wildlife

[Gail]

That is not really your view outside is it Angie? That is a Christmas card!

[Roma]

Lovely snow picture, Angie.

[angie]

Nice to look out at if you are cosy indoors . Took Mr toad out of my polytunnel and placed him under a bush . I covered him up with leaves , just thought I might forget about him in the polytunnel . Hope he will be ok.  Hubby said I am daft 

Angie 

[ian mcdonald]

Not so daft Angie, I have a yellowish coloured frog in a greenhouse. It seems to prefer the indoors and is maybe keeping the slugs at bay. I have also provided it with a pile of leaves in one corner. It usually sits in a plant pot with a sedge in it but the colder days have come and it is probably huddled up in the leaves.

[brianw]

A friend has had toads living in his greenhouse for many years. They are usually under an empty compost bag near the tap stand-pipe.
Some years ago I visited someone who grew a lot of nerines under glass. What surprised me was his long water tank; I forget if it was covered under the side benches as a support, or under the paving centre path, but it had a number of frogs swimming around in it. It was only a normal sized greenhouse; maybe 8' x 10'. The tank was about domestic bath sized I think.
A large volume of water of course makes a good heat store too, although less so in the ground maybe unless insulated. I have small water butts in my 2 greenhouses for rain. (covered to keep wildlife out ;-)

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Matt, one and four are right.  5 is a high level alpine known from only three sites in the UK.

[fermi de Sousa]

An Australian native animal, the short beaked echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus, but known in our garden as "Errol" due to his swagger!
Always a worry though when he decides to dig for ants in the bulb beds!
cheers
fermi

[ian mcdonald]

The answer to picture 5 of reply 1144 is Norwegian mugwort, Artemisia norvegica. Some more for you.

[Karaba]

1. Podiceps grisegena, red-necked Grebe
3. Muscicapa striata, spotted Flycatcher
4. Pinguicula lusitanica, pale Butterwort
5. Lasiommata megera, Wall

no idea for the 2 but it looks beautiful

[Matt T]

Pipped at the post by Yvain. A nice set of species, Ian.
2 is Cornus suecica, can be found in upland Scotland and just a handful of sites in N. England.

[Karaba]

Well, it makes me think about Cornus but no such species in France.
And why aren't there any seeds of this beauty in the SRGC seed exchange ?  Same for other beauties such Rubus, Pinguicula, ... published previously.

[ian mcdonald]

Yvain, one of the reasons that seed are not usually available in the exchange is that they are not considered "garden worthy" by many gardeners. Some of the UKs wild plants are difficult to grow in gardens or become too aggressive when not kept under control by other species or weather conditions.

[ian mcdonald]

Here are some more.

[Karaba]

Ian, it 's the same in France and I'm always disappointed whan I see Petunia and red pelargonium in the gardens of alpine villages. I feel a bit angry when I see that it's easier to have seeds of himalayan plants than seeds of french alps... I try to cultivate and promote native plants in garden and if everything goes well, I will try to produce and sell some 

[Karaba]

1 : Anas clypeata - Northern Shoveler
2 : Polyommatus icarus - Common blue
3 : Carex pendula - Pendulous sedge
4 : Menyanthes trifoliata - Bog bean
5 : Sedum anglicum - English stonecrop

Except 1 and 4, I'm not totally sure for the other ones but genus should be good.