Plants, flowers and shrubs 2022; Share your photos here

Well, I’m amazed to discover a thread here (on this site) that discusses “plants-flowers-and-shrubs”! I thought/believed that this was the RSPB site that discussed only ‘birds’! However, I’m ‘pleasantly’ corrected (you may have guessed that I’m new here and am unversed in the protocols of this site).

If you want me to establish a new thread, I’ll be happy to oblige. However, my concern goes past the ‘flower stage’ to the establishment of ‘seed’ from the plant and the recent behaviour of ‘bees’.

I can respond ‘here’, or if you wish, elsewhere.

I ask the ‘thread originator’s’ permission to continue ‘here’. Otherwise, I’ll post elsewhere.

Kind regards, Ray Dart.

DartRay said:

Well, I’m amazed to discover a thread here (on this site) that discusses “plants-flowers-and-shrubs”! I thought/believed that this was the RSPB site that discussed only ‘birds’! However, I’m ‘pleasantly’ corrected (you may have guessed that I’m new here and am unversed in the protocols of this site).

If you want me to establish a new thread, I’ll be happy to oblige. However, my concern goes past the ‘flower stage’ to the establishment of ‘seed’ from the plant and the recent behaviour of ‘bees’.

I can respond ‘here’, or if you wish, elsewhere.

I ask the ‘thread originator’s’ permission to continue ‘here’. Otherwise, I’ll post elsewhere.

Kind regards, Ray Dart.

Hi Ray, I'm Mike, the originator of this thread.

I'm a former mountaineer, hill and moorland walker, hence the handle Peak Rambler, grounded after a motorist ran a red light and I required major lower leg reconstruction as a result. So no longer able to get to the hills and moors, but IK still get outdoors and maintain my nature and outdoor fix. .

But I am open minded, forward thinking and amid life's trials and tribulations, which we all endure, positive thinking and  keep an open eye, ear and mind to any sensible suggestions.

That's my boring and uninteresting background out of the way.

The RSPB is not solely about birds, though that is their prime interest. As with many other nature related conservation organisations the RSPB is about nature. The RSPB's twitter handle is @NaturesVoice.

I'm sure you don't need me or anyone else to say, many creatures feed from flowers, leaves and other vegetation, and bees among many other insects, and to put it in a nutshell, are attracted to plants because the flowers, often full of colour and wide open stamens etc, invite these insects in, to harvest the pollen for the spread  of the plants and nectar for honey.

Without plants, flowers and shrubs, nature would not survive, they are all part of the one big circle of life.

Please, feel more than welcome to share you photos of plants, flowers and shrubs, a very general title to cover vegetation of all sorts in this thread, even water plants for they too are a valuable part of nature.

Further, there are other dedicated threads to collective groups of species, not necessarily defined by the species itself, but their habitats, appearances and seasonal activities.

These are general subject titles, and as often occurs, there may some overlap with other titles, but are often ones which many will subconsciously categorise the various species in, and likewise, you as with anyone else, are more than welcome to share you observations, photos and thoughts and even enquiries.

There are also some topics which may seem totally remote from nature, but they are there to share information and tips around how to enjoy nature, and again, you are more than welcome to participate in.

There is no nature subject that is black and  white, there are many shades of grey, though sometimes, there are conservation topics which  do tend to go down the straight and  narrow, and that is because those concerned feel and understand nature needs a helping hand to survive against urban sprawl.

So please, feel free to join in and share, and my apologies for rambling on.

Kind regards

like a lot of homes and places in the UK, my garden has had is share of the hot sunny weather, and likewise, as everywhere else, its taken its toll on the vegetation.

However, we've been lucky here, the showers have been light enough to allow penetration into the soil and not be a deluge that ends up just running away.

Like  everywhere, the grass had  become dry, and even dust as it was  walked on, but there are sings of life, those yellow dusty bits are slowly being replaced by nice green shoots. it'll soon be time to get the lawn mower out....

Even the lavender has struggled, which is a plant not quite so dependant on water, though it has had some water from the garden hose, and here, we've not been placed under a hosepipe ban, yet. But there seems to be new flower heads!

A plant that seems to have faired very well, is the constant cheer, a late September flowering plant, which is great for the bees and other insects when the others have stopped flowering, has stayed lush green throughout!

Mike B said on 23/08/2022 @ 06:20AM.

“So please, feel free to join in and share, and my apologies for rambling on.”

Never ‘apologise’ for “rambling on” Mike! ‘Rambling’ gets us ‘back to nature’ with a better understanding of how we interact with our surroundings. :)

WRT ‘bees’. On reflection, I believe that this subject would be better posited on/in a forum that is more involved with ‘gardening’ “soit” (the same as, or similar). Please forgive my incursion here. If I can’t find a suitable website, I’ll be back! ;)


Well! I didn’t post this/that when I wrote it, but now ‘I’m back’ with a fuller explanation after reading your post of 26/08/2022 @ 06:39 AM because I couldn’t find a more suitable forum with a “tea room” such as this. :)

My Dad was a ‘landscape gardener’ and I’ve grown up with ‘vegetable gardening’ since I can’t ‘remember’ (as a child). The ‘object’ is ‘the runner bean (Scarlet Emperor)’ and the ‘subject’ is ‘it’s pollination’.

Whilst I realise that here in the UK we didn’t endure a ‘drought’ last year, I observed ‘small wild bees’ stealing ‘nectar’ from ‘the outside of the base of the flower’ and ‘not pollinating’ the plant, whilst, the larger ‘varieties’ of ‘wild bee’ (e.g. bumble bee) ‘blustered it’s way’ to the nectar by parting the flower petals and disturbing ‘pollen’ in doing so, thus, pollinating the plant. Again, last year, ‘seed pods’ held many ‘seeds’ and measured ~20-25 cm long, but this year it’s all CHANGED (excuse the shout)!
Pre-drought this year I’ve harvested pods of the ‘near average’ length that I disclosed, but post-drought I’ve harvested ‘almost nothing’ in comparison to previous years despite ground watering of the plants during the drought. Also, each ‘pod’ only included 1-2, or 3 seeds within it’s pod, whereas last year the ‘seed count’ within a ‘pod’ was much greater than this.

I have a two part theory/observation! The ‘larger wild bees’ (including the ‘bumble bee’) have, this year, learned from the ‘small wild bees’ that it’s easier to get nectar from the plant’s flower from the outside ‘base of the flower’ than it is to get it by ‘blundering into the flower’ by parting the petals and collecting that (as I understand) ‘unusable pollen’ for their ‘wild’ lifestyle during their collection of nectar.
Otherwise, the ‘lack of rainfall’ has ‘highlighted’ my/our understanding of ‘pollination’ by ‘raindrop agitation’ to effect the ‘self pollination’ of the flower.

Since I’ve watered ‘the flowers’ of my runner beans (disturbed the flower), my ‘harvest’ has improved to what it was last year. Perhaps we need more ‘honey bees’ that ‘need pollen’ to sustain their ‘life style’ for the ‘sustenance’ of our ‘most usual’ ‘farming/gardening methods’? Or just more rain!
I always ‘top water’ my ‘dwarf green beans’ and there has been ‘no change’ in the fertilisation rate and crop product, despite any possible change in ‘bee behaviour’, or ‘drought’ .

However, I find it odd that ‘wild bees’ continue to collect nectar from a nearby ‘Fuchsia’ by continuing to enter from the ‘flower opening’. Perhaps they still find this method easier for this species of plant?

Kind regards, Ray Dart (AKA suricat).

The Pansies are still doing well. I planted them in May. I love the bright colours. I planted purple, blue and white in differing sized tubs this year. I was really pleased with the show I got.

I havnt sent ones from June July and August cause I got too many But I got some in the garden

Red Clover

Probably the last pond lily flower for this year, and a pleasantly late flower. The photos were taken almost 48hrs apart, 7th and 9th September

Lovely sharp images Mike. Even the little fly on the first one :-)

Isn't this a bit late to be flowering?

Only taken me about 3 years to get a flower lol

I have a small purple one aswell thats just coming into flower...better late than never I guess ;-)

Mine flowered about a month ago - all two flowers! Unfortunately they didn't last very long. Mine is one of the blue varieties.