Excellent New Resource: A Midland Alpine Gardener's Diary

[Diane Clement]

Thanks, Sue and Anne for looking and for your comments! 
Have you ever dug up a mandrake Anne??  Presumably not, if you are still here.  I grow Mandragora out of for curiosity, and for reminders of Mediterranean holidays, but it does turn into a bit of a cabbage when the flowers are over, but the fruits are quite attractive, showing their tomato relationship. 

[Maggi Young]

Crumbs,this reminds me that seeing the pic of the Mandragora coming into flower made me think what stage mine is at..... I forgot to look..... what a minute.... I'll go look now.....


 Edit: 7 minutes later....... here we go, slightly behind yours, Diane. This one not flowering very well this year,  either, plus the flowers are being chewed by bugs 

[annew]

Have you ever dug up a mandrake Anne??  

No, but the dog died. 

[Maggi Young]

Have you ever dug up a mandrake Anne??  

No, but the dog died. 

Anne!  Lily protests in the strongest possible manner at such practices .... she says why didn't you try a cat?

[fermi de Sousa]

Have you ever dug up a mandrake Anne??  

No, but the dog died. 

Anne!  Lily protests in the strongest possible manner at such practices .... she says why didn't you try a cat?

Maggi!
Please explain to Lily the instructions that the dog is used because it will attempt to follow the owner - a cat would simply wait indignantly for them to return and untie it!
I loved the representation of the Mandrake root in the movie "Pan's Labyrinth".
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Have you ever dug up a mandrake Anne??  

No, but the dog died. 

Anne!  Lily protests in the strongest possible manner at such practices .... she says why didn't you try a cat?

Maggi!
Please explain to Lily the instructions that the dog is used because it will attempt to follow the owner - a cat would simply wait indignantly for them to return and untie it!
I loved the representation of the Mandrake root in the movie "Pan's Labyrinth".
cheers
fermi

 Ferni! You miss the point... Lily says you tie the cat and then set the dog on it.... hey presto, two birds with one stone !!      
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 Now you know I like cats too, (just not in MY garden)... so don't get huffy, it's a joke!

[fermi de Sousa]

 Ferni! You miss the point... Lily says you tie the cat and then set the dog on it.... hey presto, two birds with one stone !!      

 Now you know I like cats too, (just not in MY garden)... so don't get huffy, it's a joke!

But one of "the two birds" will be the dog! Miss Lily needs to do a bit more planning on this one!
Miss Soo-Ti (our black moggie, Sooty) says she'd still be sitting there, but Lachie is pretty sure he can outrun any dawg!
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

 Fermi! You miss the point... Lily says you tie the cat and then set the dog on it.... hey presto, two birds with one stone !!      

 Now you know I like cats too, (just not in MY garden)... so don't get huffy, it's a joke!

But one of "the two birds" will be the dog! Miss Lily needs to do a bit more planning on this one!
Miss Soo-Ti (our black moggie, Sooty) says she'd still be sitting there, but Lachie is pretty sure he can outrun any dawg!
cheers
fermi

I have to disagree.... if the person can avoid the death curse by tying the dog to the plantthen surely the dog can avoid death by chasing the cat the person tied to the plant? Seems quite clear to me. 
 By the  way, Molly, our visiting Westie says to tell Lachie she'll take him on anytime!( She is VERY fast!)

[SueG]

 Fermi! You miss the point... Lily says you tie the cat and then set the dog on it.... hey presto, two birds with one stone !!      

 Now you know I like cats too, (just not in MY garden)... so don't get huffy, it's a joke!

But one of "the two birds" will be the dog! Miss Lily needs to do a bit more planning on this one!
Miss Soo-Ti (our black moggie, Sooty) says she'd still be sitting there, but Lachie is pretty sure he can outrun any dawg!
cheers
fermi

I have to disagree.... if the person can avoid the death curse by tying the dog to the plantthen surely the dog can avoid death by chasing the cat the person tied to the plant? Seems quite clear to me. 
 By the  way, Molly, our visiting Westie says to tell Lachie she'll take him on anytime!( She is VERY fast!)

I'd be pretty impressed if anyone could catch Chloe or Harry (the cats) to tie them to anything - the transition cat to ICBM is instantaneous

[Maggi Young]

I'd be pretty impressed if anyone could catch Chloe or Harry (the cats) to tie them to anything - the transition cat to ICBM is instantaneous

Hmmm..... not easy getting an intercontinental ballistic missile into a cage to go to the vet, then, Sue? 

[annew]

I have to disagree.... if the person can avoid the death curse by tying the dog to the plantthen surely the dog can avoid death by chasing the cat the person tied to the plant? Seems quite clear to me. 
 By the  way, Molly, our visiting Westie says to tell Lachie she'll take him on anytime!( She is VERY fast!)

It's the screaming of the mandrake as it is uprooted that kills the dog/cat, so Lily wouldn't want to be within earshot!

[Gerry Webster]

It's the screaming of the mandrake as it is uprooted that kills the dog/cat, so Lily wouldn't want to be within earshot!

I  didn't know that mandrakes were also effective against cats. An excellent new resource indeed. I must place an order for a couple of hundred plants & prepare to uproot them. As an urban gardener, the screaming [the cat's] would be music to my ears.

[Michael J Campbell]

the screaming [the cat's] would be music to my ears.

 

[Maggi Young]

It's the screaming of the mandrake as it is uprooted that kills the dog/cat, so Lily wouldn't want to be within earshot!

Pardon?

[Maggi Young]

Diane's latest Diary is online...... http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Midland/+May+/197/