Meanwhile, in other news…

Now house back wall is repointed & painted, it’s time to create a small shady area for ferns, hostas, & us on hot sunny days. Existing path is part paved, plus cracked concrete, which will be replaced by new paving, & steps replaced by retaining wall with railing. The new steps will be a future post

What a stunning peony 😍, it’s around 6” in diameter 😀

Begonia Sutherlandii, a stunning little plant, a native of Tanzania, growing here as a house plant in Yorkshire.

Some of the irises currently in flower, it’s a short show, but worth the annual wait.

The moon, a jet plane, & a swift.

Walked through the new QEII memorial garden in Regents Park yesterday, its early days yet as it gets established, but I did like it.

What is the collective noun for a bunch of paint brushes?

What else could you possibly want to do this weekend?

One of the first Peonies to bloom this year. Is that a transposon stripe on the petal 🤔😀

Bit of a detour on this mornings train from London to Leeds!

Wonderful evening yesterday @linneansociety.bsky.social Medals & Awards ceremony. Nominations now open for next year. Categories for different career stage researchers, amateur naturalists, promotion & safeguarding nature, & botanical art. See www.linnean.org/the-society/... for nomination details.

Since 1888, the Linnean Medal has honoured those advancing our understanding of nature. This year, we celebrate 10 individuals—pioneering researchers, communicators & campaigners—whose work spans discovery, conservation and public engagement, united by a commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

Heading to London by train for the @linneansociety.bsky.social Anniversary meeting this evening. Just passed the Humber Bridge.

One of few plants named after a Gilmartin, Puya gilmartiniae, & you can get them on flipflops! (Or you could a few years ago).

Just rediscovered this photo I took back in 2017 from a Norwich to Amsterdam flight, just about to cross the Dutch coast line.

This arrived today, it’s a second hand copy that was published in the US, so every time I read the word math, I have to correct it in my head to maths, but such an exciting book😊

Rose viridiflora, the green rose, coming into flower 😍

We’re going to need a bigger pot! #Hedychium

Two PhD positions available to work with me on the GREEN CELL FACTORY (Advancing Plant Cell Biotechnology for Sustainable Production of High-Value Metabolites). Details below. Application deadlines are 7th June 2026 (PhD1_cell bio), 31st August (PhD2_bioinf)

Seen last night on Hannah’s walk, Jupiter, Venus, and the moon. Too cloudy to see them in closer alignment tonight.

Yes we have (-no-) bananas! Musa glauca seedlings 😍

7y ago, before we bought the house, previous owners sold off part of the garden for new houses. The developer cut down the orchard which had walnut trees, as well as apples & pears which remain in our garden. I keep finding Walnut seedlings growing in tubs and pots! I’m assuming it’s a squirrel 🐿️

@joeavison.bsky.social Hi Joe, great to reconnect over here. Hope all is well.

Yes! We have peaches! A container grown tree bought last year, it had lots of blossom earlier, & now has five developing fruit 🍑 😀 Unfortunately it’s got leaf curl. Not sure how that’s going to pan out. Any advice?

One of the Amaryllis is in flower 😍

Just uncovered this selfie from a visit to Cairo in 2018, back in the days when I always seemed to be somewhere other than home.

New York subway rule: dogs can only travel if they go "in a bag." New Yorkers took it very seriously... and became incredibly creative. 🐶

This is exciting 😀 One of two flower buds on one of the Strelitzia reginae plants 😊

My Protea cynaroides Little Prince flower has fully opened 😍 I potted it up using Ericaceous compost with added grit for good drainage, but some leaves are now going brown. I know they are sensitive to Potassium, but the leaves are not looking healthy. Does anyone have experience of growing these?

Hand-coloured wood block print of Cowslip (Primula veris) from Johannes Zorn's Icones Plantarum Medicinalium (1780)

Scilla peruviana white moon in flower

Primula vulgaris. Plate 192 from Volume 2 of Flora Danica (1766).

Happy 100th Birthday Sir David Attenborough. Your adventures enthralled me as a kid, & inspired me to get on a plane (a few actually) & a boat to get myself to Komodo. That was 39 years ago (1987) no mobile phones, no internet, no social media. It was a real adventure. Thank you for the inspiration.

Uvularia grandiflora, a lovely garden plant. Well worth seeking out.

Philodendron in front of an old stone wall.

It's World Carnivorous Plant Day! 🌱 Join us next month at the annual Carnivorous Plant Society Show and Sale! ⭐ Carnivorous Plant Society Show and Sale 📅 Saturday, June 20 from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 🔗 buff.ly/22H6j7L 📸 Dan Brown, Mary Lou Olson, Jered Willis #MOBOTGarden

Some late flowering daffodils 😍Narcissus Fidan, & Narcissus Kiwi Sunset. I planted them late, so maybe that’s why they are still flowering after all the others finished.

The azalea is on fire this week.

The swifts are back! Didn’t see them flying in the sky, but this afternoon one swooped in to check out their nesting site under the roof tiles. Photo from last year 10/5/25, So right on time. They have travelled many 1000’s of miles, & returned to nest under the same roof tile in Yorkshire. Amazing!

The tree fern is starting to wake up 😊

Encourage natural predators like ladybugs and lacewings by providing habitat.

Scilla Peruviana in flower in the greenhouse with a backdrop of Dicksonia antarctica fronds

Amazing price for this fragment of an Artemisia Gentileschi at Dorotheum - €837,500. If you’ve got the missing bit, ‘come on down…’

Now playing: Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever, on a NAD 5420, via NAD 3020A, through KEF Coda III’s. Bliss. @edrybicki.bsky.social (just under 2 LEDs, & that’s just fine).

For the first time ever at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, a critically endangered Socorro dove has hatched 🕊️

Morning all

Sunday night, time to mask off the skirting in the hall ahead of painting.

Another great find yesterday, a small Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai ’Constellation’. Only £12.99 what a bargain😍

Friday afternoon, & a visit to Burnby Hall Gardens in Pocklington on the way home. A lovely garden, well worth a visit. The tulips were fabulous; and they have a dove cote😊