Spotted this fella today.
and I found this Angle Shades Moth on my Korean Hornbeam last week. I was wondering what had been nibbling little holes in the leaves! Don’t think it was this though.
Category general interest
As a Liverpool supporter I’d just like to say…
Congratulations Barcelona 🙂
Valerian BBC NI Wild Week
Nothing to do with bonsai but, I have been watching the Wild Week Series on BBC NI this week and have added a few photos on their FlickR group which they use to create a ‘red button’ slide show. I had a few selected for the slide show last night and tonight, to my delight, they used one of my photos on the actual programme 🙂
This is the one they used. It’s of a Valerian growing out of a wall at my Father-in-laws house.
They used these ones on the red button.
My Snapped Air Layer
As the winds died down today I was out with the camera as usual and here’s my sorry looking Air Layer 😦 😦 From chatting with the guys on Wee Trees Bonsai Forum, it looks like I got away light as many have had bonsai trashed by the wind!!
Snap!!
We’ve had strong winds here today and a few local trees have fallen. Full leaf and high winds don’t mix I guess.
I just took a look around my trees to check every thing was still on the benches. I had put an air layer on a tall crab apple at the start of the month and, you guessed it, the wind snapped it right off at the point of the air layer!!
Getting on a bit in the year to try another lower down. I’ll maybe plant it out in the flower bed and have another go next year.
Giant Killer Snails!!
Just love these headline grabbing titles 🙂
I spotted this huge snail devouring hostas with the walled garden at Greenmount Agricultural College today. Stephen was able to ride it home. [Yet another height joke at his expense]
I was there on a club job moving display stands but took the opportunity to take a few photos for the blog. It was raining so I didn’t get to spend much time at it. Here’s a few taken within the walled garden.
Alien Invasion!!
Ok, It was only a moth but what a beauty. It’s a Poplar Hawk-moth Laothoe populi [Googled]
I spotted it on my boiler house roof this afternoon. With a delicate poke I managed to get it to pop out it’s aerials 🙂 After a while it started to shake and then flew over onto my fence.
Busy Bee
I was in the greenhouse for about 20 minutes checking over things and I noticed that a small bee kept coming in every few minutes and servicing my Root over rock Cotoneaster that is flowering. I can’t swear it was the same one, but it sure looked like he was determined to keep this tree to himself. Straight out the door every time, no banging his head into the glass looking for a way out 🙂
Amazed I got a shot of him, wouldn’t sit still!! I focused in on his favourite flower and waited for him to return 🙂
The next Generation
I always like to take cutting of the harder to find varieties and this year is no exception. This is the bench in the greenhouse. I have Cork Bark Elm, Chinese Elm Micro, Fuji Cherry, Zelkova, Trident Maple, Japanese Maple, Satsuki Azalea, Korean Lilac and a rare type of Flowering Current that I hope to show you soon.
A full tray of cuttings taken from the little broom Cork Bark Elm back in April.
This is exactly how that Cork Bark Forest planting started off back in 2001.
Queen in Ireland
In honour of the Queen’s visit to the Emerald Isle, I thought I would add a little Red white and blue.
Here’s the red. Poppy.
Here’s the White. Calla Lily.
and here’s the blue. Iris.
and a few more just for the hell of it. 🙂
Bonsai Eejit 