keep this blog as garden related as possible, and I will treasure each memory.

Most people ask me if I would make the mammoth journey again and I always answer ‘Yes’.  Come to think of it I would visit in a flash.

To appreciate the amazing continent, and do it justice, you have to spend a great deal of time there and absorb it.  I would love to have the time, and lets not forget the money, to visit a larger proportion of Australia to experience the vast array of life, degree of contrast and culture of this beautiful and captivating continent.

Today Post::garden surprise - a saffron crocus blossom

What a surprise in the back garden today! A stunning saffron crocus. I planted a few of these fall blooming bulbs many years ago and they never fail to startle me. The stamens are an unreal intense piercing orange. A color all of its own. And the blue petals are so gentle in contrast. Soft and quiet with a fine pattern. And all this on the background of dry rustling and fall leaves. I sat and watched with my coffee cup for quite some time.

Here’s where I got this: McClure & Zimmerman, crocus sativus

Today Post::the search for the prettiest leaf

Today Post::bright fall cosmos

It seems that cosmos are the latest spots of color in the garden this year. My marigolds and zinnias are long gone. These cosmos are at the Cambridge community garden I visited yesterday. I like the bold magenta tones.

Today Post::Where the plains meet the mountains

An end to some extensive travelling in the US in Colorado, visiting Lauren Springer and Scott Ogden, consummate plantspeople both, with an immensely richly planted and very naturalistic style garden in the burbs of Fort Collins. Its odd looking at the planting here, as it is such a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar - basically the kind of grass/deciduous/conifer type planting you might see anywhere in northern Europe or much of the US, but with added cacti and agaves.

Its dry here, and although it can jolly cold in the winter and hot in the summer, the reduced moisture level means that it is possible to grow a whole range of plants which would rot in a damper area. Not just possible, but essential, as it is so dry that very little would survive without some irrigation during the growing season.

The Great Plains begin, here - utterly desolate (on a cold day with snow threatening), almost frightening in their emptiness and vastness. No-one seems to want to live here anymore, hardly surprising, and their are deserted houses, whole little townships virtually derelict (including Hereford!), and occasional little cemetries with no sign of any habitation in sight. The short-grass prairie is not much to look at at this time, but instructive to see the visual importance of yuccas, indeed you never feel far from a yucca over vast swathes of the American west.

Short grass prairie at Pawnee Buttes is not that inspiring at this time of year, but there are plenty of flowers May to June.

This is actually quite a nice climate to live in, especially as summer nights are always cool, which Scott thinks is very beneficial to plant growth. Light intensity is incredibly high here (at 1500m in very dry air) so bulbs can perform spectacularly from late winter onwards. The skiing in Boulder where the Rockies begin so dramatically is a pull too, so there are a lot of people living here now - and its seems to be becoming one of those points of good gardening you find in the States; Lauren probably has a lot to do with this, but fundamentally it probably comes down to Panayoti Kelaides, at the Denver Botanic Gardens, a name I have known for years. So nice to meet him at last, for his reputation is truly formidable; an expert on alpine flora, and on natives of the region, and on getting them into cultivation.

So is this just vicarious enjoyment of an exotic garden style? Or can I take something home from here. Probably not me personally, from soggy Herefordshire, but the drought-tolerant look and lessons are a great inspiration for drier parts of the country. It is also useful to see an extreme version of a situation you are familiar with - it somehow emphasises new possibilities and ways of thinking.

Lauren and Scott’s book Plant Driven Design, was published by Timber Press earlier this year, and was one of 2009’s best garden books.

Today Post::Roll on November ...

This was the week that the temperature dropped 10°C overnight. Last Sunday I went to the garden centre wearing only a T-shirt (well, no - I had trousers on too, but you know what I mean…) Today I’m sitting at home with the heating on and I’ve still had to put on a long sleeved jumper (that’s a sweater for anyone who lives west of County Kerry).

It started with two days of heavy winds. Wind is unusual in Milan, but very welcome - it blows away the pall of smog that usually envelops the city. And last week, the Foehn was blowing.

Now, I’m sure I’ve posted about the Foehn before - but I can’t for the life of me find the post. Was it one I started and then deleted? Who knows. But apologies if you’ve read this before.

The Foehn is a wind which occurs around a mountain range. It has different names in different countries - the Helm wind in the UK, the Chinook in the US and Canada, the Bergwind in South Africa - and many, many more. Don’t ask me to explain the details - it’s something about the “different adiabatic lapse rates of moist and dry air.” Yeah, well - perhaps that’s why I deleted the post …

It’s a strong, gusty wind which in Milan usually brings down branches from trees and often the trees themselves. But it’s a warm wind - when the Foehn blows the temperature usually rises.

So it was even more of a shock to wake up at five the next morning, freezing to death. The temperature had plummeted overnight, and the single blanket that we’d been using just wasn’t enough any more.

The rest of the week has been a constant rush to catch up. Winter clothes have come out of the cupboards, plants have come in from the balcony (yes, don’t worry - I’ll get back to the plants in a minute), and on trips to the supermarket I’m no longer stocking up with salad but with beans, lentils, and other stuff for good hearty soups and casseroles.

The plants on the balcony don’t like it any more than we do. The photos above are from ten days ago - the plumbago was still in full bloom, the sunflower was developing a good crop of seed heads and the petunias and marigolds were appreciating the cooler weather and looking better than they had in August. Now they’re looking considerably shell shocked.

This is the sunflower today. I’ll spare you the others - this is a family blog.

And ever the optimist in the garden, in the last few weeks, with temperatures around 20°C - that’s 68°F - I was still doing some late sowing. Now with temperatures around 10°C/50°F, I suspect I was wasting my time.

But every season has its advantages and as one set of plants dies, another always takes over. Look at that photo of the sunflower again. See the chrysanths behind it? And see how many buds? Roll on November …