What is this bush/tree/plant?

[Mrs Magpie]

Nah, cheat! Fill a dustbin with soil (small drainage hole in bottom) et voila! Gunnera!

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Forgot to say...sink the bin in the ground so it doesn't show that you're cheating

 

[gentlegreen]

I think I half-heartedly buried some polythene down there, but it wasn't nearly enough. There's a huge pile of bamboo trimmings there now - amazingly it does appear to be rotting down a bit ...

 

[retribution]

Inherited this from an old housemate, ID please? The leaves are quite waxy, and new leaves unfurl beautifully to form big ones in the space of a couple of weeks. I'm guessing it needs a bigger pot?

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Pretty sure that's something in the Schefflera family.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schefflera

 

[campanula]

mmm bigger pot and some general plant food.

 

[gavman]

and some bigger speakers

 

[gentlegreen]

mmm bigger pot and some general plant food.

Bigger pot. certainly some fresh compost - generally a less risky way to feed them than actual fertiliser- though it looks like it's been starved and/or over-watered .

Best to see what the root system is like - may be better to shake off some old compost rather than going up too big a jump in pot size and hence making watering problematic ..

 

[gentlegreen]

Another unlabelled plant at Bath Botanic gardens yesterday :-

 

[campanula]

Callicarpa bodinieri, aka Beauty bush.

 

[gentlegreen]

Thanks.

Apparently it used to be grouped with the verbenas, but now is in with deadnettles.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Makes sense if you think about the arrangement of flowers on stems.

 

[Biddlybee]

*bump*

Can anyone recommend a British flower / wild flower ID book? I'm forever taking photos, but have no idea what the plants are. Thanks

 

[gentlegreen]

Makes sense if you think about the arrangement of flowers on stems.

Oh yes, sort of whorled .. I'll have to make a point of taking a look at it next spring.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

@Biddlybee

My very favourite is the Reverend Keble* Martin's Concise British Flora
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Keble_Martin

*pronounced keeble

...but the Readers Digest Field Guide to Wild Flowers is really good, easier to use for general ID and less unwieldy. Get the older edition that looks like this, I like it much more than the more recent edition.

I bet you can get it from abebooks.co.uk which is an online bookshop of masses of secondhand bookshops. I use it all the time....

 

[Biddlybee]

Thanks Mrs.M, I'll start with the smaller Reader's Digest one

 

[Mrs Magpie]

British flower / wild flower ID book?

Although there's plenty here who love the diverting parlour game of "Name That Plant!"

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Thanks Mrs.M, I'll start with the smaller Reader's Digest one

You could always come over and look at my vast collection of books botanical

 

[lizzieloo]

*bump*

Can anyone recommend a British flower / wild flower ID book? I'm forever taking photos, but have no idea what the plants are. Thanks

Great pocket guide, my dad's a real wild flower buff and swears by it.

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/alastair fitter/marjorie blamey/marjorie blamey/richard sidney richmond fitter/wild flowers of britain and northern europe/4255138/

 

[Biddlybee]

You could always come over and look at my vast collection of books botanical

Thank you Mrs M, it's more to take with me (like my bird book ).

Have you got that one lizzieloo?

 

[Biddlybee]

oooh, look though: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/second-hand-books/589433

 

[Mrs Magpie]

oooh, look though: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/second-hand-books/589433

It is the best

 

[Biddlybee]

I put it in my basket, along with this one (because I think I'll like the illustrations), thank you.

I will post some pics up if I still can't work out what the flower are

 

[geminisnake]

Another unlabelled plant at Bath Botanic gardens yesterday :-

View attachment 14093

Think they've got them in at Lidl atm if you wanted one gg

 

[gentlegreen]

Thanks , but I'm not sure I can do it justice. I'm really not gardening at the moment - and in these times of austerity I'm feeling inclined to concentrate on edibles ...

I don't suppose it's edible ?

 

[geminisnake]

No idea, maybe for birds?? Google should tell you

 

[lizzieloo]

Have you got that one lizzieloo?

Yes, my dad has had a few, when he spots a plant he notes it down in there, the first one has dates from the early 70s in it and kind of tracks where he's/we've been for years

 

[Biddlybee]

This might become yet another hobby

 

[gentlegreen]

I had a look in Google Earth, but the streetview photo was taken early in the year when the bank had also been mown ..

 

[gentlegreen]