have been given a plant for my recent birthday…..Leucothoe axillaris Curly Red. Can you give me some information on this plant..how tall will it grow, does it need to be in the garden, it is in a pot now..
Midgelet, I am from England now living and gardening in Czech Republic, where a large variety of fungi grow wild in the pine woods.Every autumn you see the local people heading for the woods carring wicker baskets to collect the very delicious wild mushrooms. They all know what you can pick and what should be left alone a skill that is still handed down from one generation to another. Some of the fungi collected look like and are as big as footballs, these have a very delicate flovour and are eaten instead of meat and with a lot of people unemployed or on a very low wage this is a free meal. The smaller varieties are washed, sliced, egg and breadcrumbed then fried and eaten with tartar sauce and salad. Anything left over are dried and used during the winter months for soup or stew and served with dumplings, not at all like the english variety these are big made from bread of potato and are very filling. Although I would not trust my own judgement to pick the correct fungi on an early morning forage in the nearby woods, I am quite ahppy to accept the offer of a choice of multi coloured mushrooms from a wicker basket when there is a knock on the door during the autumn season.
Mrs Panda – yes, eventually, but the leaves are quite waxy.
Moaning Millie – are you referring to water being wasted by the concreting of gardens? I have touched on the subject a couple of times: paving over front gardens, building a green roof, water gardens
Old Chippy – I’m sorry to hear your wife doesn’t value biodiversity. I bet she likes feeding the birds though. One of the reasons sparrows and song thrushes are declining is a loss of natural food for their young. Birds visit feeders themselves, but nearly always feed caterpillars and insects to their young. So the more caterpillars and insects sleeping under your leaves in winter, the more baby birds there will be in your garden in spring. Do you think she’ll go for that?
I’ve not seen any mushrooms this year! The small crop that emerged in my garden last year has not appeared this autumn.
Have been anxious (recently I seem to be casting around for things to be anxious about) that I pack my leaves too firmly into the upright circly cage I’ve made – any ideas? Also, should I wet them when they’re in that kind of open cage?
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Mrs Panda – yes, eventually, but the leaves are quite waxy.
Moaning Millie – are you referring to water being wasted by the concreting of gardens? I have touched on the subject a couple of times: paving over front gardens, building a green roof, water gardens
Old Chippy – I’m sorry to hear your wife doesn’t value biodiversity. I bet she likes feeding the birds though. One of the reasons sparrows and song thrushes are declining is a loss of natural food for their young. Birds visit feeders themselves, but nearly always feed caterpillars and insects to their young. So the more caterpillars and insects sleeping under your leaves in winter, the more baby birds there will be in your garden in spring. Do you think she’ll go for that?
I’ve not seen any mushrooms this year! The small crop that emerged in my garden last year has not appeared this autumn.
Kate
Have been anxious (recently I seem to be casting around for things to be anxious about) that I pack my leaves too firmly into the upright circly cage I’ve made – any ideas? Also, should I wet them when they’re in that kind of open cage?
x
Sheila Averbuch
Kate