KeenTeen17

my coralroots are up btw ;)

Cheers KT. There should be some bugloss coming up at haslingden Panopticon site too, but it's not up yet. - Regards Mike.

Hi, how did you get on with the Birds Nest Orchid ? we found the Ladies Slipper OK and as luck would have it it had just opened a couple of days before. We were going to go the weekend before good job we didn't

Hi Jack,
it's a bit of a combination of experience and a lot of reading/research!

I use a large range of books (I have a few thousand - not just on plants/animals - and not a big enough house!). It is also useful to visit gardens and garden centres with labelled plants so you become familiar with species that may turn up in the wild.

It is also useful to belong to one of the botanical societies such as the BSBI? Their journals regularly feature unusual alien species which people find - often with detailed descriptions and pictures.

Of course much is down to experience. I have been looking at plants for about 27 years so even if I come across a plant that I don't know, I have some idea of which genus or family it would be in. This of course can then greatly narrow down the search.

hope this helps
Tig

lol thankyou, ive done pretty well already actually since my mom agreed to a trip to cyprus back in april... 26 new european species!! really amazing. unfortunately i cant get up there because of A levels and other trips but i would like to.

like my new avatar? ;)

Thanks, you should have heard the noise they were making :)

Hi KT, I think the gentians will be from the Burren - Jimmer has another pic of a tomb there, in county Clare. If you havent been, save up and do it - terrific for flora and lots else too.
Cheers
Ken

Hope its still there .... Ian and I were only talking about the ladys slipper yesterday - we drove past but had to be getting back so have left it till next week when we are on holiday for a week at the caravan - if all goes to plan .......... fingers crossed!

Now the Leafy Spurge is south of Milnthorpe: pass the garage on the left with the car wash, then Oasis Wildlife Zoo thingie on the left and keep on the A6 (our caravan is left at this point) keep on, pass the second garage which actually sells cars as well as fuel and a pub opposite, keep on you will see the big yellow patch of the spurge on the left-hand verge and a few yards past is a parking spot - stop here and nip back a few yards to spurge. If you wind up in Milnthorpe you've overshot - turn back. Let me know if you think it is Leafy?? Tiggryx thought it was poss.