After a successful thread started back in March 2020 at the start of the first lockdown, its probably about time to start a new one for 2022. Thank you to all for your contributions, no matter how small or big, each has been valuable and interesting, and hopefully you will continue to contribute to the 2022 thread.
The old thread: Plants, flowers and shrubs; Share your photos here can be viewed on the link below
https://community.rspb.org.uk/chat/f/the-tea-rooms/206836/plants-flowers-and-shrubs-share-your-photos-here#pifragment-4313=1
I'll kickstart this thread with some snowdrops that have come out in flower, crocuses will be out in many places soon, and then daffodils, and many more to follow throughout the year, and it will be nice to see what wild or garden plants, flowers or shrubs you come across on your wanders or around your garden. Without these plants, flowers and shrubs, nature would struggle to survive, they all a part of the valuable cycle of life, insects need them, birds need the insects, and so on through to the mammals,
I mentioned daffodils, these shoots are growing very well among the snowdrops, and it won't be long before the bluebells start showing shoots...
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Lovely and bright Zo. Nice one ...
Hi Zo, great photos! However, there are two main types/genus of marigold. The 'double' and 'single' flower varieties which are 'commonly recognised' as 'marigold/tagetes patula' (French Marigold) and as 'marigold/calendular officinalis' (Pot Marigold) respectively. The 'genus' in your photo is the 'Pot Marigold', which has 'edible flowers and leaves', whereas the 'French Marigold' includes many 'sub species' that are 'inedible'. In fact the French Marigold is employed by gardeners to 'deter' 'white fly, aphid, slugs and even snakes' from the areas that the 'gardener' wants to 'protect' from these 'pests'. If you want to 'forage', the Pot Marigold (single flower species) is completely edible. The 'petals' of the flower are quite 'sweet' if you cut them from the 'flower', but if you 'pluck the petals' from the flower you run the risk of including the 'whiter part of the petal' which is quite 'bitter' (as are the leaves). However, this all depends on the 'taste' that you want to include to your cuisine! The 'calendular officinalis' is so 'adept' in its seed dispersal, and the survival of that seed, from which a few plants that were grown by an opposite neighbour now inhabit the entire stretch of my road and have established themselves ~150 metres from the junction at the end of my road. Whereas French Marigolds release their seed to an 'airborne regimen' that transports 'the seed' further away. Enjoy your 'Pot Marigolds', but 'avoid' the 'French ones'. You can 'recognise these' by the 'shape of the leaf'. The 'edible' plant has a 'smoothly rounded leaf', but the 'questionable plant' has a 'spiky leaf' : ). Kindest regards, Ray Dart (AKA suricat).
Thanks for the information. I think it’s very interesting. I know its in the Marygold family but I thought Id do some studying and go down from genus to species rather than just go strait to species before I put what species it is since there is similarities. But Iv put the species name now. With Wildlife they tend to be put in the same family if the species is similar enough and if evidence shows that a particular species belongs to the same family. it’s as if one species evolved from the other. However some names can be misleading sometimes though. just to clarify I know a long tailed tit isn’t a plant but I’m just going to use it as an example. The long tailed Tit isn’t actually closely related to the Tit family even though it has Tit in the name. I still think it’s interesting what you said about the Marigold. Theres a lot of Marigold around my area at the moment but they do still flower during Autumn and in this case it seems like they are still flowering during winter too
Yes. Maybe. Plants are very sensitive to tenprature changes so unusualy warm or cold months can affect them. We did have a Heatwave that lasted 2 months and reached a record breaking over 40 degrees celceus in some places. And the heatwave caused drought in some places aswell. The Heatwave not surprisingly caused a lot of trees to suffer from heat stress and drop leaves and berrys earlyer than normal to help retain water. Plants like lots of Bramble started dropping there Berrys earlyer than normal too to retain water. so I wouldn’t be surprised if flowering plants have been afected too
Iv been very preoccupied so unfortunately I completely forgot to put my wildflowers under some shelter and so in the morning I noticed they have been completely covered by sleet or snow which is now turning to ice so I tryed to take it off my wildflowers in the pot but the soil is as hard as rock cause it’s been under the sleet and snow thats been on top of it. My wildflowers havnt withered yet though which I find very surprising and are in pretty much the same state as before except havnt grown very much so I don’t know exactly what’s going on with that yet. I cant really say for sure exactly what’s going on yet
I am sure about the state of my nasturtiums in the border though my Nasturtiums in the borders don’t look very happy cause they are wiltering.