Day: June 16, 2020

It’s Nature Table time again.

Answers to last week’s Tuesday Treats are here:

https://thepleasuregardener.blog/2020/06/09/tuesday-treats-11/

Let’s see what we have in store for you:

 

1  Edited to add:  This is Sisyrinchium striatum.  It’s one of those where sellers keep trying to invent common names so that people will love it.  The latest effort is Pale-eyed Grass, presumably because a very pretty smaller relative is called Blue-eyed Grass.  Sisyrinchium are not, of course, grasses – you knew that, right?  They are relatives of the Iris.

 

2  Edited to add:  This is the hardy succulent Sempervivum arachnoideum, or Cobweb Houseleek, from the Alps, the Apennines and the Carpathians.  You probably see a lot of them if you go mountaineering in Europe, then.  If you have a sempervivum, do not give away all the little baby plants to your friends.  Here, the central rosette is flowering, and once it’s done it will die.  So, keep some of the babies for next year.

 

3  Edited to add:  Glorious Candelabra primulas, from one of the local parks, backed by a lovely orange rhododendron.

 

4  Edited to add:  This is one of the newer dwarf alstroemerias – so pretty.

 

5  Edited to add:  Not a true scabious, but Cephalaria gigantea.  It comes from the Caucasus and grows to about 2 metres, most of which is thin, wiry stems.  You just can’t get a photo of them without bees getting in the way!

 

6  Edited to add:  Alchemilla mollis.  The way rain sits on the leaves is just magical.

 

7  Edited to add:  Passiflora caerulea, Passionflower.  If you don’t know the story associated with the structure of the flower, do look it up.  You won’t think of the plant in the same way again.

 

8  What do you think is happening here?

Edited to add:  These are the flowers of the common elderberry, Sambucus nigra, and someone is making that wonderful, fragrant summer drink, elderflower cordial.

 

9  This is not my image – it’s from Butterfly Conservation.  I saw an insect that I’m sure is this in my garden today, and I have never, ever, seen one like this before.  In the sunlight, it was coal black.  What do you think it is?

Edited to add:  I’ve now seen three more of these – black in the sunlight but glinting blue and green like a magpie’s wing as they fly.  It’s a day-flying moth, the Chimney Sweeper.  The caterpillars live primarily on Pignut, a relative of cow parsley.

 

Good luck!

And thanks to those of our gardeners who have shared their pictures for this.

Edited to add:  Well done to everyone who had a go.  And well done indeed if you got any of them right.  Treat yourselves to some chocolate!