Week of Flowers

Day Five 26 November 2020 You can discover a host of wonderful photographs of summer flowers posted by gardeners who are participating in Cathy's Week Of Flowers challenge to brighten these grey days by sharing their favourite and most colourful flowers from their 2020 gardens. I may be stretching the brief a little here, but…

Fun with Fungi

UK National Fungus Day - Sunday 12 October 2014 We're celebrating the wonderful and diverse world of fungi, from the large to the microscopic, the good, bad and the ugly. Check your favourite search engine and discover if there any events near you; if not go for a walk and see what you can find.…

Michaelmas Fruits

Pinkgills, Earthtongues, Fairy-clubs and Parrots In these islands there are no hedgerows adorned with hips and haws, orchards laded with apples or woodland walks full of glowing leaves and the chance discovery of spiky, sweet chestnuts, milky hazel nuts or golden chanterelles. Our native woodlands are confined to deep ravines where the rowans, birches and…

Man at work

The Head Gardener is a man of many talents and still surprises me with his ability to acquire new skills. The photographs of insects and fungi which often appear in my posts are his work and, although I always acknowledge his contribution when praise is offered, I think he deserves an individual paean of praise.…

From Devil’s Matchsticks to Powderhorns

Year of Natural Scotland - Lichens in Miniature Is it a plant? An animal? No it's a fungus, well actually it is a lichen,  a compound organism comprising a fungus, an alga and sometimes a cyanobacterium. They co-exist in a mutually beneficial partnership: the algae and/or cyanobacteria are protected from the environment by the fungal…