Flowering now May 2007

[ranunculus]

A few images taken in the garden this lovely evening.....can any kind person put names to the pretty little Linarias please, both about 7ctms tall?


Androsace foliosa.jpg
 Ranunculus parnassifolius.jpg
 sunlit Ramonda.jpg
 sunlit Ramonda 2.jpg
 Paederota bonarota.jpg
 Paederota bonarota 2.jpg

[Maggi Young]

Can't be much help with your Linarias, Cliff, though the second one looks like the sort that often comes free in the pot with any plant from Ardfearn... a pretty little thing indeed and all the nicer for being gratis! I have a vague notion of Linaria xxxxxx tubkahl  butthat may be quite off beam.

My Lily Beetle is not so colourful as yours, but she is not as much bother !

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks for the link Cliff. I've had the occasional short glimpse at Jim Almond's site but I'm a bit scared of it because of the time it will undoubtedly take. I'll dip in from time to time.The R. seguieri is superb!

[Susan Band]

The iris is a seedling from another Pacific coast hybrid. I am bulking it up at the moment and need a name - any suggestions?

[Anthony Darby]

Not a bug but a Lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii) Cliff. Fortunately rare in Britain, it is described as a pest in the south [of Europe].

[afw]

Anthony - Unfortunately Lily Beetles are not rare in UK. I had them on lilies in Hertfordshire and found one last year here in Derbyshire. As the climate warms they will spread. They also like Frits and other plants.

[Martin Baxendale]

I must squish a hundred or more lily beetles here every spring. The adults are attractive, but the slimy grubs (covered in their own poo!) will strip all the leaves off a lily spike in no time. They're now very widespread in southern England.

[Paddy Tobin]

Susan,

A beautiful Pacific Coast iris, nice blues. Name?

In the naming game commercialism must be taken into account - a name that will sell is important. 'Baby Blue'  perhaps?
  'Blue Skies' ?

[Anthony Darby]

Must put a reminder on the calendar to order some of these (tulip and iris) from Susan.

Re: Lily Beetle. Must be global warming as the food supply won't have changed much? My info is twenty years out of date.

[Maggi Young]

Paddy, the colours of Susan's Iris are creamy yellow and a darker yellow with purple, rather than blue!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Lilly beetles have been around for decades over here - I must have squashed 20 of them on my Frit imperialis earlier on this year.


As to the name for the Iris, how about : "Susan's blue sundown" ...

[Anthony Darby]

It would be interesting to see how far north lily beetles have reached?

[Thomas Huber]

Anthony, they will soon reach you in Dunblane.
I've read that they travel around 100km north each year!
Will try to find the article again!

[gmoen]

My first observation of Lily Beetles in my garden goes back to 2002. I think I brought them in with some Lilium that I got from a friend in Gothenburg. Now I kill hundreds of Lily Beetles in my garden every year, and I have also been informed that they are a problem further north in Norway. In my garden the Fritillarias seems to be the most popular diet 

Geir

[ranunculus]

After starting this Lily beetle thread I feel I must contribute to the discussion by confirming that this particular individual (which I shall nickname Savage) is (to my knowledge) the first to be seen in this little hedge-enclosed part of Whitworth, Lancashire. I do have a number of frits and the odd lily but haven't noticed any problem as yet (famous last words, no doubt)!