'lethal whites' are a known issue with some dog breeds (collies mostly, in the UK). Even very blond people - the ones that, as adults, have white blond hair and very fair skin - seem to suffer some health issues more often than other people. The colourless genes are evidently closely linked to health somehow.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I thought true Albino have pink eyes, ie no colour so the colour of the blood vessels show through. All kittens have blue eyes, it normally changes as they develop.
I could say I got up on the wrong side of the bed today but I didn't actually get to bed To try and cheer myself up I had an hour in the greenhouse trying to tidy things up a bit after the storm damage but while I was daydreaming away there was a gust of wind and a lump of the neighbour's shed roof crashed into the pane of glass right above my head. By lump I mean a sheet of heavy-duty felt about 3 feet long by a foot wide rolled up into a square. The glass cracked but didn't shatter luckily, and I'm glad I bought a few spare panes last week now. I hope they sort that roof out soon before something even worse happens. The roof is made up of big felt strips glued together to look like tiles but they tend to come unstuck in high winds.
I also had a double whammy of plant problems. A sedum Atlantis I bought 2 years ago hasn't been doing well and went really downhill over the winter. It doesn't take a genius to guess the pot was full of vine weevil grubs but when I dug them out I found the roots were knackered anyway thanks to the dreaded tea bags again. Three of them tied together this time with no signs of degrading or allowing roots through.
Luckily I've taken loads of cuttings and given quite a few plants away so I've got spares. The plant below on the right is from cuttings and hangs on the wall away from greedy weevils.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
The teabags are much harder to spot now. I have found them in what I considered to be fairly mature perennials. Usually once they've died for no apparent reason. My sedum Atlantis is looking the worse for wear. I might fish it out and have a look. TBH, I didn't really like the yellow flowers much
I've not been very impressed with it as a cultivar. The variegation is really unstable and the paler shoots burn easily in the sun. Half the shoots on the plant above will probably need to be removed, they look lovely and pink now but won't grow well. I think they did well to get a show winning plant out of it as it doesn't grow as well as advertised without some work. The sedum society reports seem to agree so it's not just me struggling with it.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Well I nearly got the grass cut for the first time this year. It had been dry & bright a good couple of hours so I thought I would give it a go. I got the mower out, checked it over, put some petrol in. After I started it I let it run for a couple of minutes without any load, all fine. It's only a small lawn I got halfway when the hailstorm came, I rushed to put everything away, & you guessed by the time it was all back in the shed it had stopped. Now the grass is wet it will have to wait for another day. ☹
I have a long lockdown-related curmudgeon (surely it ought to be a descriptive noun as well?), which is that my deck began collapsing last June and I have been completely unable to find anyone to replace it. I've phoned and emailed companies asking if they can sign me up as a customer as soon as lockdown is over. Not a peep. I have a tiny garden and it's so horribly fiddly to work there, so the usual paving/decking companies aren't interested. So right now I can only walk on the beds and am facing a second summer with no seating area in the garden. The one bright spot is that I had my first Covid shot today, so there is light at the end of the tunnel...
@Cambridgerose12 that's a shame. Do you really need a deck though if it"s atiny garden? Could you consider taking it up yourself which shouldn't be too difficult. If you need a step, improvise with a couple of paving stones on top of each other.Just a thought.
@wild edges should probably be the arbiter. In bare feet, what is worst to tread on: an up-turned plug or a Lego brick? I have a view at the moment but I think circumstances alter cases. Are there worse things to stand on? Antipodeans, I'm fully aware that this is a northern hemisphere problem and you'd rather stub your foot on a bit of plastic than the options available to you😖
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The colourless genes are evidently closely linked to health somehow.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
In bare feet, what is worst to tread on: an up-turned plug or a Lego brick?
I have a view at the moment but I think circumstances alter cases.
Are there worse things to stand on?
Antipodeans, I'm fully aware that this is a northern hemisphere problem and you'd rather stub your foot on a bit of plastic than the options available to you😖