PBS Forum

This page is interesting:

https://www.rareplants.co.uk/product/romulea-ramiflora/

"You might sometimes see R. ramiflora  labelled as "Romulea bulbocodium nivalis" – that name isn't correct, it is a name invented in horticulture and it isn't a valid one either as there is already a valid, totally different, species called Romulea nivalis, from Lebanon, already using the epithet nivalis. You may also see R. ramiflora labelled as Romulea bulbocodium Knightshayes Form, (especially when it is grown on the west coast of the USA). This is a more tricky situation, since although that appears to be a valid name it is being misapplied to R. ramiflora in error. I don't know if the original, documented Knightshayes plant is even still in existence or in cultivation, though its memory is being kept alive by the imposter.

As if this wasn't all enough – many of the stocks grown in cultivation, under the actual name of Romulea ramiflora are not in fact Romulea ramiflora at all! They seem to be wrongly named and represent a weedy southern hemisphere species that is perhaps giving the correct plant a bad name. Those plants represent a "seed list changeling" that has replaced the true species by virtue of its thuggish manners and prolific seeding."

Hi Judy - blue and yellow is a nice contrast. Pity those blue tulips are so rare.

Quote from: Diane Whitehead on March 30, 2024, 07:40:52 AMSame genus, but a different species

Bah! Google!

@Diane Whitehead

There is a copyright Sheila Burrow photo of this species:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/146789269088182672/

that I found on Google.

North Korea TV censors Alan Titchmarsh's trousers

Central TV aired a 2010 edition of Alan Titchmarsh's Garden Secrets for its morning audience, but made sure that viewers could not see his jeans.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68664644

Steff - good project, very interesting story. Martin's reference to 'Molseed' goes back to the PBS wiki page on Tigridia:

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Tigridia

The gardening world has managed to lose lots of things over the years, holly with white berries for example. Vendors will fill demand with whatever they have. Stuff drifts, I have pots of cultivars which are not what they were, because they have generated seed which has grown and replaced the original.

Look at it another way, sometimes it is where the plant is grown that counts, quality of the soil and climate. Some plants in some places do well and produce lots of variation.

The old thing that keeping your own seed will produce plants better adapted to your garden.

Hi @Judy Glattstein - are you attaching the image or inserting it in the text (bad likely to give a text too long error) - you need to use the "click or drag files here to attach them" area at the bottom of the 'reply' box.

Hi @Judy - what was the error message?

Poland's 'Heart of the Garden' crowned Tree of the Year

The monumental common beech tree grows in an old park in the University of Wroclaw's botanical garden. It's the third Polish tree in a row to win.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68351596

Bern - that book is a very good effort.

Tip, the link above takes you to a folder. If you just download it, Google will mess about zipping it and you'll end up with 1.2GB of duplicated material. Instead double click the folder and seek out the 200MB combined chapters PDF file:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mDG0x82S941a577PGjWgVMTepA8_haV9/view?usp=drive_link

There are lots of plants that are attractive to ants - deliberately - seeds have sweet sticky treats attached to encourage the ants to spread them.

I had a look at Forum for Epiphytic Myrmecophytes, seems to be under new management. Proves there is never a shortage of new interesting plants.

I'd be worried that ants might take up living in then - maybe has to be a specific type of ant.

Giant redwoods: World's largest trees 'thriving in UK'

Giant redwoods - the world's largest trees - are flourishing in the UK and now even outnumber those found in their native range in California.
The giants were first brought to the UK about 160 years ago, and a new study suggests they are growing at a similar rate to their US counterparts.
An estimated 500,000 trees are in the UK compared to 80,000 in California.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68518623

Trimezia

"
In tropical forests, some plants known as ant-plants, or myrmecophytes, are engaged with ants in tight, often obligatory relationships. These plants have specialised hollow structures, called domatia, to host ant colonies.
"