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READING THE TEXT IN RED ON THIS PAGE WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO USE EACH PAGE in my educational website.
THE 2 EUREKA EFFECT PAGES FOR UNDERSTANDING SOIL AND HOW PLANTS INTERACT WITH IT OUT OF 10,000:-
Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines Page for those photo galleries with Photos (of either ones I have taken myself or others which have been loaned only for use on this website from external sources) |
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"LIKE TREE ROOTS IN THE OPEN GROUND IN GARDENS, TREE ROOTS IN PAVEMENTS REQUIRE WATER, AIR, MINERAL AND ORGANIC MATTER WITH A POPULATION OF MICROSCOPIC ANIMALS OR PLANTS. "Water is present as thin films covering the soil particles and is retained most readily by soils containing humus and clay. The moisture that plant roots can absorb is termed available water; that which the soil holds so that plants cannot absorb it, its termed unavailable water (since the concrete pavers above exclude water, after the roots have absorbed all the available water then there is only unavailable water left!!!!). Clay has a greater proportion than sand of unavailable water. More water is conserved in soils whose surface is loose than in those with compact hard surfaces - i.e those under roads and pavements. In the lowest levels of the soil lies the water-table where the soil is completely saturated with water, because it cannot drain away any further. Few plants grown on land can survive with their roots permanently in water. Soil-air contains a larger composition of carbon dioxide and less oxygen than air above ground. All the underground parts of plants require oxygen (since the concrete pavers/concrete/tarmac above exclude air, then once the roots have used up the oxygen there is none left). Mineral matter is formed by the breaking up of the various rocks of which the earth is composed. Many of the mineral salts (carbonates, phosphates and sulphates), which roots absorb from the soil, are dissolved by the soil-water from the mineral particles (since the concrete pavers/concrete/tarmac above exclude water, then the salts in the earth can no longer be dissolved). Organic matter is composed of humus, which is the decaying remains of plants and animals. Where plants are growing in a natural state, their dead aerial remains are constantly being added to the surface of the soil and their dead roots and rhizomes to the soil below the surface (Photo 16 on Solution to tree problems page shows dead leaves on the ground which are pulled into the soil by earthworms, but the concrete pavers/concrete/tarmac exclude access by the soil organisms for them to do their fast-food restaurant work). Humus is colloidal, absorbing water readily and swelling on doing so. Soil organisms include moles, mice, earthworms, beetles, larvae, millipedea and centipedes. Earthworms drag down leaves and other plant remains; eat soil/humus and help to mix the soil and render it more fertile. The food of animals including humans consists of complex substances such as carbohydrates and proteins. Plants, although they require the same foods, differ from animals by making these substances for themselves from simpler substances such as water, carbon dioxide and various salts. Many elements are used in the making of a plant's body, and of those one essential element is nitrogen, which is necessary for the manufacture of proteins and other complex nitrogenous products. Although air consists largely of nitrogen, few plants can make use of the free gas as a source of food. It is in the form of soluble nitrates that plants use nitrogen, and it is from the soil that these are obtained. These soluble nitrates are dissolved and washed out of the soil. The nitrates of the soil are chiefly produced by the decomposition of nitrogenous organic matter such as humus and manure. Most plants are quite unable to use organic material directly, but only when it has undergone certain changes (if no organic material can get access to the following methods, then the 'de-nitrifying' bacteria' will get rid of the remaing nitrate in the soil and there will be nothing for the tree roots:-
A natural source of loss of nitrates from soil is caused by the action of 'de-nitrifying' bacteria, which, in the presence of organic matter and the absence of oxygen, decompose nitrates into free nitrogen." from Plant Ecology bu Hilda Drabble. Published 1937. Solution WHY CANNOT THE HUMAN POPULATION PROVIDE OPEN GROUND ROUND TREES IN PAVEMENTS IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. IF THESE TREES GREW WELL, THEY WOULD PROVIDE MORE FOLIAGE TO PROVIDE MORE OXYGEN FOR US HUMANS TO BREATHE????????????? |
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Photo 1 - tree 86 from pestana promenade to forum roots raising pavement IMG_6007.JPG See photo 5 in Damage to tree Roots in Madeira caused by people Page to show that the calculation for the root area exposed to the air for gaseous exchange, fertiliser and irrigation is considerably less than 0.1%. How this tree grew, I do not know. Photo 2 - tree 86 from pestana promenade to forum view previous road section IMG_6005.JPG Another hole in trunk caused by not dressing the cut stump of a branch that was there. How far down and across the heartwood in this tree does the rot occur? Photo 3 - tree 86 from pestana promenade to forum view previous road section IMG_6006.JPG This tree was pollarded and the watersprouts allowed to grow from the edges of their stumps and then the branches below them were cut off. Why could this tree have been pruned to leave branches to carry on rather than leave stumps? Carefull removal of the concrete pavers and the CORE TRP SYSTEM installed with an irrigation system would make this tree much healthier. It is good to know that this tree did not fall on that couple walking past it, but it could to pedestrians walking past it later depending how much of the width of the trunk is rotted below that hole. |
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Photo 4 - tree 88 from pestana promenade to forum surrounded by pavement IMG_6013.JPG Besides growing its lateral roots between the pavers the tree is actually growing over them as well. It has very little open ground round it. Photo 5 - tree 88 from pestana promenade to forum surrounded by pavement IMG_6014.JPG and 1 of the lateral roots of the same tree has been deflected back by the kerb. The tree is now encroaching on the road. Photo 6 - tree 88 from pestana promenade to forum surrounded by pavement IMG_6013.JPG Is the break between the 2 sections of trunk coloured black some damage to the trunk which is rotting? |
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Photo 7 - tree 81 from pestana promenade with foliage in street lighting wires IMG_5996.JPG The open ground round this new tree is covered with grey shale which prevents the ground from being dried out. Besides that that area of ground also has an irrigation system in it so that this new tree can not only survive but continue to grow. Besides the remainder of the pavement there is space to increase this open ground area to the kerb as the girth of the tree expands, without causing any problems to that new road. |
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Photo 8a - expanded photo of tree 82 from pestana promenade to forum with grass MG_5999.JPG There is even enough irrigation in this section of new trees to keep grass green!! Photo 4 in Hotel/Private Gardens alongside pavements in Funchal, Madeira Page will explain why you should never put lawn grass round trees because the grass takes most if not all the rainfall or irrigation. LOOK AT TREES 82 AND 81 IN PHOTOS 8, 8A AND 7 TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE IN DIAMETER OF TRUNK WHERE TREE 82 HAD GRASS GROWING ROUND IT AND 81 DID NOT. |
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Photo 8 - tree 82 from pestana promenade to forum with grass MG_5999.JPG There is even enough irrigation in this section of new trees to keep grass green!! Photo 4 in Hotel/Private Gardens alongside pavements in Funchal, Madeira Page will explain why you should never put lawn grass round trees because the grass takes most if not all the rainfall or irrigation. Photo 9 - tree 84 from pestana promenade to forum with shrub and raised pavement IMG_6001.JPG and to grow a small shrub with a different new tree. Photo 10 - tree 12 forum end of 2 road junction IMG_6166.JPG Metal edging with grey shale fill in. |
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Photo 11 - tree 14 forum end of 2 road junction IMG_6171.JPG The rectangular metal surround for this tree appears to be too small to contain the lateral roots of this tree. The pavers are being lifted up 2 directions from the tree and the resulting gaps are being filled with grass. |
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If the Happy Worms were put on each side of the tree outside the open ground area devoted to a GREEN MANURE to feed the tree, this might persuade pedestrians not to step on the close roots of this tree. as shown at the bottom of the Death of tree trunks/branches in pavements in Funchal, Madeira caused by people Page. |
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Photo 12 - tree 40 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6300.JPG Concrete edged enclosure for this tree below the Taxi Rank at the Lido. Photo 13 - tree 41 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6301.JPG Same sort of concrete enclosure. I would assume that this the area given to this tree when it was originally planted. The result is that at least 1 if not 2 of the lateral roots have been forced to go round next to the trunk. The same thing happens in a plastic pot when the root growth is more than the pot size is suitable and the roots go round and round the pot. I made this mistake when I planted a Juniperus in my garden. It died 10 years later. When I took it out, I discovered that it's rootball was a solid lump with 3 green-twine-width roots to provide water and nutrients to the tree. This was because the roots had curled round the pot when it was growing and I did not untangle them and so they stayed in position and grew sideways to take all the available space between each other. A common mistake when people plant trees/shrubs. Photo 14 - tree 42 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6302.JPG To get more taxis in the rank, they use the pavement as well causing a lot of damage to the trees. |
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Photo 15 - tree 42 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6302.JPG Note the broken concrete of the enclosure, the damage to trunk by having bodywork of different vehicles squeezing past it plus the damage to the lateral roots by the tyres. I am sure that you would be most happy to put the foot of your 8 year old daughter under the back wheel of a taxi!!! Photo 16 - tree 42 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6303.JPG Another damaged tree. Photo 17 - tree 42 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6303.JPG Detail of part of the damage - the lateral root at the back on the left has had its bark sheared off while the lateral root in the foreground has been worn down. No thought about the local tree life, but park quick and get into conversation with the others!!! |
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Photo 18 - tree 43 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6305.JPG Another 2 damaged lateral roots Photo 19 - tree 44 from pestana promenade by lido taxi rank IMG_6306.JPG Multple damage to the lateral roots of this tree. When women wear brass neck coils then they can elevate their heads as they age. I suspect that if these were removed, then the neck could no longer support the head. |
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Photo 20 - tree 57 from pestana promenade past lido IMG_6354.JPG I have written a section at the top of this page to which this poor tree is a prime example. The tree is surrounded by concrete pavers, concrete kerb and tarmac road. Any access to the ground below via the gaps between the pavers has been sealed by the roots of grass which absorb any rainwater or other water that drains between these cracks. The grass roots are now into the ground below in direct competition with the tree roots. What chance does the roots of this tree have? If the pavers are replaced with the new design then weed-control geotextile fabric can be laid directly under the new pavers and this will eliminate roots of grass from entering the soil and hopefully no grass would then grow since it would insufficient cool roots to provide water over many months before it rains.
Photo 21 tree 58 from pestana promenade past lido roots lifting pavement IMG_6355.JPG
Photo 22 - tree 59 from pestana promenade past lido IMG_6356.JPG |
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Photo 24 - tree 69 from pestana mirimar with holes by information centre view previous road section IMG_6403.JPG Current design for replacement ground area enclosures outside new Savoy Hotel. Photo 25 - tree 69 from pestana mirimar with holes by information centre view previous road section IMG_6403.JPG The newly laid pavement is made using the traditional layout of black and white marble blocks. They used to be embedded in the earth but as you can now see this has been changed to concrete. The feeder roots under this new pavement of this mature tree are now going to be deprived of soil-water and soil-air, which when the existing organic matter has all been eaten by the soil organisms, then those same soil organisms will die out. The soil will return to its mineral content and these trees will fall down as 99.99% of their roots die off (see Root Spread on Death of tree roots in madeira caused by people page for further details). |
Photo 26 - tree 72 from pestana mirimar IMG_6411.JPG Previous style of concrete enclosure edging. The blak and white marble blocks set in the ground has been replaced by concrete to provide temporary access to the building works of the uncompleted Savoy Hotel. This concrete has the same effect as for the tree in Photo 25 with the addition of having concrete mixer lorries providing extra tonnage from their tyres to squash the existing roots under this thin layer of concrete. Photo 27 - tree 73 from pestana mirimar view previous road section IMG_6415.JPG See original black and white marble pavement replaced with temporary tarmac and white concrete, until that would be replaced with the black and white marble blocks bedded in concrete as shown in Photo 24. This replacement will probably occur fairly soon as the Savoy Hotel is due to be finished and opened in Spring 2019. The current trees you can see on the right hand side will be dead within 3 years under that regime and even sooner if no irrigation occurs. |
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Photo 28 - tree 111 from funchal to top of hill ripped off branch IMG_0012.JPG This area of bare ground is in the pavement outside Pestana Mirimar Hotel - this is the only plant in this ground area. Goes to show how small an area of ground can be and the tree is fine. Green Manure covering this ground area would feed that tree. Photo 29 - tree 113 from mirimar to funchal palm tree at mirimar IMG_0014.JPG There is another tree behind this one but this healthy amount of top foliage is great especially when this open ground is on a slope, so if it rains heavily, then some of the rain will flow down to the pavement. The Green Manure would alleviate this problem, together with irrigation. Photo 30 - tree 137 from funchal roundabout to cathedral shreddings round tree base IMG_0093.JPG Photo 31 - tree 142 from funchal roundabout to cathedral larger gridded area IMG_0105.JPG See comments about this steel grid torture system for trees in Irrigation and fertilising of trees in pavements in Funchal, Madeira page. |
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Photo 33 - tree 103 from funchal to top of hill IMG_6077.JPG taken on 29 January 2019. A mature tree where 99.99% of its roots are now covered in tarmac or black marble/ white marble embedded in concrete. Photo 34 - tree 104 from funchal to top of hill IMG_6078.JPG As is the next one up the hill. Photo 35 - tree 105 from funchal to top of hill IMG_6080.JPG The ground round this third tree up the hill is not only walked on, but pedestrians use it to smoke and throw their butt ends onto the ground. Hopefully these but ends do not end up in the dry bark of this tree. |
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Photo 36 - tree 106 from funchal to top of hill new tree with root at ground level IMG_6085.JPG Because there is no protection, you can see the damage done to the roots of this tree by pedestrians and concrete which is now breaking up being laid over these roots as a toxic substance. The haunching of the pavers encircling this new tree does not help either. |
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Photo 37 - tree 110 from funchal to top of hill tree stump IMG_6095.JPG You cannot tell from the stump what this tree died of. The damage to the bark could have been caused when the fell was felled. This stump is splitting and so the heartwood is continuing to dry out. Why has this not been stump-ground out? or is this not the practice? |
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This website is being created by Chris Garnons-Williams of Ivydene Horticultural Services from it's start in 2005. I am requesting free colour photographs of any plants grown in or sold in the United Kingdom to add to the plants in the Plant Photographic Galleries and Butterfly photographs for the Butterfly on Plant Photographic Galleries. |
Site design and content copyright ©April 2007. Page structure amended October 2012. Page structure changed February 2019 for pages concerning Trees in pavements alongside roads in Madeira. Chris Garnons-Williams. DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site. |
It should be remembered that nothing is sold from this educational site, it simply tries to give you the best advice on what to use and where to get it (About Chris Garnons-Williams page details that no payment or commision to or from any donor of photos or adverts I place on the site in the Useful Data or other sections is made to Chris Garnons-Williams or Ivydene Horticultural Services). This website is a hobby and not for direct commercial gain for Ivydene Horticultural Services. There is no Google Adscenes or Search Facility in this website. The information on this site is usually Verdana 14pt text (from December 2023, this is being changed from 14pt to 10pt) and all is in tabular form. This can be downloaded and sorted using WORD or other word-processing software into the order that you personally require, especially for soil subsidence, the Companion Planting Tables and the pages in the Plants section. This would be suitable for use in education as well. I put jokes in at various places to give you a smile. |
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The following is from "Some time around 600 million years ago, green algae began to move out of shallow fresh waters and onto the land. They were the ancestors of all land plants... Today, plants make up to 80% of the mass of all life on Earth and are the base of the food chains that support nearly all terrestrial organisms.... But the algal ancestors of land plants had no roots, no way to store or transport water, and no experience in extracting nutrients from solid ground. How did they manage the fraught passage onto dry land? ... It was only by striking up new relationships with fungi that algae were able to make it onto land. These early alliances evolved into what we now call mycorrhizal relationships. Today, more than 90% of all plant species depend on mycorrhizal fungi. Mycorrhizal associations are the rule not the exception: a more fundamental part of planthood than fruit, flowers, leaves, wood or even roots.... For the relationship to thrive, both plant and fungus must make a good metabolic match. In photosynthesis, plants harvest carbon from the atmosphere and forge the energy-rich carbon compounds - sugars and lipids - on which much of the rest of life depends. By growing within plant roots, mycorrhizal fungi acquire privileged access to these sources of energy: they get fed. However, photosynthesis is not enough to support life. Plants and fungi need more than a source of energy. Water and minerals must be scavenged from the ground - full of textures and micropores, electrically charged cavities and labyrinthine rot-scapes. Fungi are deft rangers in this wilderness and can forage in a way that plants can not. By hosting fungi within their roots, plants gain hugely improved access to these sources of nutrients. They, too, get fed. By partnering, plants gain a prosthetic fungus, and fungi gain a prosthetic plant. Both use the other to extend their reach.... By the time the first roots evolved, the mycorrhizal association was already some 50 million years old. Mycorrhizal fungi are the roots of all subsequent life on land. Today, hundreds of millions of years later, plants have evolved, faster-growing, opportunistic roots that behave more like fungi. But even these roots cannot out-manoeuvre fungi when it comes to exploring the soil. Mycorrhizal hyphae are 50 times finer than the finest roots and can exceeed the length of a plant's roots by as much as a 100 times. Their mycelium makes up between a third and a half of the living mass of soils. The numbers are astronomical. Globally, the total length of mycorrhizal hyphae in the top 10 centimetres (4 inches) of soil is around half the width of our galaxy (4.5 x 10 to the power 17 kilometres versus 9.5 x 10 to the power 17 kilometres). If these hyphae were ironed into a flat sheet, their combined surface area would cover every inch of dry land on Earth 2.5 times over.... In their relationship, plants and mycorrhizal fungi enact a polarity: plant shoots engage with the light and air, while the fungi and plant roots engage with the solid ground. Plants pack up light and carbon dioxide into sugars and lipids. Mycorrhizal fungi unpack nutrients bound up in rock and decomposing material. These are fungi with a dual niche: part of their life happens within the plant, part in the soil. They are stationed at the entry point of carbon into terrestrial life cycles and stitch the atmosphere into relation with the ground. To this day, mycorrhizal fungi help plants cope with drought, heat and many other stresses life on land has presented from the very beginning, as do the symbiotic fungi that crowd into plant leaves and stems. What we call 'plants' are in fact fungi that have evolved to farm algae, and algae that have evolved to farm fungi.... Mycorrhizal fungi can provide up to 80% of a plant's nitrogen, and as much as 100% of its phosphorus. Fungi supply other crucial nutrients to plants, such as zinc and copper. They also supply plants with water, and help them to survive drought as they have done since the earliest days of life on land. In return, plants allocate up to 30% of the carbon they harvest to their mycorrhizal partners.... And yet mycorrhizal fungi do more than feed plants. Some describe them as keystone organisms; others prefer the term 'ecosystem engineers'. Mycorrhizal mycelium is a sticky living seam that holds soil together; remove the fungi, and the ground washes away. Mycorrhizal fungi increase the volume of water that the soil can absorb, reducing the quantity of nutrients leached out of the soil by rainfall by as much as 50%. Of the carbon that is found in soils - which, remarkably, amounts to twice the amount of carbon found in plants and the atmosphere combined - a substantial proportion is bound up in tough organic compounds produced by mycorrhizal fungi. The carbon that floods into the soil through mycorrhizal channels supports intricate food webs. Besides the hundreds or thousands of metres of fungal mycelium in a teaspoon of healthy soil, there are more bacteria, protists, insects and arthropods than the number of humans who have ever lived on Earth. Mycorrhizal fungi can increase the quality of a harvest. They can also increase the ability of crops to compete with weeds and enhance their resistance to diseases by priming plant's immune systems. They can make crops less susceptible to drought and heat, and more resistant to salinity and heavy metals. They even boost the ability of plants to fight off attacks from insect pests by stimulating the production of defensive chemicals... But over the course of the twentieth century, our neglect has led us into trouble. In viewing soils as more or less lifeless places, industrial agricultural practices have ravaged the undergound communities that sustain the life we eat.... A large study published in 2018 suggested that the 'alarming deterioration' of the health of trees across Europe was caused by a disruption of their mycorrhizal relationships, brought about by nitrogen pollution." from Before Roots chapter by Merlin Sheldrake.
"We do know, that this fragile, generative world has been damaged by intensive farming, pollution, deforestation and global heating. A third of the planet's land has been severely degraded and 24 billion tons of fertile soil are destroyed every year through intensive farming, according to the Global Land Outlook. Topsoil is where 95% of the planet's food is grown and is very delicate. It takes more than 100 years to build 5mm of soil, and it can be destroyed shockingly easily. This destruction and degradation of the soil is created by intensive farming practices such as heavy mechanised soil tilling, which loosens and rips away any plant cover, leaving the soil bare. It is also caused by the overgrazing of animals, as well as forest fires and heavy construction work. These factors disturb the soil and leave it exposed to erosion from wind and water, damaging the complicated systems underneath its top layer... We are losing good soil at an estimated 100 times faster rate than we can remake and heal it. The world's soils are thought to store approximately 15 thousand million tonnes of carbon - 3 times as much as all of our planet's terrestrial vegetation combined. Soils hold twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, and when soil disintegrates, the carbon is released. In the last 40 years the soil in the UK's croplands lost 10% of the carbon it could store. In a time of climate crisis, soil's quiet potency, its ability to store carbon safely, is utterly essential to our future survival.... We know that soils are being destroyed, and that with that comes a higher risk of floods, and a more unpredictable and unreliable food and water system. An Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecostem Services report in 2018 told us clearly that land degradationis already putting the welfare of two-fifths of humanity at risk, and that urgent action is needed to avoid further danger. There are many things we can do to protect soils, and the organisms, plants and connections that thrive within them. Actions that can support and heal soil structure include
Such regimes allow soil structure to remain intact, and protect the soil by allowing crop residues to stay on the surface. " from Strange Soil chapter by Rebecca Tamas. |
Due to intensive farming techniques and chemical fertilisers this has occurred:- The BBC has produced an article as to why modern food as lost its nutrients. |
The following about trees in pavements show why when the roots are denied access to air, water and nutrients even the fungi cannot work to support the trees. Pavements of Funchal, Madeira |
The following addition of this mulch improved the clay soil, so that A 150mm deep mulch of mixed peat, sharp washed sand and horticultural grit was applied on top of a heavy clay soil to improve its structure, and stop the plants therein from drowning, at £10 a square metre. The mix was:
The following was then sent to me:-
and the following was sent to me in October 2004:- An unsuccessful planting scheme had left bare areas of garden as plants failed to survive winter in the waterlogged clay soil. The loss of numerous plants and the cost of replacing them had left us disheartened. It was evident that remedial action was need in the form of a mixture of gravel, sand and peat to create an organic loam. Approximately six inches was added in April and left to settle and do its job. By July there was a noticeable difference in the quality of the soil and the plants. Shrubs with sparse, mottled leaves were looking glossy and robust, overall growth had increased (including the weeds!) and the soil was holding its moisture well. But the biggest difference came in the confidence it gave us to transform the garden. The borders used to be a no-go area between May and September as the clay baked and cracked, but the new soil was easy to handle and weeds could be successfully removed. We realised that there are no quick fixes - the key to a healthy garden is rich, nutritous soil. Once our plants began to thrive we were optimistic that, with good advice, we could create a garden to be proud of. |
More Details |
Cultural Needs of Plants "Understanding Fern Needs |
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It is worth remembering that especially with roses that the colour of the petals of the flower may change - The following photos are of Rosa 'Lincolnshire Poacher' which I took on the same day in R.V. Roger's Nursery Field:- |
Closed Bud |
Opening Bud |
Juvenile Flower |
Older Juvenile Flower |
Middle-aged Flower - Flower Colour in Season in its |
Mature Flower |
Juvenile Flower and Dying Flower |
Form of Rose Bush |
There are 720 roses in the Rose Galleries; many of which have the above series of pictures in their respective Rose Description Page. So one might avoid the disappointment that the 2 elephants had when their trunks were entwined instead of them each carrying their trunk using their own trunk, and your disappointment of buying a rose to discover that the colour you bought it for is only the case when it has its juvenile flowers; if you look at all the photos of the roses in the respective Rose Description Page!!!! |
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There are 180 families in the Wildflowers of the UK and they have been split up into 22 Galleries to allow space for up to 100 plants per gallery. Each plant named in each of the Wildflower Family Pages may have a link to:- its Plant Description Page in its Common Name in one of those Wildflower Plant Galleries and it does have links:- to external sites to purchase the plant or seed in its Botanical Name, to see photos in its Flowering Months and to read habitat details in its Habitat Column. |
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Links to external websites like the link to "the Man walking in front of car to warn pedestrians of a horseless vehicle approaching" would be correct when I inserted it after March 2007, but it is possible that those horseless vehicles may now exceed the walking pace of that man and thus that link will currently be br My advice is Google the name on the link and see if you can find the new link. If you sent me an email after clicking Ivydene Horticultural Services text under the Worm Logo on any page, then; as the first after March 2010 you would be the third emailer since 2007, I could then change that link in that 1 of the 15,743 pages. Currently (August 2016). Other websites provide you with cookies - I am sorry but I am too poor to afford them. If I save the pennies from my pension for the next visitor, I am almost certain in March 2023, that I could afford to make that 4th visitor to this website a Never Fail Cake. I would then be able to save for more years for the postage. |
UKButterflies Larval Foodplants website page lists the larval foodplants used by British butterflies. The name of each foodplant links to a Google search. An indication of whether the foodplant is a primary or secondary food source is also given. Please note that the Butterfly you see for only a short time has grown up on plants as an egg, caterpillar and chrysalis for up to 11 months, before becoming a butterfly. If the plants that they live on during that time are removed, or sprayed with herbicide, then you will not see the butterfly. |
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Plants used by the Butterflies follow the Plants used by the Egg, Caterpillar and Chrysalis as stated in |
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Plant Name |
Butterfly Name |
Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly |
Plant Usage |
Plant Usage Months |
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
10 days in May-June |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
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Egg, |
1 egg at base of plant. |
Late August-April |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
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Cabbages - Large White eats all cruciferous plants, such as cabbages, mustard, turnips, radishes, cresses, nasturtiums, wild mignonette and dyer's weed |
Egg,
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40-100 eggs on both surfaces of leaf. |
May-June and August-Early September. 4.5-17 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Cabbages:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
July or August; hatches in 3 days. |
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Cabbages:- |
Egg, |
1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers. |
May-June 7 days. |
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Cherry with |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
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(Common CowWheat, Field CowWheat) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Currants |
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on oak or pine tree trunk |
15 days in July. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 15 days in May-June. |
|
Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 10 days in May-June. |
|
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
||
False Brome is a grass (Wood Brome, Wood False-brome and Slender False-brome) |
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
... |
|
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 10 days in May-June. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers. |
May-June 7 days. |
||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
||
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
|
||
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
1 then |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg at base of plant. |
Late August-April. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
||
Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
|
Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
|
Nasturtium from Gardens |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
|
Egg, |
1 egg on tree trunk |
15 days in July. |
||
Mountain pansy, |
Egg, Chrysalis |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. 3 weeks in September |
|
Egg, |
1 egg on tree trunk. |
15 days in July. |
||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
||
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
||
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
|
||
Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
||
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
|
||
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
|
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
||
Trefoils 1, 2, 3 |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
|
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
||
Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
||
Violets:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf or on stalk. |
July-August for 17 days. |
|
Violets:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on stem or stalk near plant base. |
July to hatch in 8 months in March. |
|
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks. |
||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
||
Willow |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
|
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Plants used by the Butterflies |
||||
Plant Name |
Butterfly Name |
Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly |
Plant Usage |
Plant Usage Months |
Asters |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
|
|
Runner and Broad Beans in fields and gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
|
Aubretia in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
|
Butterfly |
Eats sap exuding from trunk. |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
20 days. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June |
||
Holly Blue |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
||
Buddleias |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
|
Wood White |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June. |
|
Cabbage and cabbages in fields |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October |
||
Adonis Blue |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September |
|
Pale Clouded Yellow |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
|
Cow-wheat |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
3 weeks between May and September |
||
Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys - Birdseye Speedwell) |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
30 days in May-June. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-September |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
May-June for 18 days. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
||
Painted Lady |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October. |
|
Marigolds in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September. |
||
Michaelmas Daisies |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
||
Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
|
Nasturtiums in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September |
|
Butterfly |
Eats sap exuding from trunk. |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-May |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
7 weeks in July-August. |
||
Comma |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
3 weeks between May and September |
||
Trefoils 1, 2, 3 |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
20 days in August. |
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June.
|
||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
||
Apple/Pear/Cherry/Plum Fruit Tree Blossom in Spring |
Butterfly |
Eats Nectar |
April-May |
|
Rotten Fruit |
Butterfly |
Drinks juice |
July-September |
|
Tree sap and damaged ripe fruit, which are high in sugar |
Butterfly |
Hibernates inside hollow trees or outhouses until March. Eats sap or fruit juice until April. |
10 months in June-April |
|
Wild Flowers |
Large Skipper |
Butterfly |
Eats Nectar |
June-August |
Links to the other Butterflies:- Black Hairstreak |
Topic - Wildlife on Plant Photo Gallery. Some UK native butterflies eat material from UK Native Wildflowers and live on them as eggs, caterpillars (Large Skipper eats False Brome grass - Brachypodium sylvaticum - for 11 months from July to May as a Caterpillar before becoming a Chrysalis within 3 weeks in May) chrysalis or butterflies ALL YEAR ROUND. |
Wild Flower Family Page (the families within "The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers" by David McClintock & R.S.R. Fitter, Published in 1956 They are not in Common Name alphabetical order and neither are the common names of the plants detailed within each family. The information in the above book is back-referenced to the respective page in "Flora of the British Isles" by A.R. Clapham of University of Sheffield, |
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When you look at the life history graphs of each of the 68 butterflies of Britain, you will see that they use plants throughout all 12 months - the information of what plant is used by the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly is also given in the above first column.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A FLAILED CORNISH HEDGE - This details that life and death from July 1972 to 2019, with the following result:- End note, June 2008. I hear spring vetch has been officially recorded somewhere in West Cornwall and confirmed as a presence in the county, so perhaps I can be permitted to have seen it pre-1972 in the survey mile. I wonder where they found it? It's gone from hedges where it used to be, along with other scarcities and so-called scarcities that used to flourish in so many hedges unrecorded, before the flail arrived. I have given careful thought to including mention of some of the plants and butterflies. So little seems to be known of the species resident in Cornish hedges pre-flail that I realise some references may invite scepticism. I am a sceptic myself, so sympathise with the reaction; but I have concluded that, with a view to re-establishing vulnerable species, it needs to be known that they can with the right management safely and perpetually thrive in ordinary Cornish hedges. In future this knowledge could solve the increasingly difficult question of sufficient and suitable sites for sustainable wild flower and butterfly conservation - as long as it is a future in which the hedge-flail does not figure.
CHECK-LIST OF TYPES OF CORNISH HEDGE FLORA by Sarah Carter of Cornish Hedges Library:-
Titles of papers available on www.cornishhedges.co.uk:-
THE GUILD OF CORNISH HEDGERS is the non-profit-making organisation founded in 2002 to support the concern among traditional hedgers about poor standards of workmanship in Cornish hedging today. The Guild has raised public awareness of Cornwall's unique heritage of hedges and promoted free access to the Cornish Hedges Library, the only existing source of full and reliable written knowledge on Cornish hedges." |
SOIL PAGE MENU Soil Introduction - How does Water act in Soil SOIL SUBSIDENCE
Soil Site Map |
Click on Black or White box in Colour of Month. |
LATE SUMMER GALLERY PAGES FOLIAGE COLOUR BULB, CORM, RHIZOME AND TUBER INDEX - There are over 700 bulbs in the bulb galleries. The respective flower thumbnail, months of flowering, height and width, foliage thumbnail, |
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Besides the above Bulb Flower Colour Comparison Pages, you also have the following Comparison Pages:- |
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Late Summer INDEX link to Bulb Description Page |
Flower Colour with Flower Thumbnail |
Flowering Months Mat, |
Height x Width in inches (cms) - Seed Head Thumbnail Soil Sun Aspect Soil Moisture |
Foliage Colour |
Bulb Use |
Comments |
PLANTS PAGE PLANT USE Groundcover Height Poisonous Cultivated and UK Wildflower Plants with Photos
Following parts of Level 2a, |
PLANTS PAGE MENU
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PLANTS PAGE MENU
Photos - 12 Flower Colours per Month in its Bloom Colour Wheel Gallery
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Acis "They are excellent for cutting and make a good display either in a bed or in a thin woodland. They also do quite well in grass, which must not be mown until their leaves begin to die down. "Indoor Culture in Window-boxes - Plant in clumps during October, 3 inches (7.5 cms) deep, 2 inches (5 cms) apart. These are excellent for a site in partial shade, but will only succeed if left undisturbed for 2 or 3 years. Suitable varieties are Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' and Leucojum vernum." from Indoor Bulb Growing by Edward Pearson. Published by Latimer House Limited in 1953. |
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Acis autumnalis |
White |
August, September, |
4-6 x 4 |
Dark Green grass-like foliage, often being produced shortly after the flower spike. |
Plant at edge of bed. Use in rock garden. Cut flower. Thin woodland or shade from shrubs. Naturalize in grass. |
In autumn it throws up leafless stems from which it bears 2-4 bell shaped white flowers, often with red bases to them. |
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Acis autumnalis pulchellum - |
White |
August, September, |
8 x 4 |
Dark Green grass-like foliage being produced at the same time as the flower spike. |
Plant at edge of bed. Use in rock garden. Cut flower. Thin woodland or shade from shrubs. Naturalize in grass. |
Plant with 1 or 2 inches (2.5 or 5 cms) of soil over the tops of the bulbs towards the front of a bed in an area where they can be left undisturbed. |
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Acis |
Pure White flowers on 4-8 inch stems |
September, 6 petal, bell-shaped flowers in spike. |
4 x 2 |
Dark Green grass-like foliage being produced at the same time as the flower spike. |
Plant at edge of bed. Use in rock garden. Cut flower. Thin woodland or shade from shrubs. Naturalize in grass. |
Plant with 1 or 2 inches (2.5 or 5 cms) of soil over the tops of the bulbs towards the front of a bed in an area where they can be left undisturbed. |
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Acis valentinum |
White |
February, March, |
10 x 12 |
Thin Grey-Green leaves being produced after the flower spike. |
Plant at edge of bed. Use in rock garden. Cut flow-er. Thin woodland or shade from shrubs. Naturalize in grass. Coastal conditions |
Grows in open, calcareous, stony and rocky places, hill slopes. Requires winter mulch to protect it from the worst of the weather. |
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White with Red stripes |
September, October, Umbel |
6-12 x 12 (15-30 x 30) Sand, Chalk |
Green cylindrical and hollow leaves |
These unusual autumn flowering species are ideal on a scree or rockery in full sun. They are hardy and also make nice pot specimens in a cold greenhouse. |
Native of the Pelo-ponnese. Plant at soil level and 4 inches (10 cms) apart. All Alliums have the distinctive onion smell, both in the foliage and bulb. This smell can be used to reduce aphid infestations on flowers by planting 1 each side of the infected plant. |
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Babiana stricta - tender |
Pale Cream through Purple, Mauve and Blue and Crimson |
March, April, May 5 petal, funnel-shaped flowers in a spike with slight fragrance |
6-18 x 4 |
Sword-shaped 5 inches (12.5 cm) long, 0.5 inches (1.125 cms) wide, green |
Plant against South-facing House Wall in Southern England where temperatures do not go below -5 degrees Centigrade. Mulch with 3 inches (7.5 cms) of organic compost to conserve moisture in the summer. |
Set 6 inches (15 cms) deep in average and sandy soils, a little shallower in heavy clay - put 2 inches (5 cms) of sand surrounding bulb to prevent rotting - soils, 6 inches (15 cms) apart. Leave undisturbed for years. Remove mulch during autumn and winter. |
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Dark Green to Dark Brown Spathe |
September, October, November Up to 6 inches (15 cm) long spathe but not a flower |
4-8 x 12 Scree, Sand or Chalky soil with 1 inch (2.5 cms) of sand worked into the top 2 inches (5 cms). |
The 5-10 light green leaves are 1 inch wide and 2-4 inches long. |
Can be planted beside a path in a rock garden where it is is a rocky, sandy location in full sun in Southern England. |
Biarum is a group of unusual looking bulbs, grown for their weird and wonderful spathes that are produced in autumn. Not fully hardy so these are best grown in pots in the garden before spending the winter in a greenhouse. |
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Light Green with |
September, October Up to 6 inches (15 cm) long spathe but not a flower |
3-4 x 12 |
5-10 light Green leaves emerge in Sep-Oct |
Can be planted beside a path in a rock garden where it is is a rocky, sandy location in full sun in Southern England. |
Not fully hardy so these are best grown in pots in the garden before spending the winter in a greenhouse. |
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Biarum tenuifolium |
Pale Green with Purple Flush Spathe |
July, August, September, October, November |
10 x 12 |
5-10 light Green leaves emerge in Sep-Oct |
Can be planted beside a path in a rock garden where it is is a rocky, sandy location in full sun in Southern England. |
Native to the central and eastern Mediterranean. |
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Bright Green with |
September Up to 6 inches (15 cm) long spathe but not a flower |
9 x 12 |
5-10 light Green leaves emerge in Sep-Oct |
Can be planted beside a path in a rock garden where it is is a rocky, sandy location in full sun in Southern England. |
Native to Northern Greece and Italy. Not fully hardy so these are best grown in pots in the garden before spending the winter in a greenhouse. |
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"The Erythroniums native to the Western U.S. are considered by many to be the most beautiful of the genus. Often called "Fawn Lilies" because of the dappled coloring to the leaves, they have dainty nodding flowers like small lilies, set off by large shining leaves that are either plain green or marbled with silver and bronze. Most grow in shaded woodland areas that go quite dry in summer, but with excellent drainage, they can tolerate some summer water." from Telos Rare Bulbs in USA. "Culture in Garden - They like a damp, well-drained soil, and a partially drained position. The bulbs must not be kept out of the ground any longer than necessary, as they resent being moved, nor must the best results be expected at their first time of flowering. It follows that they should be left alone as long as they flower well. An anual top-dressing of a mixture of light decayed manure and peat benefits them. They are increased by offsets and by seed, which last should be thinly sown in pans in a cold frame in August, and the seedlings grown on for 2 years before planted out in the the open; or if room can be found, in loose soil in a cold frame where they remain until the bloom, when the best can be marked before they are put in their permanent places." from Black's Gardening Dictionary. Edited by E.T. Ellis, F.R.H.S. Second edition. Published by A. & C. Black Ltd. in 1928. "The largest flower spikes are found where the ground has recently been burnt, so it is possible that a top dressing of potash would have the same effect. If they are to be divided and moved in the same garden this is probably best done when they are beginning to die down after flowering." from Collins Guide to Bulbs by Patrick M. Synge. Reprinted 173. ISBN 0 00 214016-0 "Suitable for cultivation in the garden, greenhouse or house. They succeed in any good well-drained garden soil, but the ideal compost is equal parts loam, peat, leaf mould and sand. The bulbs should be planted in August in a shady position in beds, rock gardens, edges or under trees. Once planted, they need not be disturbed for many years. "Rock Garden Culture for Erythronium citrinum (Yellow flowers); Erythronium Frans Hals (Purple-rose flowers); Erythronium revolutum (Pink flowers); Erythronium Hartwegii (Creamy-white flowers) - Plant in September 1.5 inches (3.75 cms) deep and 4 inches (10 cms) apart, in partial shade, in moist, well-drained sandy loam and ample leaf-mould or peat. Surround the tubers with about an inch (2.5 cms) of silver sand, and do not lift more often than necessary, but mulch annually with well-rotted manure and leaf-mould. Propagate by means of seed in a frame in August. Thin out but do not plant the seedlings out until the third September after sowing. The plants are also increased by offsets." from Rock Gardens how to plan and plant them with sections on the Wall, Paved, Marsh and Water Gardens by A. Edwards in charge of the rock garden, kew. Published by Ward, Lock & Co. in 1929. |
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Erythronium |
White, Each flower stem will have 1-10 downward pointing flowers, with reflexed petals. |
April, May, June Clump. |
6 x 5 Humus-rich Sand. Bulbs must be kept slightly damp during storage and before planting. |
The broad, often mottled, mid-Green marbled purplish- Erythroniums fit in naturally with Trilliums, Galanthus, Hepatica, Helleborus, Hosta, Pulmonaria, Cyclamen coum and Cyclamen hederifolium. |
Grow under deciduous trees/shrubs, in a rock garden, or naturalize in thin grass. Ideally they like a soil which will dry out in Summer although many will do very well in a normal shady bed or border. Must receive adequate moisture during early spring when the foliage is making growth. Appreciates additional dressings of fallen leaves when the plant is in woodland gardens. |
Erythroniums do best when planted under trees and shrubs - to provide partial shade during the hottest part of the day, in as near to a woodland setting as possible. Plant bulbs 5 inches (12.5 cms) deep in good, rich soil; in the autumn in soil that does not dry out. If you want to plant them in pots use a John Innes compost rather than a peat based compost. They will be fine in this and should only be repotted when it is absolutely necessary. |
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Erythronium |
Sulphur-Yellow with brown central rings |
April, May, June Forms a large Clump. |
12 x 4 Chalk, |
Bronze-mottled, glossy, deep green |
Plant in pots, woodland or under shrubs in bed. Use as indoor plant in Green-house or sunny window of cool room inside house. Inside Alpine House, or outside in Alpine Trough, or Window-box. |
Bulbs must be kept slightly damp during storage and before planting. A good variety to start off with. Received an 'Award of Merit' in 1959. Ideal compost is equal parts loam, peat, leaf mould and sand for pots. |
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Erythronium |
Bright Yellow |
April, May, June Forms a large clump. |
12 x 4 Chalk, |
Wavy-margined, pale to mid-green. |
Plant in pots, woodland or under shrubs in bed. Use as indoor plant in Green-house or sunny window of cool room inside house. |
Plant inside Alpine House, or outside in Alpine Trough, or Window-box. |
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Dark Brown, Maroon and Black |
October, November, December 6 petal, star-shaped flowers |
16-20 x 16 ( 40-50 x 40) Well-drained Sand, Scree Suitable for coastal conditions in stony or sandy soil. |
Light green leaves overlap each other being up to 12 inches long, with the uppermost surrounding the flowers. |
The corms should be planted 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) deep and 6-8 inches (15-20 cms) apart in pots in a frost-free greenhouse during the winter and then the pots can be sunk into a south-facing rock garden during the summer in bold clumps. |
It grows in dunes and sandy places in South Africa. Flowers may last only one day, but the plant will continue to produce flowers for several weeks from October to early December. |
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Freesia "For outdoor culture, any light rich sandy soil will suffice, and the bulbs should be planted 2 inch (5 cms) deep and 2 inches apart in August and September. Do not move plants while growing as plants resent being disturbed. "Pot not more than 5 top-sized corms into a 5 inch (12.5 cm) pot from August and onwards, using John Innes compost or 4 parts sand, 3 parts leaf-mould with 0.5 ounces medium bone-meal mixed in the compost. The pots should then be plunged in a sunny spot in the garden, or frame, and remain there until there is the first possibility of frosts. During this time the corms must develop a good length of leaf. Where there is no garden a peat-filled box set up by a sunny window will do as a plunging ground. In such case it is important to see that the peat is kept sufficiently moist and that the excessive heat through the window does not scorch the potting compost. The window should be kept open in hot weather and at all convenient times. |
The following details come from Cactus Art:- "A flower is the the complex sexual reproductive structure of Angiosperms, typically consisting of an axis bearing perianth parts, androecium (male) and gynoecium (female). Bisexual flower show four distinctive parts arranged in rings inside each other which are technically modified leaves: Sepal, petal, stamen & pistil. This flower is referred to as complete (with all four parts) and perfect (with "male" stamens and "female" pistil). The ovary ripens into a fruit and the ovules inside develop into seeds. Incomplete flowers are lacking one or more of the four main parts. Imperfect (unisexual) flowers contain a pistil or stamens, but not both. The colourful parts of a flower and its scent attract pollinators and guide them to the nectary, usually at the base of the flower tube.
Androecium (male Parts or stamens) Gynoecium (female Parts or carpels or pistil) It is made up of the stigma, style, and ovary. Each pistil is constructed of one to many rolled leaflike structures. Stigma This is the part of the pistil which receives the pollen grains and on which they germinate. Style This is the long stalk that the stigma sits on top of. Ovary The part of the plant that contains the ovules. Ovule The part of the ovary that becomes the seeds. Petal The colorful, often bright part of the flower (corolla). Sepal The parts that look like little green leaves that cover the outside of a flower bud (calix). (Undifferentiated "Perianth segment" that are not clearly differentiated into sepals and petals, take the names of tepals.)"
The following details come from Nectary Genomics:- "NECTAR. Many flowering plants attract potential pollinators by offering a reward of floral nectar. The primary solutes found in most nectars are varying ratios of sucrose, glucose and fructose, which can range from as little a 8% (w/w) in some species to as high as 80% in others. This abundance of simple sugars has resulted in the general perception that nectar consists of little more than sugar-water; however, numerous studies indicate that it is actually a complex mixture of components. Additional compounds found in a variety of nectars include other sugars, all 20 standard amino acids, phenolics, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, vitamins, organic acids, oils, free fatty acids, metal ions and proteins. NECTARIES. An organ known as the floral nectary is responsible for producing the complex mixture of compounds found in nectar. Nectaries can occur in different areas of flowers, and often take on diverse forms in different species, even to the point of being used for taxonomic purposes. Nectaries undergo remarkable morphological and metabolic changes during the course of floral development. For example, it is known that pre-secretory nectaries in a number of species accumulate large amounts of starch, which is followed by a rapid degradation of amyloplast granules just prior to anthesis and nectar secretion. These sugars presumably serve as a source of nectar carbohydrate. WHY STUDY NECTAR? Nearly one-third of all worldwide crops are dependent on animals to achieve efficient pollination. In addition, U.S. pollinator-dependent crops have been estimated to have an annual value of up to $15 billion. Many crop species are largely self-incompatible (not self-fertile) and almost entirely on animal pollinators to achieve full fecundity; poor pollinator visitation has been reported to reduce yields of certain species by up to 50%." |
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Freesia alba |
White |
March, 6 petal, funnel-shaped flowers in a cluster. Very strongly scented. |
8-17 x 4 Sand, or potting compost, |
Light Green sword-like leaves |
Bring pot indoors when nightime temperature drops below 9 degrees Centigrade. Excellent house plants and cut flowers. |
Native to South Africa. Main attraction with these bulbs is the sweet fragrance that fills the room. If outside, mulch in autumn, remove mulch in summer. |
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Freesia andersoniae |
Cream to Purple with yellow. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped flowers in a cluster. Very fragrant. |
8 x 4 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Native to southern coastal areas of South Africa. Plant against South-facing House Wall in Southern England |
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Pale yellow with bright yellow-orange markings. |
April, May. |
12 x 24 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Erect, spiral dark green fan, 10 inches (25 cms) long. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Native to eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Plant against South-facing House Wall in Southern England |
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Fragrant Ivory White with mauve reverse and yellow markings. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped flowers in a cluster. |
6-12 x 6 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Native to South Africa. In colder areas, lift corms after foliage dies, store overwinter, and replant in the spring. |
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Fragrant Ivory-White |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Introduced in 1957 and recei-ved an 'Award of Merit' in 1962. |
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Fragrant Ivory-White. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Dusky Pink on a |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped double-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Dark Red on a pale |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped single-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Lemon Yellow. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped single-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Yellow. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped double-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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White. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped double-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Red. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped single-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Creamy-White. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped double-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Buttercup Yellow. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped single-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Purple-Red. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped semi-double-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Yellow. |
April, May. 6 petal, funnel-shaped single-flowered flowers in a cluster. |
10 x 20 Sand, Gravel, or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage held in fan shape |
Excellent house plants and cut flowers, also in rock garden next to house wall. |
Bring pot indoors during autumn and winter. |
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Ixia 'Blue Bird' - tender |
Pale Blue and Purple |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Castor' - tender |
Violet Purple |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia flexuosa - tender |
Pinkish Mauve |
June, July Clump. |
24 x 24 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Giant' - tender |
Ivory and Purple |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Hogarth' - tender |
Cream and Purple |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Holland's Gloire' |
Yellow |
July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Mabel' - tender |
Pink with Red Blush |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia maculata - tender |
Yellow with Purplish- |
May, June Clump. |
18 x 12 |
4 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Marquette' - tender |
Yellow and Purple |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Rose Emperor' |
Pink with |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Titia' - tender |
Magenta |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Venus' - tender |
Dark Red |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Vulcan' - tender |
Pink and Purple |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Ixia 'Yellow Emperor' |
Yellow with |
June, July Clump. |
16 x 12 |
3-5 erect, narrow, sword-shaped, dark green leaves per corm |
Grow in greenhouse, cool conserv-atory, patio pot, raised rock garden by south facing wall, window-box. Ground cover |
In very mild areas, plant out in sandy soil with good drainage and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep coarse bark mulch, in March and then lift in late summer when the foliage has died down. Then, corms should be allowed to become dry. |
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Lachenalia aloides - |
Green, Crimson and |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
10 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
2 broad-to-lanceolate leaves which are dark green with purple markings |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia aloides |
Yellow |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
10 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
2 broad-to-lanceolate leaves which are dark green with purple markings |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia aloides |
Red, Yellow, Green |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
8-12 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
2 broad-to-lanceolate leaves which are dark green with purple markings |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia aloides |
Bright Orange edged |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12-16 x 12 (30-40 x 30) Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage and flower stems with brown markings |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia aloides |
Greenish-White |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
4-8 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
2 broad-to-lanceolate leaves which are dark green with purple markings |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Very robust |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia bulbifera |
Coral-Red edged with Green or Purple |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
6-15 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
2 broad-to-lanceolate leaves which are dark green with purple spots |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
These are the galleries that will provide the plants to be added to their own Extra Index Pages
The following Extra Index of Bulbs is created in the
Having transferred the Extra Index row entry to the relevant Extra Index row for the same type of plant in a gallery below; then
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Index of Bulbs from Further details on bulbs from the Infill Galleries:-
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Bulbs and Corms with
Index of Bulbs from
Website Structure Explanation and
There are other pages on Plants which bloom in each month of the year in this website :-
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Lachenalia contaminata |
White with Maroon tips and stripes |
April, May 3 petal, |
6 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Grass-like in appearance and plain Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia elegans var. suaveolens |
Blue shading to Rose |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
7-9 x 12 (17.5-22.5 x 30) Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia 'Fransie' |
Pink shading to Yellow with Maroon tips |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage with mid-Green stems spotted Purple |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia glaucina var. pallida |
Cream with a Yellow or Pale Green Hue |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
8 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Dark Green foliage slightly mottled Purple with pale Green flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia juncifolia |
White tinged Red |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
6 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage with mid-Green stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia 'Namakwa' |
Orange fading to Yellow, with Pink tips |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage with Orange flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia namaquensis |
Blue shading to Magenta, White internally |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
6-8 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Spreads rapidly by means of long stoloniferous roots. Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England within the UK. |
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Lachenalia 'Nova' |
Bluish-Green |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
8 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia orthopetala |
White |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
10 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green grassy foliage with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia pustulata |
Cream or Pale Yellow, to Pink or Blue |
March 3 petal, |
12 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia 'Robyn' |
Red |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 Sand or potting compost, |
Mid-Green foliage with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. They can be grown as bed edging in only Southern England, Isle of Wight and Channel Islands within the UK. |
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Lachenalia 'Rolina' |
Creamy-Yellow |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 |
Mid-Green with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia 'Romaud' |
Buttercup-Yellow with Creamy-White tips |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 |
Mid-Green with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia 'Romelia' |
Light Yellow |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 |
Mid-Green with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia 'Ronina' |
Yellow |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 |
Mid-Green with Purple flower stems |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia 'Rosabeth' |
Red outer petals, inside is Yellow |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 |
Mid-Green with Purple spots |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia rosea |
Blue through to Pink |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
10 x 12 |
Mid-Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia 'Rupert' |
Lilac-Purple |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
12 x 12 |
Mid-Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia splendida |
Blue shaded Lilac |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
10 x 12 |
Light Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia unifolia |
White with Blue shading |
May 3 petal, |
10-12 x 12 (20-30 x 30) |
Light Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia viridiflora |
Blue-Green to Turquoise |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
8 x 12 |
Mid-Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Lachenalia zeyheri |
White, |
March, April, May 3 petal, |
4-8 x 12 |
Mid-Green |
Edging in frost-free gardens. Houseplant in Patio Pot within a sunny but unheated room. Patio Pot or |
Use either John Innes compost or a mixture of 2 parts sandy loam, 0.5 part leaf-mould and 0.5 part decayed manure, with 1 part coarse sand in pots or hanging baskets. Will not tolerate frost so grow in Greenhouse or as houseplant in a sunny but unheated room. Bed edging in only Southern England. |
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Leucocoryne 'Andes' |
Mauve with Purple |
May, June 6 petal, umbel-shaped flower in an umbellate. Sweetly scented. |
10-14 x 4 (25-35 x 10) Well-drained Sand or potting compost, |
Grass-like green foliage varies in length from 6-12 inches. Often they are just maturing or even have died down by going yellow by the time the first flowers are seen. |
A small genus of only 12 species from the winter rainfall regions of South America. These make excellent pot plants in a frost-free greenhouse or unheated room in the house, and |
Plant in the sloping ground next to a South-facing wall in the Channel Islands or in pots in cold frame or greenhouse for the remainder of the UK. The bulbs will not tolerate frost. This plant is resistant to deer! |
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Leucocoryne 'Caravelle' |
Mauve with Plum |
April 6 petal, umbel-shaped flower in an umbellate. Sweetly scented. |
12-16 x 4 (30-40 x 10) Well-drained Sand or potting compost, |
Grass-like green foliage varies in length from 6-12 inches. Often they are just maturing or even have died down by going yellow by the time the first flowers are seen. |
A small genus of only 12 species from the winter rainfall regions of South America. These make excellent pot plants in a frost-free greenhouse or unheated room in the house, and |
Plant in the sloping ground next to a South-facing wall in the Channel Islands or in pots in cold frame or greenhouse for the remainder of the UK. The bulbs will not tolerate frost. This plant is resistant to deer! |
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Massonia echinata |
White fading to Pink |
February Tubular flower |
2 x 10 Well-drained sand or potting mix, |
2 wide green leaves about 5 inches long, which lie flat on the ground. |
Makes an attractive and unusual late winter flowering pot. Full Sun in a Conservatory in the UK, where temperatures do not fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degess Centigrade) in pot or hanging basket |
In well-drained soil (sand) in rock garden within Channel Islands where temperature exceeds 7C, otherwise grow in mixture of 2 parts topsoil, 3 parts peat moss and 7 parts sharp builder's sand in wide pots. Place shards of broken clay pots in the bottom to ensure good drainage. |
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Mela-sphaerula ramosa Zones 8-10 of Hardiness Zone Map developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) |
Pale Yellow |
April, May, June Tall dainty Gypsophila-like stems are covered with 6 narrow finely pointed petals in small starry flowers within a spray. |
12 x 3-6 Well-drained sand or potting mix, Part Shade in a Conservatory in the UK, where temperatures do not fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Moist in growth, dry in dormancy |
Long, narrow, light green leaves up to !0 inches (25 cms) in length. |
Suits pot cultivation in UK Conservatory. Lasts very well as cut flower. The bulbs will not tolerate frost. Moisture is necessary at the time of planting in late July-September, but keep barely moist until the foliage is observed. Then, additional amounts of water should be given, but never allow the bulbs to sit in cold, wet soil. Should be a complete resting period in the summer with dry conditions. |
Plant 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep and 3-6 inches (7.5-15 cms) apart in the ground next to a South-facing wall in the Channel Islands or 5 bulbs per 10 inch (25 cms) pot and 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep. Soil - In well-drained frost-free soil (sand) perhaps in Channel Islands, otherwise grow in mixture of 2 parts topsoil, 3 parts peat moss and 7 parts sharp builder's sand in wide pots. Place shards of broken clay pots in the bottom to ensure good drainage. Grows in sheltered damp places among rocks in southern Africa. |
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Magenta-Pink with |
September |
8 x 4 |
Light green clover-like foliage, often twisting and closing at night or on very hot days. The foliage is not present during the late autumn and winter, when the plant is dormant. |
An outstanding selection with magenta-pink funnel-shaped flowers with yellow throats held above light green clover-like foliage in early autumn. Frost tender, so one for the greenhouse. |
This is good for hanging baskets. Plant 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep and 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) apart. |
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Reddish-Purple with |
September, October, |
0.5-2 x 4 (1.25-5 x 10) |
Light green clover-like foliage, often twisting and closing at night or on very hot days. The foliage is not present during the late autumn and winter, when the plant is dormant. |
This is good for hanging baskets. Plant 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep and 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) apart. |
Oxalis is an enormous family of plants from all over the globe. These in this Gallery are a selection of winter-growing varieties. All are easy to grow and very rewarding with very long flowering times. There are approximately 1919 species. |
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Yellow |
May, June, July |
4 x 4 |
Small tufts of light green clover-like leaves appear in spring and then die down for several months, before re-appearing in early autumn at the same time as the bright yellow funnel-shaped flowers. Foliage is absent in the winter. Mat-forming habit. Deep mulch after autumn foliage has died down to prevent the bulb being frozen. |
This is good for hanging baskets. Plant 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep and 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) apart. |
Frost hardy, this will withstand temperatures down to -5c. |
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Telos Rare Bulbs in USA have other Oxalis varieties for sale from |
Pink with a Yellow centre |
May, June, July |
10 x 10 |
Light green clover-like foliage with a silver gloss, often twisting and closing at night or on very hot days. The foliage is not present during the late autumn and winter, when the plant is dormant. |
This is a variable winter-growing oxalis from South Africa which produces delicate flowers in a range of pinks and apricots which last for ages. Do not feed to keep the leaves contained. This is suitable between paving, massed at the front of a low border or in a wall and rock garden, also suitable for window-boxes. Plant 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep and 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) apart. |
Oxalis are wonderful "collector's items" -- you know you have been bitten by the bug when, upon seeing their dazzling jewel-like flowers and different leaf forms, you experience an irrepressible urge to possess more! The South African species are largely winter-growers, brightening the dreary months with their exuberant flowers, then go dormant in summer. They are best appreciated as container plants, and need sun to open their flowers. |
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White |
October, November |
5 x 2 |
Light Green, erect, 0.25 inches wide and 4-5 inches high, foliage |
Polyxena is a small family of very dwarf bulbs suited to pot culture in a frost-free situation. Can start to flower in the autumn soon after potting. Very uncommon and well worth growing. This is suitable for hanging baskets in the summer and in coldframes for the rest of the year. Plant 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep and 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cms) apart. Can be grown outside in the Channel Islands in sandy soil. Moisture is needed in early spring, with little or none needed after the foliage dies back in late autumn. |
Small, white flowers are held between the leaves with flower fragrance much like that of a hyacinth. The native habitat in Cape Province of South Africa is open, sparse grassland near the coast. |
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Deep Lilac |
October, November |
2-3 x 12 (5-7.5 x 30) |
Light Green, erect, 1 inch wide and 4-6 inches in length, foliage |
This bulb has clusters of starry-like deep lilac flowers produced at the base of the strappy green foliage. |
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Sparaxis grandiflora acutiloba - tender
Sparaxis is derived from the Greek "sparasso" ("to tear"), which refers to the lacerated spathes that surround the flowers |
Golden-Yellow |
April, May |
4-10 x 12 (10-25 x 30) |
Flat, stiff and rather tough dark Green leaves 8 inches long are held in a fan shape at the base of the flowering spike. |
This is suitable for hanging baskets in the summer and in coldframes for the rest of the year where they can be protected from the frost below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Plants will withstand a few degrees of frost, but not prolonged cold temperatures. Plant 2 inches (5 cms) deep and 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) apart. Can be grown outside in the Channel Islands in sandy soil in bold groups of 25 or more in one place. Moisture is needed in early spring, with none needed after the foliage dies back in late autumn, so that the corms ripen. Great cut flowers, as they are long-lasting. |
Sparaxis, native to South Africa, has been in cultivation for over 200 years, due to its ease and free flowering form. As part of the Iris family, brightly coloured flowers are borne above the strappy foliage. Colours range from hot oranges, yellows and pinks to reds and dark purple. Well worth a pot display in fertile gritty loam under frost free conditions. The plants prefer to be on the dry side in the summer as in their native habitats of South Africa, where they receive their rainfall in the winter. |
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Deep Violet with |
April, May |
6-12 x 12 (15-30 x 30) |
Flat, stiff and rather tough dark Green leaves 8 inches long are held in a fan shape at the base of the flowering spike. |
This is suitable for hanging baskets in the summer and in coldframes for the rest of the year where they can be protected from the frost below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Plants will withstand a few degrees of frost, but not prolonged cold temperatures. Plant 2 inches (5 cms) deep and 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) apart. Can be grown outside in the Channel Islands in sandy soil in bold groups of 25 or more in one place. Moisture is needed in early spring, with none needed after the foliage dies back in late autumn, so that the corms ripen. Great cut flowers, as they are long-lasting. |
Sparaxis, native to South Africa, has been in cultivation for over 200 years, due to its ease and free flowering form. As part of the Iris family, brightly coloured flowers are borne above the strappy foliage. Colours range from hot oranges, yellows and pinks to reds and dark purple. Well worth a pot display in fertile gritty loam under frost free conditions. |
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Yellow and Cream with Purple flush |
April, May, June |
6-12 x 12 (15-30 x 30) |
Flat, stiff and rather tough dark Green leaves 8 inches long are held in a fan shape at the base of the flowering spike. |
This is suitable for hanging baskets in the summer and in coldframes for the rest of the year where they can be protected from the frost below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Plants will withstand a few degrees of frost, but not prolonged cold temperatures. Plant 2 inches (5 cms) deep and 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cms) apart. Can be grown outside in the Channel Islands in sandy soil in bold groups of 25 or more in one place. Moisture is needed in early spring, with none needed after the foliage dies back in late autumn, so that the corms ripen. Great cut flowers, as they are long-lasting. |
Sparaxis, native to South Africa, has been in cultivation for over 200 years, due to its ease and free flowering form. As part of the Iris family, brightly coloured flowers are borne above the strappy foliage. Colours range from hot oranges, yellows and pinks to reds and dark purple. Well worth a pot display in fertile gritty loam under frost free conditions. |
Functional combinations in the border from the International Flower Bulb Centre in Holland:- "Here is a list of the perennials shown by research to be the best plants to accompany various flower bulbs. The flower bulbs were tested over a period of years in several perennial borders that had been established for at least three years. In combination with hyacinths:
In combination with tulips:
In combination with narcissi:
For narcissi, the choice was difficult to make. The list contains only some of the perennials that are very suitable for combining with narcissi. In other words, narcissi can easily compete with perennials. In combination with specialty bulbs:
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Red, Orange, and Yellow to White with Red and Gold or Black throat |
May, June, July |
12 x 16 |
Flat, stiff and rather tough dark Green leaves 10 inches long and 0.33 inches wide are held in a fan shape at the base of the flowering spike. |
This corm has Six-petalled flowers, which are produced on wiry stems in early to mid-summer in a wide range of colours from red, orange and yellow to white. In addition some have a very striking red and gold or black throat. The foliage is narrow and strap-like, up to 25cm long. |
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Pale Red |
May, June |
9 x 16 |
The stiff, pointed, sword-shaped leaves are held in a basal fan and are shorter than the flower spike. |
Tritonia is a small genus of corms from South Africa. Bright flowers are arranged along wiry stems, borne above the grassy foliage. These make a lovely cut flower. The varieties listed in this Gallery are from winter growing regions and so are best cultivated in pots in a frost free situation. Pale Red flowers are erect and bowl-shaped, 1.5 inches in diameter |
This is suitable for hanging baskets in the summer and in coldframes for the rest of the year where they can be protected from the frost below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Plants will withstand a few degrees of frost, but not prolonged cold temperatures. Plant 2 inches (5 cms) deep and 4-6 inches (10-15 cms) apart. Can be grown outside in the Channel Islands in sandy soil in bold groups of 25 or more in one place in a rock garden. Moisture is needed in early spring, with none needed after the foliage dies back in late summer, so that the corms ripen. In the wild of Cape Province in South Africa, they are found growing in grassy areas where there is considerable moisture during the growing season, followed by a drier period. Great cut flowers, as they are long-lasting. |
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White |
May, June |
9 x 16 |
The stiff, pointed, sword-shaped leaves are held in a basal fan and are shorter than the flower spike. |
This corm has "pure white bowl-shaped flowers. |
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Pink |
May, June |
10 x 16 |
The stiff, pointed, sword-shaped leaves are held in a basal fan and are shorter than the flower spike. |
This corm has very pretty pink flowers. |
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Pale Red |
May, June |
10 x 16 |
The stiff, pointed, sword-shaped leaves are held in a basal fan and are shorter than the flower spike. |
This corm has pale red flowers. |
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Orange |
May, June |
10 x 16 |
The stiff, pointed, sword-shaped leaves are held in a basal fan and are shorter than the flower spike. |
This corm has hot orange flowers. |
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The flower stalk is mottled with Purple and is about 18-20 inches in height. Pale Rose and flecked at the tip with Green |
December, January, |
18 x 30 |
About 10 basal leaves are produced, each up to 18 inches long and 4 inches wide, with undulating margins, forming a rosette. Sometimes flecked with pale green, contrasting well with the shiny deep green. |
This bulb is one for a sunny windowsill or warm greenhouse but well worth growing. A rosette of long fleshy leaves are produced, from the middle of which a single tall flower spike grows. Up to 50 pink, tubular flowers can be borne, the insides are often spotted yellow. Need a minimum of 5 degrees Centigrade (41degrees Fahrenheit). |
Veltheimia bracteata is a native of western areas of the Cape Province of South Africa. This is suitable as a house pot plant. Make sure the containers are large enough so that they can grow for awhile without being repotted. Plant 1 inch (2.5 cms) deep and 6-10 inches (15-25 cms) apart. |
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Site design and content copyright ©June 2007. Page structure amended November 2012. DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site. |
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Recommended Plants for Wildlife in different situations
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From the Ivydene Gardens Box to Crowberry Wild Flower Families Gallery: |
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The Bumblebee Pages website is divided into five major areas:
FORCED INDOOR BULBS in Window Box Gardens. |
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Plants |
Comments |
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Thyme |
Thymus praecox, wild thyme Thymus pulegioides Thymus leucotrichus Thymus citriodorus |
Thymes make a very fragrant, easy to care for windowbox, and an excellent choice for windy sites. The flower colour will be pinky/purple, and you can eat the leaves if your air is not too polluted. Try to get one variegated thyme to add a little colour when there are no flowers. |
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Herb |
Sage, mint, chives, thyme, rosemary |
Get the plants from the herb section of the supermarket, so you can eat the leaves. Do not include basil as it need greater fertility than the others. Pot the rosemary up separately if it grows too large. |
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Mints |
Mentha longifolia, horse mint Mentha spicata, spear mint Mentha pulgium, pennyroyal Mentha piperita, peppermint Mentha suaveolens, apple mint |
Mints are fairly fast growers, so you could start this box with seed. They are thugs, though, and will very soon be fighting for space. So you will either have to thin and cut back or else you will end up with one species - the strongest. The very best mint tea I ever had was in Marrakesh. A glass full of fresh mint was placed in front of me, and boiling water was poured into it. Then I was given a cube of sugar to hold between my teeth while I sipped the tea. Plant this box and you can have mint tea for months. |
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Heather |
Too many to list See Heather Shrub gallery |
For year-round colour try to plant varieties that flower at different times of year. Heather requires acid soils, so fertilise with an ericaceous fertilser, and plant in ericaceous compost. Cut back after flowering and remove the cuttings. It is best to buy plants as heather is slow growing. |
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Blue |
Ajuga reptans, bugle Endymion non-scriptus, bluebell Myosotis spp., forget-me-not Pentaglottis sempervirens, alkanet |
This will give you flowers from March till July. The bluebells should be bought as bulbs, as seed will take a few years to flower. The others can be started from seed. |
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Yellow |
Anthyllis vulneraria, kidney vetch Geum urbanum, wood avens Lathryus pratensis, meadow vetchling Linaria vulgaris, toadflax Lotus corniculatus, birdsfoot trefoil Primula vulgaris, primrose Ranunculus acris, meadow buttercup Ranunculus ficaria, lesser celandine |
These will give you flowers from May to October, and if you include the primrose, from February. Try to include a vetch as they can climb or trail so occupy the space that other plants can't. All can be grown from seed. |
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White |
Trifolium repens, white clover Bellis perennis, daisy Digitalis purpurea alba, white foxglove Alyssum maritimum Redsea odorata, mignonette |
All can be grown from seed. The clover and daisy will have to be cut back as they will take over. The clover roots add nitrogen to the soil. The mignonette flower doesn't look very special, but the fragrance is wonderful, and the alyssum smells of honey. |
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Pink |
Lychnis flos-cucli, ragged robin Scabiosa columbaria, small scabious Symphytum officinale, comfrey |
The comfrey will try to take over. Its leaves make an excellent fertiliser, and are very good on the compost heap, though windowbox gardeners rarely have one. |
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Fragrant |
Lonicera spp., honeysuckle Alyssum maritimum Redsea odorata, mignonette Lathyrus odoratus, sweet pea |
The sweet pea will need twine or something to climb up, so is suitable if you have sliding windows or window that open inwards. You will be rewarded by a fragrant curtain every time you open your window. |
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Spring bulbs and late wildflowers |
Galanthus nivalis, snowdrop Narcissus pseudonarcissus, narcissius Crocus purpureus, crocus Cyclamen spp. |
The idea of this box is to maximize your space. The bulbs (cyclamen has a corm) will flower and do their stuff early in the year. After flowering cut the heads off as you don't want them making seed, but leave the leaves as they fatten up the bulbs to store energy for next year. The foliage of the wildflowers will hide the bulb leaves to some extent. Then the wildflowers take over and flower till autumn |
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Aster spp., Michaelmas daisy Linaria vulgaris, toadflax Lonicera spp., honeysuckle Succisa pratensis, devil's bit scabious Mentha pulgium, pennyroyal |
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Bee Garden in Europe or North America |
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Plants for moths (including larval food plants and adult nectar sources) from Gardens for Wildlife - Practical advice on how to attract wildlife to your garden by Martin Walters as an Aura Garden Guide. Published in 2007 - ISBN 978 1905765041:- |
Marjoram - Origanum officinale |
"On average, 2 gardeners a year die in the UK as a result of poisonous plants. Those discussed in this blog illustrate a range of concerns that should be foremost in the designer’s mind." from Pages on poisonous plants in this website:- |
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Wildlife-friendly Show Gardens
Many of our gardens at Natural Surroundings demonstrate what you can do at home to encourage wildlife in your garden:-
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Ivydene Gardens Water Fern to Yew Wild Flower Families Gallery: |
Only Wildflowers detailed in the following Wildflower Colour Pages |
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