Beautiful Butterflies 2019

Hi Tony,
Thanks for that, I was chuffed.
It was the wild pansies I reckon - for the caterpillars - as well as the verbenas for the nectar.
BW
Russ

Fabulous editions there Russ. We were lucky enough to have quite a few "Langs" turn up when we were doing our Atlas of Butterly prospecting around here, so we drove around looking for fields of lucerne & tried not to upset the farmers too much by seatching their fields! The Meditterean fritillary is known here as a Cardinal & found on the islands very close to the coast. It's very similar on it's top-side to your Silver Washed, which is fab to have in the garden. Good to have another enthuiaste on here. If you can keep the photo size below 1MB it helps those of us who live in the wilds, I can't view the photo when I click on it as it's too big, so downloaded it & looked at it that way.

Unknown said:

Can anyone suggest where we can get actually scented Verbena bonariensis again, please?

Try HERE Ann 

Thanks, Hazel. Have you bought plants from them in the past?

Hi Ann,  personally I haven't used this company before as we had Parkers nursery (which was nearer to our area) however. they don't currently don't have the Verbena in stock but have seen Crocus listed for ages and I believe they are tried and trusted sellers.    

Thanks, Hazel. We might give Crocus a try once the holidays are over. The thought of planting anything here is a bit daunting due to the need to throw out any soil we remove and to then fill in around the new plant with new soil from elsewhere, all because of the Equisetum. Chopping up any Equisetum roots as a result of digging a hole would mean a new Equisetum plant growing from each tiny piece so it is safer to remove any possibly root-filled soil and send it to the council's garden waste composting bins. Or buy an extremely small-mesh sieve. Of course there is the possibility of planting in a large-ish pot but then we'd need to install a watering system prior to any holidays away. (Which reminds me--any thoughts about a Forumate meetup toward the end of June?! Time to resurrect that thread?)

Unknown said:

The thought of planting anything here is a bit daunting due to the need to throw out any soil we remove and to then fill in around the new plant with new soil from elsewhere, all because of the Equisetum. Chopping up any Equisetum roots as a result of digging a hole would mean a new Equisetum plant growing from each tiny piece so it is safer to remove any possibly root-filled soil and send it to the council's garden waste composting bins

Really sorry to hear about the Equisetum which sounds like quite a difficult plant to eradicate from a garden having such deep spreading roots and I don't understand why previous owners of the house don't have to declare such a plant legally as they would have to with Japanese Knotweed;  doesn't seem fair to inherit such a problem as it involves such a lot of effort to keep under control.    

Unknown said:

Which reminds me--any thoughts about a Forumate meetup toward the end of June?! Time to resurrect that thread?)

Here's the thread that Alan posted about the meet up.     Paul (MC) and I have already got accommodation sorted - although the cottage we have booked opposite Silverdale Station is up for sale :(      booking stands at the moment in case it doesn't sell so it's a case of wait and see but I've booked Travelodge as well as a back up.   

Thanks, Hazel, I missed that thread and huge numbers of other new threads in the last 7 months due to moving house in occasional bits and having many weeks away entertaining various visitors.

Hi Ann,
I can wholeheartedly recommend Crocus online. I have bought many plants from them in the past and they have proved excellent specimens. Not that cheap once you factor in delivery charges. However, as Verbena are difficult to grow from seed (I've tried and failed) and should self-seed, apparently, I suggest you should only need 2 or 3 to start things off.
Russ