Welcome or not?

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Hilary

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #45 on: February 21, 2020, 07:08:49 AM »
Wasp on Euphorbia milii

This photo opportunity was too good to miss. The wasp sat on the flower and waited until I found the camera, turned it on, found the close up setting and then took its photo. I then blew gently on the wasp as it was not moving and it turned to give me a full face pose.

We have had this Euphorbia milii plant since 1967 when I acquired a cutting and stuck it in a plastic milk bottle. It has moved house four times and seems to like the corner it is sitting in now.

Yes, Euphorbia milii gets a mention in several issues if THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN

AN ODE TO THE JOY OF A GARDEN by Patricia Manessi-Green looks interesting. Although I have read and re read many of the articles in the journal I do like reading them again

THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 97, July 2019
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

Umbrian

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #46 on: February 21, 2020, 08:32:15 AM »
Lovely captures Hilary.
I have been struggling with posting photos when my app suddenly started to misunction but have installed a new one and will experiment with it when time allows and hope to be back in full action soon. Accompanying photos make posts so much more interesting
I think and are essential for many.
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

David Dickinson

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #47 on: February 21, 2020, 10:20:02 AM »
Yes, great photos. I love taking photos of the insects in the garden, even little everyday insects. Here is a Cleopatra butterfly. They never seem to settle with their wings open but I managed to photograph the orange on the forewings by  getting a photo with the sun shining through them.


As for posting photos, here is how I reduce them to the correct size. If you have "paint":

1 Get your pic stored on your computer
2 Right click on the pic with your mouse
3 from the menu that opens up select "open with"
4 select "paint"
5 go through the options that are available at the top of the screen until you find "resize"
6 left click with the mouse on "resize". A box will open up.
7 Make sure that the "percentage" option is ticked at the top of the box. Then go to the box marked "horizontal".  I usually change this from 100 down to 30. If the percentage option has been selcted the "vertical" box will automatically change to 30 as well.
8 Go to the top of the screen and left click with the mouse on "File"
9 select "Save as". (f you select "save" you will replace your original pic with the new reduced version). Decide a name for the new version of the pic and save it where you can find it again.
10 Close your original pic and then open the new version.
11 Right click with the mouse and from the menu that opens up select"properties".
12 Left click on "properties" and you will see "size" details. If the size is under the 250 kb limit then you are okay to go ahead with attaching the pic. If it is slightly above, repeat the process above except at point 7 reduce from 100 to 90 and then recheck the "size" in "properties"
Seems more complicated than it is. If you are okay with setting up files to save your pics you could do as I have done and set up a file called "pics for MGS". At point 9 above I save my reduced pics there until I have posted them and then I delete them from the file. Easy to find them at the point where you want to attach them to your posting that way.
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

Umbrian

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #48 on: February 22, 2020, 08:06:43 AM »
Wow David what a lot of information and so painstakingly written out. One way or another I shall have  no excuses now for not posting photographs and your post is another fine example of the value of the Forum. Just need a proper 'winter day' now that confines me indoors with time to experiment :)
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

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John J

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #49 on: March 04, 2020, 09:53:08 AM »
The Praying mantis is a welcome visitor to the garden but I'm not sure that the 2 characters in the other photo would consider my presence to be too welcome. :-[
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #50 on: March 06, 2020, 10:19:28 AM »
I was very surprised to find this little chap in our garden this morning. In normal circumstances he/she would have been very welcome except that it appeared to be in some distress. I gathered it up and took it around the corner to our local vet who agreed that it looked to be very old and possibly sick. I left it with him to see what happened but not with any degree of hope for the poor little fella.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

David Dickinson

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #51 on: March 09, 2020, 11:34:36 AM »
These wasps, presumably battling queens, are welcome as predators - but only if they don't nest right next to the main entrance to the garden. Which is exactly what they did last year! And they were squabbling in exactly the same point this year.

Just before opening up the Forum today I was reading the news and saw a link to this short video.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/what-if-all-the-wasps-disappeared/p085ltfr
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

David Dickinson

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #52 on: March 22, 2020, 11:37:34 PM »
My latest, overly friendly, visitor is not welcome at all. Has come along with my new neighbours. Scares off all the birds, already killed the robin, brings me rats and mice from the fields around and has taken to sprawling out in all the places I want to put out delicate seedlings! Plastic netting already hammered into the ground where she decided to make her toilet. Right on top of a Salvia spathacea  - only 2 stalks remaining now. Grrrrr!!!!!! Wherever she tries to make her bed, the following day she finds a lot of canes inserted into the soil to discourage her. I hope she will get the message and move on  >:(
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

Caroline

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #53 on: March 23, 2020, 04:41:30 AM »
Do you have a spray bottle you could fill with water and use as a water pistol on her?
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

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Charithea

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #54 on: March 23, 2020, 08:26:55 PM »
Of dear David. Cats are a big pain and I am saying this being an owner of 5.   I always put sticks around my seedlings to discourage  the cats from sleeping on them but they do flatten down some of them. However, they don't  catch birds but they catch large lizards and carry them around in their mouth.
I garden in Cyprus, in a flat old farming field, alt. approx. 30 m asl.

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John J

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #55 on: April 04, 2020, 09:47:53 AM »
Every year we get lots of nasturtiums popping up all over the place. They obviously provide a good food source for caterpillars and it means we have less to clear up once they've gone over.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #56 on: April 12, 2020, 05:34:06 AM »
This one is most certainly welcome, apart from being a great surprise. I spotted it yesterday in our Brunfelsia bush as I was admiring the flowers that are beginning to open. The photo was as close as I dared to get using the tele-photo on my camera.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

Umbrian

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #57 on: April 12, 2020, 07:29:24 AM »
After the unfortunate demise of a young fledging that came to grief after falling to the ground in an unfortunate spot presumably during its first attempt at life beyond the nest, the parent birds have been busy building a new nest. This time they have chosen a Trachelospermum on a wall in my back garden and are creating quite a hole in the thick twining foliage as they dive in with beaks full of material. I love watching their progress and they become quite tame when coming for the food I put out especially once feeding young, after however they become more distant and cautious again. So interesting observing such things as I go about my jons in the garden. The one thing that annoys me however is the way they peck at the soil in pots and scatter the top dressing of gravel that I use to conserve moisture. They obviously appreciate the moisture too. This is particularly annoying when they investigate my seed trays and pots and this year I have had to resort to covering them with fleece after finding some young Ipomea seedlings completely uprooted.
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

David Dickinson

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Re: Welcome or not? Spiders eating bees.
« Reply #58 on: May 20, 2020, 01:37:02 AM »
I would have thought that bees would have been able to intimidate the much smaller crab  spiders. It appears not.  Imagine popping your head into trumpet shape flower only to find a pair (or more!) of eyes weighing up the correct moment to strike :o!
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

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John J

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Re: Welcome or not?
« Reply #59 on: June 09, 2020, 05:52:45 PM »
We get chameleons in the garden from time to time and they are always welcome when we do. This one almost got a shower as I only saw it at the last minute while I was watering one area. I doubt it would have been appreciated as it appeared to be in the process of shedding its old skin at the time.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)