You may have seen that this year's Butterfly Count showed a devastating fall in butterfly numbers. Its so bad that a UK Butterfly Emergency has been declared.
The details of the count are at https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-...45bdf23bce

I plan to grow more Butterfly flowers and food plants next year to do my bit for butterflies. 

This page has info on the best plants to grow https://butterfly-conservation.org/how-y...utterflies

The best plants for nectar are:-
Buddleia
Verbena Bonariensis
Lavender
Perennial wallflower (Bowles Mauve)
Marjoram/Oregano

There's a more detailed list of plants to download and a list of food plants. 

This is going to be one of my projects for 2025. Will you join me?

Can anyone tell me what’s going on with this hydrangea?
I have lots of hydrangeas in pot all together. Waiting to go in the cottage garden as a hedge.
I notice a couple of days ago a small head of lovely blue very small spiky (star like) flowers. Wish I’d photographed it then. Because this morning I noticed that lovely blue completely different shaped flowers was actually part of a plant with the usual big head rounded petals and pink!

         

Definitely the same plant. I checked it wasn’t too in the same pot. 
Any ideas?

This is I-Spy with a twist - its I-Smell something beginning with the appropriate letter of the alphabet.
We'll start tomorrow with Smells beginning with A.
If you can, tell us when or where you smelled it, any memories it brings back.........any old waffle you like.

What do you plan to do over winter - in the garden or indoors?

I had a bucket of small eating apples . Too small to peel as there'd be very little left, so I decided to cook them with the peel to see how it cooked. 
I topped and tailed the apples, then chopped them into quarters, removing the core. Bunged the apple flesh into a pan of water with lemon juice and cooked them to a pulp. Some skin remains but its soft and not objectionable. I won't be peeling them in future.

The latest oddity to be offered by the T&M group is the Hararasp. https://www.suttons.co.uk/SUSGWE249/rubu...5280109%5D

Here's the hype:-

Who says raspberries don’t grow on trees! This miraculous space-saving raspberry tree has been developed by an ingenious breeder from Japan named Toshikhiko Hara. His groundbreaking new raspberry develops thick overwintering stems which are trained to form upright ‘trees’ with a strong, central trunk supporting a crown of fruiting branches.
Instead of rows of sprawling raspberry canes which need space, support and tying in, you can now enjoy this neat ‘Hararasp' raspberry. With its small footprint, it can easily be accommodated in a sunny spot where it will make both an attractive and edible feature. From April to May it is covered in white blossom followed by an abundance of tasty fruit from June to August that is easily reached for harvesting.
The fruit is unusually attractive, as unlike the dull fruit of other raspberries, ‘Hararasp’ bears especially glossy and shiny berries. ‘Hararasp’ is also a disease-resistant Florican-type, with excellent tolerance to heat and drought plus early fruit ripening and a long harvest period. Maximum height: 175cm (69in). Maximum spread:100cm (40in).


Gimmick or reality? Would you buy it???

Share your favourite photos of your crops or of your garden, in 2024. 
No Prizes, just a lot of Likes.

Can anyone put a name to this sedum please?

   

Can you see the smallest sunflower?      

Here’s a close up in case you can’t spot it in the mess that is my emergency “they have to be planted somewhere bed” .

   

He is 39cm tall and the flower head is 4cm wide.

I've just acquired a 6.5 litre slow cooker - its BIG. 

I confess to having a smaller one, sitting in the back of the cupboard. Think I've only used it twice.     So why have I acquired a second one, you may ask? I'm hoping that I could use it for slow cooking chutneys - the sort that simmer away on the hob for hours and need constant attention, stirring and to control the heat . 

So my question to the panel is, will it work, and are there any other uses for a slow cooker apart from meat, stews and pulses. I think I've read about making bread and yogurt in one ?
All ideas welcome.