Elder seedling identification, Sambucus nigra

Elder seedling identification Sambucus nigra.

Elder, Sambucus nigra identification

Elder grow quickly and can become a big weed shrub, though they do produce an abundance of fruit for the birds in autumn. The Elder rely on birds to distribute their seeds and is why the Elder are spread wide and far.

It is difficult to identify what the plant by the cotyledons and even the first pair of true leaves. You can identify the Elder when they grow the pinata leaves which grow in oppositepais consisting of two, three or four pairs of broadly egg-shaped, serrated leaflets and terminal one.

Images Copyright Neil Bromhall. www.rightplants4me.co.uk

For in interactive plant database to help with plant identification where you can select by Latin or common name, colour, height, month etc. and accompanied with 9,000 images please see www.complete-gardens.co.uk

Hazel seedling identification. Corylus avellana

Hazel seedling with roots

 

Plant identification. Hazel seedling. 

Corylus avellana. 

The first true rounded, serrated edged  leaves grow quickly 

The protective nut shell from where the Hazel germinated is still attached.

 

Hazel can be a bit of an unwanted weed shrub if the seedling is given the opportunity to take root. The seedlings are easy to pull up when small but will need digging up if the plant is more than a year or two old.

Hazel nut seedling and roots

 

Here is a time-lapse of the male hazel catkins. The small red female stigmas protrude from the bud. The pollen sticks to the ends of the stigmas and fertilises the plant.

Aphid infestation on rose bud, time-lapse

Aphids are attracted to the tender new growth. Here is a time-lapse of rose leaf bud growing and as it does becomes infested with aphids.

At the end of the sequence, one of the natural aphid preditors the hoverfly larva comes in and eats most if not all of the aphids.

This shows just how efficient hoverfly larvae are at controlling aphids.

The sequence was filmed over a period of 24 hrs.

What’s making holes in the leaves? Leafcutter bee

If you wonder what is cutting circular holes around the margins of your leaves, then it’s likely to be the solitary leaf-cutter bee.

The longer cuts are used for wrapped around the chamber. The female will then provision the chamber and lay an egg. The circular cuts are used to seal off the chamber. The egg hatches into a grub.

The grub eats the pollen, pupates and later emerges as a bee.

The female leafcutter bees select leaves that are bendable and not too heavy to carry.

Leaf cutter bee damage to leaves

Bees are vital for pollination. You can buy leafcutter bee houses to attract the bees to your garden. The leaf-cutter bees are solitary and unlike honey bees do not swarm like honey bees so they are little or no danger to humans or pets.

Bees are vital for pollination.

Leaf-cutter bee house

You can buy leafcutter bee houses to attract the bees to your garden.

 Leafcutter bee house. Leaf cutter bees like hollow tubes and bamboo are ideal. They also excavate tunnels in flower pots where light gritty compost is used.  

Leaf-cutter bee chambers

Here I’ve cut open a bamboo cane to reveal the leaf-cutter bee nest chambers. Row of leaf-cutter bee chambers lined with cut leaves. The male will be nearest the exit

The female has used the circular cuts to seal off the ends of the chamber, whereas the longer cuts are wrapped around the sides. The adult bee will provision the chamber with pollen and lay an egg. The larva feeds of the pollen.

The female larva are the first to be layed and are deepest in the line. This means that if the nest is predated by a woodpecker, the feamles have a better chance of avoiding being eaten. The male larva is nearst the exit and will be the first to be eaten.

Leaf-cutter bee larva inside chamber, eating the pollen provided by the bee

Although this larva will probably die, I carefully replaced the bamboo and sealed it with wax to keep the chambers intact and dry.

Leaf-cutterbee damage to a rose

Leaf damage on rose by leaf cutter bees

Narcissus grub eating daffodil bulb. Garden pest identification

 

Narcissus grub larva. 10mm long

Narcissus grub eating daffodil

If you’re digging the garden or planting bulbs, it’s worth checking on your daffodil bulbs for the Narcissus grubs.

Narcissus grub eating a daffodil bulb

These pests eat the inside of your daffodil bulbs.

Discard the bulb as they probably won’t recover.

Narcissus bulbs. healthy and narcissus grub infected

It is easy to see which bulbs are healthy and which ones are infected. At the base of an infected bulb will be black and unhealthy looking