I don't have cable so I can't watch it, but That is a awesome link you gave us! Thank you.

I can't see a link????

the; www.cottonarboretum.com, link. isn't that a link?

flora, did you ever see (and respond to?) my question about snow in eng.? maybe i sent it through GW and it never reached you. might you give us an idea of:
if snow is to be found in eng. and/or GB,where would that most likely be, and when it does stick, does it stay around for awhile or "disappear by the next day"? plse believe me, i am not asking you to be omniscient, just whatever you happen to know through being there!
here in boston area we had about 18" around christmas and it's still a blanket.(btw, i did do a bit of googling to answer this, but the respondents didn't seem too dependable.)
thanks much,
mindy

I thought I recall the guy I worked with in Nottingham said the weather is comparable to Maine but not as much snow...few inches here and there.

Dang it, I don't see Amazing Plants listed on NGC for as far out as I can look at programming. Its probably dependent on the cable provider (I have Charter).

I saw that program last year. I used to have the link to it, but I can't find it now. If you have a chance to see it, don't miss it!

It sounds really neat. Unfortunately DISH network has been swapping channels in and out and right now NGC seems to be out. Will have to check the library next time I get there.

Just basic cable here (which is expensive enough, with a bunch of crappy channels), and that doesn't include the NGC channel. But I've been frequenting the library lately, and will see if they have something.

Maybe a major caveat>> Amazing Plants is a Smithsonian Channel show, not nat geo. so sorry.

for me, the most astonishing things were:

that certain plants , when attacked by pests, have various alarms that they send out in the way of sap and/or scent - that attract the predator of the predator of the plant!!

and there exists a' bee orchid' that looks exactly like a FEMALE wasp - to attract the pollinating male wasps! and, GET THIS!- the plant also sends out a scent identical to the pheromones of the female wasp!!!

that at least two plants have been shown to react to smell.

there may be some evidence that shows plants reacting positively to music.

and the virulence with which some plants EXPLODE their seeds outward!

it is just mindboggling what photography can show these days.

best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/

The one I saw was on PBS, we don't have cable so we don't get the Smithsonian Channel. Now I'm not sure what it was!

I found the one I saw, it was Nova's First Flower. Wonderful and well worth watching! Available from Amazon. Wish I could see the Smithsonian one too.

moss, thanks so much for mentioning that. i checked and found that my lib has it so i ordered it!
thnx again,
mindy

OK, I thought there was a link to the programme - not just to the Cotton Arboretum.

Not sure what happened to the snow question.
Normally, we have very little snow where I live (SW England). Maybe 2 or 3 falls per winter most of which are no more than an inch or 2 and which don't stay more than a day or so. However, this year and last year we have had much colder temps and more snow than for many years. Before Christmas there was snow on the ground for over a week and temps below freezing every day during that period.

However, in comparison to parts of the US even this year was pretty moderate. When I tell you we had the coldest December for 100 years and that it was so unusual because there was an average December temp below freezing, you can see what I mean. Most years the lowest average Winter temp is a few degrees(C) above freezing. Rosemary, bay trees etc are totally hardy where I live.

flora, did we talk about trescoe abbey? have you been numerous times? do you have a fav time of yr there? we were there in march many yrs ago. not ideal but still MUCH better than here in march!!
best,
mindy

Mindy - I am afraid I have never been to Tresco, so can't help you with that question. I am impressed you found your way there. As is so often the case one doesn't get around to visiting places on one's door step (relatively speaking.) It's over four hours from where I live to the jump off point and then there's either a helicoter ride or a 2 hour boat trip to get there. It's quicker to go to Paris!

flora, i'm conFUSED. how could you be 4 hours from the jump off point? you did say SWEST eng? is it just barely SW? i just didn't remember that SW was that big...... but then again, we all know about memory...

best,
mindy

Hi Mindy

The link shows England with the regions marked. I live in the NE of the SW (if you see what I mean). The jumping off point for Tresco is way down in the SW tip of the SW,not far from Lands End, almost as far as you can go before you are on your way to the US!

Flora

Here is a link that might be useful: English Regions

flora, so thoughtful of you to provide the link. it didn't work for me, but google quickly did so now i'm getting a renewed geography lesson on great britain. i find it such fun as an older person to get into geography because i bring so much more knowledge, and references , to the table of connecting things!so, rather than waste my time feeling stupid, i just get on w/ the excitement of learning!

at any rate,i certainly never would have thought of 'sw' including the area due west of london, but there you are.
SO. on our one(march!)trip to eng, we did go to bath and westward (tresco abbey being the furthest west in england that we went). google says that bath is 4 hrs from lands end. are you near bath(what a lovely place) or maybe in gloucestershire?( i haven't been there.)

i won't waste time repeating the old adage and everything, but i will tell you that even in march we found tresco to be a real treat. actually, it was the first time i ever saw(consciously, anyway)echium. i'm guessing that it doesn't grow many places in GB(?); maybe up at that fairy community in scotland, with the gulf stream and palm trees and everything? I think of echium as kind of like a cross between blue buddleia and acanthus, on MEGA steroids!
Now i see echium when we go to carmel CA every march, and there are few plants i love more!

anyway, lord knows you live in the land of great gardens every place you look, but i hope you'll treat yourself someday soon- and go there, to tresco. and have you been to the lost garden of heligan? i bet that has really shaped up since we were there at the very beGINNing of that restoration, whenever that was.....

best,
mindy
p.s. i had no IDEA that it looks like you could walk from ireland to scotland in a short time....! the other night we watched a (dreadful) travel film of scotland, but we at least learned that it was settled by irish people, so now i get it. onward with my map study!.......

OK Mindy - you've blown my cover. Yes - I live in Bath. And yes, I've been to Heligan. And yes, Echium fastuosum does grow in other shelterd locations in the UK, mostly near the sea but there are a few around here in sunny spots.

ps not sure how you'd walk from Ireland to Scotland, unless you had divine abilities and could walk on water.

Flora

flora, what i meant is that it looks soooo close; i had no idea it was that close.

so plse tell, how IS heligan now? it was quite an overgrown jungle when we went there, at the nascence of its rehab. The biggest rhodo we'd ever seen and the walled garden being real highlights. it must have been 15-20 yrs ago.
best,
mindy

flora,re: my 'you could easily walk from scotland to ireland'(if there were no ocean, of course),i got this from googling:

"This is the shortest route at around 12 miles, from the Mull of Kintyre to County Antrim."
12 miles!! that's nothing! whereas the shortest distance between england and france is 21 mi.
best,
mindy
geography student!