Northern hemisphere June 2010

[Regelian]

A few shots of bambus shoots.  The P. bambusoides Castillonis can have canes of 8 meters in my climate.  A bit of a roamer, as well, keeping in step with the other members of the genus.

[gote]

They can fly.  When approached for hand-picking and killing, they drop to the ground and start digging in around loose detritus, pretty effective self-defense mechanism, giving the impression they only walk and climb, but they can also fly.  I use a small glass bottle with a lid to capture lily beetles, and learned that I must keep the lid on when in my lily beetle hunting mode, otherwise they can escape and fly off.  After catching a bunch of them, I half fill the bottle with water; they don't swim so well.

That does make sense, regrettably, given their spread.  (And I somehow imagined that they looked like they should be able to fly.  )  Darn.

They fly quite well. Some of them try to escape by flying away rather than by dropping to the ground.
I have them in "sufficient" amounts.    Now I try to plant lilies only where I can easily reach in and pick the critters. They are not interested in safe sex.  I get them in pairs very often. The adults are not the problem they only nibble on the edges. The larvae are a problem in a couple of days they can turn a large Lilium superbum into a stick.
It makes sense to inspect the underside of all leaves where the adults have been eating small pieces. There might be eggs on the underside. I have only found them on Lilium (preferably broadleaved ones like martagon) Nomocharis but rarely. Fritillaria camtchatkensis and Cardiocrinum. Never on anything else - that is never EATING anything else.
I would never let them influence my choice of plants. They are manageable but very slimy (larvae)
I am more worried about the wild boars that now roam in the neighbourhood.
Göte     

[Lesley Cox]

Wild boars! Oh God! (Perhaps I should say Mein Gott, Gote, with apologies for the lack of accent marks. )

That's a lovely selection of plants Zdenek. I especially like the Androsace himalaicum and the delightful, compact Phyteuma. Easy to see its relationship to Campanula with those leaves. The Alyssum is very pretty and compact, too.

[cohan]

They can fly.  When approached for hand-picking and killing, they drop to the ground and start digging in around loose detritus, pretty effective self-defense mechanism, giving the impression they only walk and climb, but they can also fly.  I use a small glass bottle with a lid to capture lily beetles, and learned that I must keep the lid on when in my lily beetle hunting mode, otherwise they can escape and fly off.  After catching a bunch of them, I half fill the bottle with water; they don't swim so well.

That does make sense, regrettably, given their spread.  (And I somehow imagined that they looked like they should be able to fly.  )  Darn.

They fly quite well. Some of them try to escape by flying away rather than by dropping to the ground.
I have them in "sufficient" amounts.    Now I try to plant lilies only where I can easily reach in and pick the critters. They are not interested in safe sex.  I get them in pairs very often. The adults are not the problem they only nibble on the edges. The larvae are a problem in a couple of days they can turn a large Lilium superbum into a stick.
It makes sense to inspect the underside of all leaves where the adults have been eating small pieces. There might be eggs on the underside. I have only found them on Lilium (preferably broadleaved ones like martagon) Nomocharis but rarely. Fritillaria camtchatkensis and Cardiocrinum. Never on anything else - that is never EATING anything else.
I would never let them influence my choice of plants. They are manageable but very slimy (larvae)
I am more worried about the wild boars that now roam in the neighbourhood.
Göte     

i may be spoiled, but i have never had to do anything to manage any insects in outdoor gardens... more than worrying about the garden though, i would not want to introduce new insects to the native plants which do include one lilium sp, and a number of others that may or may not be in the family anymore depending on whom you ask!
wild boars do sound like they could do a lot of damage quickly--easily spotted if hiding in a new plant purchase though
there is an area a bit to the south and west of here that is having a bit of trouble with some escaped european (i think) boars....

[Stephenb]

Wim, very nice dandelions - does Taraxacum pseudoroseum seed around too much like our native T officinalis?

I have to agree, here, I find this an underused genus with some really wonderful plants, although I am less than tempted to try them due to the free-love reputation.  In the wild, I find them a real joy and a sign of mother natures inventiveness.

but i do waffle on....

Please waffle on about Dandelions and free-love as much as you want (I will now proceed to do so). Taraxacum fan here too, but not just the colourful ones as I also have a collection of (mainly French) improved vegetable cultivars as well as various other yellow-flowered species - just think what a thick-leaved Dandelion would do for your spring salads.. No? I won't bore you with Dandelion leaf pictures though! OK, just one, the variegated Dandelion.

Another advantage of growing what people think of as weeds is that you can Point to a flowering Dandelion in a bed, explain the background and that you don't have weeds... In fact in my garden where the focus is edible plants of the world and knowing that maybe 95% of weeds are edible, you can indeed have close to a weedless garden (in theory, but even "weeds" can grow in the wrong place unfortunately)...

Dandelions are also valuable in other ways than food as I discovered unintentionally one year. I have made an Internet trade list more or less since the beginning of the Internet and one that ended up on the list a few years ago was Taraxacum kok-saghyz, the Rubber Dandelion, which was cultivated on a large scale in Russia and North America during the last world war when tropical rubber was less available  - to the untrained eye it really looks just like the common and garden variety (small details in the flowers - I've lost an email which explained the details, so I'm not sure any more either). Well little did I know that there were research teams around the world looking again at alternative rubber sources, and this was one of the most interesting species both as it produces a rubber with special qualities and for "homeland security" issues (you can grow it yourself in cold climates). I was first contacted by a researcher in Switzerland and he told me that I was the only source of seed he had managed to find, just name your price he said! Later I sold seed to researchers both in the US, Canada and Japan. I should have asked a much higher price having the world monopoly on homegrown rubber! Nevertheless, I sold Dandelion seeds for over £100! Unfortunately, the market has since dried up as the superpowers are presumably now self-sufficient in rubber dandelion seed...

[cohan]

Wim, very nice dandelions - does Taraxacum pseudoroseum seed around too much like our native T officinalis?

I have to agree, here, I find this an underused genus with some really wonderful plants, although I am less than tempted to try them due to the free-love reputation.  In the wild, I find them a real joy and a sign of mother natures inventiveness.

but i do waffle on....

Please waffle on about Dandelions and free-love as much as you want (I will now proceed to do so). Taraxacum fan here too, but not just the colourful ones as I also have a collection of (mainly French) improved vegetable cultivars as well as various other yellow-flowered species - just think what a thick-leaved Dandelion would do for your spring salads.. No? I won't bore you with Dandelion leaf pictures though! OK, just one, the variegated Dandelion.

Another advantage of growing what people think of as weeds is that you can Point to a flowering Dandelion in a bed, explain the background and that you don't have weeds... In fact in my garden where the focus is edible plants of the world and knowing that maybe 95% of weeds are edible, you can indeed have close to a weedless garden (in theory, but even "weeds" can grow in the wrong place unfortunately)...

Dandelions are also valuable in other ways than food as I discovered unintentionally one year. I have made an Internet trade list more or less since the beginning of the Internet and one that ended up on the list a few years ago was Taraxacum kok-saghyz, the Rubber Dandelion, which was cultivated on a large scale in Russia and North America during the last world war when tropical rubber was less available  - to the untrained eye it really looks just like the common and garden variety (small details in the flowers - I've lost an email which explained the details, so I'm not sure any more either). Well little did I know that there were research teams around the world looking again at alternative rubber sources, and this was one of the most interesting species both as it produces a rubber with special qualities and for "homeland security" issues (you can grow it yourself in cold climates). I was first contacted by a researcher in Switzerland and he told me that I was the only source of seed he had managed to find, just name your price he said! Later I sold seed to researchers both in the US, Canada and Japan. I should have asked a much higher price having the world monopoly on homegrown rubber! Nevertheless, I sold Dandelion seeds for over £100! Unfortunately, the market has since dried up as the superpowers are presumably now self-sufficient in rubber dandelion seed...

a nice variegate! i would still love to grow something that would break the yellow and green monopoly ordinary dandelions have on the landscape here--right now the half the land it seems is yellow-and i don't mean my land, i mean the whole region! cultivated fields are especially vivid, but roadsides and ditches are awash with yellow flowers, and the species has solid inroads into meadows, forests and even (not the wettest parts) wetlands..if i could introduce genes for variegated leaves or pink flowers, to the masses, i would be happy!

[Regelian]

but even "weeds" can grow in the wrong place unfortunately)...

This is actually my definition of a weed, a plant growing in the wrong place.  Such as Mecanopsis cambria......

Is there a good reference for edible weeds?

[Tony Willis]

A great disappointment  having got my newly acquired Mandrago caulescens root into growth it has turned out to be a rhubarb and a not very exciting one. I wonder before it goes in the green recycling bin if it is edible although at the rate of growth it would have to put a spurt on before there is enough for a pie

[Stephenb]

but even "weeds" can grow in the wrong place unfortunately)...

This is actually my definition of a weed, a plant growing in the wrong place.  Such as Mecanopsis cambria......

Is there a good reference for edible weeds?

Yes, I was aware of that as I was writing...

I gave a talk on edible weeds (If you can't beat them, eat them, Norwegianised) at a local gardening club last winter which was interestimg to put together and the plant in the wrong place was my main definition.

Ornamentals can become “weeds” – Meconopsis cambrica, Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed...

and weeds can become ornamentals – e.g., Agrostemma

Cultivated plants can also be weeds in the wrong place: Oats in a Barley field, rogue potatoes that have overwintered

There are a lot of classes of weeds, as above and also according to whether they are perennials, annuals etc..

Although most of the above have edible parts, I was thinking of the more common "native" garden weeds when I was making a point that most are edible. Buttercup is one that springs to mind that isn't edible, although more an arable weed I guess that's moved into gardens.  

Although there are a  number of European books on wild food which include weeds, I don't think there's one specifically on weeds. Next project, perhaps... You can also do an initial check of weed edibility on pfaf.org, although it isn't complete.

[gote]

Wild boars! Oh God! (Perhaps I should say Mein Gott, Gote, with apologies for the lack of accent marks. )

That is perfect German Lesley. Your erudition is amazing 
Göte

[Stephenb]

A great disappointment  having got my newly acquired Mandrago caulescens root into growth it has turned out to be a rhubarb and a not very exciting one. I wonder before it goes in the green recycling bin if it is edible although at the rate of growth it would have to put a spurt on before there is enough for a pie

Oh dear  

As far as I know, most Rheum species have been used as vegetables in their native ranges (at least in reasonable amounts). Your picture makes me wonder if anyone has submitted one of the common rhubarbs on the show benches? They are rather spectacular plants in full flower!

[gote]

wild boars do sound like they could do a lot of damage quickly--easily spotted if hiding in a new plant purchase though
there is an area a bit to the south and west of here that is having a bit of trouble with some escaped european (i think) boars....

You are mentioning one of the two things that are good with boars 
The other is that they are quite tasty when young.
The only good boar is the one on your table! 
(Same for deer)
Our boars are also escapees and are now increasing enormously due to lack of natural predators.
I am embarking on an electric fence scheme.
Göte

[Tony Willis]

A great disappointment  having got my newly acquired Mandrago caulescens root into growth it has turned out to be a rhubarb and a not very exciting one. I wonder before it goes in the green recycling bin if it is edible although at the rate of growth it would have to put a spurt on before there is enough for a pie

Oh dear  

As far as I know, most Rheum species have been used as vegetables in their native ranges (at least in reasonable amounts). Your picture makes me wonder if anyone has submitted one of the common rhubarbs on the show benches? They are rather spectacular plants in full flower!

Stephen if only you were lucky enough to be in the EU I could have sent you some to try!

[Stephenb]

I'm in the EU - haven't taken out Norwegian citizenship, yet

[johnw]

Jamie  - Cologne must be very mild if you are able to grow Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillon' there.  I love bamboos especially the Fargesias.

None of the really tall bamboos grow here as we have not enough heat.  A few of the Phyllos grow but never achieve spectacular heights.

johnw