It's getting more difficult

My 'self-imposed' 365 day observing challenge continues, and it's becoming harder than I thought. Here is the next batch, the source of some of these has been quite surprising. If you find only one item interesting then I'd be pleased to hear from you..

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Day 109: 30-Oct
New word to me: 'deleterious' = harmful, injurious, hurtful.

Day 110: 31-Oct
Latin name for the horse chestnut tree = Aesculus hippocastanum


Day 111: 1-Nov
Received my Toilet Twinning certificate

Day 112: 2-Nov
Learned (on Put Your Money where Your mouth is programme) that the Chrysanthemum is the national flower of Japan (the crest and seal of the Emperor).

Day 113: 3-Nov
Plant 'Red Valerian' (Centranthus ruber) a common plant whose name I keep forgetting! This plant may be annuals or perennials - a woody based perennial, grey-green leaves, dense clusters of crimson, pink or white - slightly fragrant
flowers.

Day 114: 4-Nov
Watched a programme about soil - fascinating insights and some techniques to protect soil & prevent water run-off.

Day 115: Black spots on Sycamore tree leaves (tar spot - Rhytisma acerinum) - essentially a harmless virus.


Day 116: Came across a new word to me: Aphorism = a terse saying embodying a general truth, or maxim.

Day 117: Plant Nicandra physalodes - common name is the shoo-fly plant.


Day 118: The RHS was founded in 1804.

Day 119: Read a brief description about the future version of MS Windows operating system (Windows 10).

Day 120: The plant Buxus (Box) suffers from Box Blight (Cylindrocladium buxicola). Symptoms are dark brown leaf spots, black streaks on stems & severe leaf loss.

Day 121: The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics - awarded for the invention of the blue light emitting diode; Red leds were invented in the early 1960s.

Day 122: The word 'mercurial' - in the context of gardening conditions; unpredictable.

Day 123: Amethyst; a violet coloured variety of quartz; semiprecious, birthstone for February.

Day 124: Flyer through the door advertising 'Ear Candling' - new one on me; suggest you might want to read this first at Quackwatch

Day 125: Leeds Castle in Kent; a castle has been on site since 1119.

Day 126: Found out today that Dr Myles Munroe, an inspirational Christian teacher & leader of the Bahamas Faith Ministries International, died in an aircraft crash (9-Nov-2014)

Day 127: Sourced an electronic component (a thermal fuse) to repair the blower fan in my van, cost was £1.29. Recent garage bill previously to source & replace previously was £63.19 inc labour!

Day 128: Building technique known as 'Jettying' introduced in C14/15th - used in medieval timber-frame buildings where an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. Stokesay Castle is a good example

Further observations...

Further observations...

Day 89: 10-Oct

We have a hedgehog leaf pile nest in a corner by our house bay window - I spotted a small hedgehog with leaves in its mouth (11pm), it triggered our outside light on and I took great pleasure watching the hedgehog enter the leaf pile.

Day 90: 11-Oct

Found an advert for a 'syringe' like tool for pointing in brick work and paving slabs - pointmaster could be useful to re-point some patio slabs and window sills.

Day 91: 12-Oct

On Flog it; showed an electrostatic generator, known as the Wimshurst machine: Wimshurst machine

Day 92: 13-Oct

Euphorbiacharacias subsp. wulfenii propagate by division early spring or basal cuttings in spring / early summer.

Day 93: 14-Oct

Read about Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Joseph Hooker (1817-1911). He identified in 1871 that gardeners nor foremen know anything about plants(nomenclature, soil, techniques, geography and climate) - this represents an insurmountable obstacle to progress (The Garden - RHS magazine Sept 2014). [seems we are facing similar challenges today]

Day 94: 15-Oct

Transplanting Globe Artichokes - rejuvenate by removing side shoots & roots, to make new plants. Attempting to move the whole plant is difficult due to large tap roots.

Day 95: 16-Oct

At the Snowshill Manor (NT) apple festival preparations, discovered some new to me apple varieties; Tremlett's Bitter, Knotted Kernel, Lord Burghley & Sweeny Nonpareil.

Day 96: 17-Oct

Watched a bee search out the final flower on a lavender plant; it's important not to be too eager to tidy up plants as wildlife needs all the help it can get to live/survive.

Day 97: 18-Oct

The spire of Salisbury Cathedral is the highest in the UK. The tower has no bells for fear that the vibration would lead to structural damage.

Day 98: 19-Oct

The collective noun for ladybirds is a 'loveliness of ladybirds'.

Day 99: 20-Oct

Quince pruning (trained): Quinces fruit mostly on the tips of the shoots made the previous year. They do not form many fruiting spurs. Prune and train in the dormant season between late autumn and early spring. The branch framework is developed along the same lines as for an apple. After the fourth year, only light pruning is necessary apart from the occasional removal of crowding or low-lying branches.

Day 100: 21-Oct

Noticed in a garden today, an ant 'hill' in the lawn, height about 3 inches & 1 inch diameter, made of very fine damp soil. Never seen one like that before.

Day 101: 22-Oct

Rosemary plant noted flowering in a client's garden. Apparently this can often happen (September through to the winter).

Day 102: 23-Oct

Metastatic cancer; is a cancer that has spread from the part of the body where it started, to other parts of the body.

Day 103: 24-Oct

The 6 acre garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex, from 1910, was set out by architect Edwin Lutyens & the then owner Nathaniel Lloyd. 

Day 104: 25-Oct

Started filling my leaf 'basket' on the allotment. Last year's 'heap' has broken down to lovely leaf mould. It never ceases to amaze how leaves change to produce 'black gold'.

Day 105: 26-Oct

After a period of consideration, I decided to make a donation to 'Toilet Twinning' organisation to support provision of sanitation - I twinned one of my toilets with one in Sierra Leone. I hope to provide more donations and 'twinning' in the future.

Day 106: 27-Oct

Climbing rose care; reduce tall stems to minimise winter damage; prune flowered sideshoots back to 2/3rds of length, remove dead, dying & diseased branches, tie-in new shoots to supports, remove old/congested branches from the base.

Day 107: 28-Oct

In client's garden, Aubretia starting to flower unusual as flowering should be March to May.

Day 108: 29-Oct

Needed to find out how & when to prune Fig tree (small specimen in a pot). In March, remove a proportion (1/4 to 1/3rd) of older branches.

365 day challenge - posting 5

The challenge continues with more observations and things I didn't know....

Day 77: 28-Sept
The English Yew tree (Taxus Baccata) contains a compound;
10-Deacetylbaccatin III - extracted from clippings - used in the production of chemotherapy drugs 'paclitexel' and 'docetaxel'.

Day 78: 29-Sept
During my visit to Kew gardens saw an Indian Chestnut tree:

Day 79: 30-Sept
Given some lily type flower plants from regular client. Research identified them as Triteleia laxa (triplet lily)

Day 80: 1-Oct
In the Country Gardener magazine, learned there is a restored Georgian walled garden at Croome Court in Worcestershire


Day 81: 2-Oct
Rescued some small ferns while cleaning stone walls at Snowshill NT holiday cottage, identified likely candidate to be Asplenium trichomanes


Day 82: 3-Oct
Design firm Ashortwalk, launched 'Pot to Product' plastic pot recycling to turn unwanted pots into garden products such as bird feeders.

Day 83: 4-Oct
Reading a garden magazine article about a border; "an ebullient mass of late summer planting ...." Ebullient meaning = exuberant, overflowing with enthusiasm or excitement.

Day 84: 5-Oct
Surprised to read the total annual contribution of ornamental plant sales to the UK economy is £950M

Day 85: 6-Oct
A new pound coin to appear in 2017, based on a 12 sided design like the old threepenny bit, to combat £1 fraud. One in 30 pound coins is counterfeit.

Day 86: 7-Oct
Introduced to the word "eponymous"; meaning = (of a person) giving their name to something.

Day 87: 8-Oct
Needed to find out when to move a Bottle Brush plant - 'Callistemon';


preference is to move when soil is warming up in spring, prefers a sunny, sheltered position.

Day 88: 9-Oct
Needed to find out how to propagate Hechera plants; in spring use older stems for cuttings; young stems can be replanted deeper. Old stems
cut into sections ensuring 'nodes' are on each section.