12.03.2015 Narcissus

22.07.2014 Attack of the Moth

Purple Archangel

This is a Purple Archangel plant, also known as Red Deadnettle, Purple Deadnettle, or Purple Archangel (Lamium purpureum). This is why it is so tricky to identify plants, or one of the reasons. Why do there need to be so many names?

Purple Archangel fact:

Though superficially similar to a nettle in appearance, it is not related and does not sting, hence the name "deadnettle".

Other facts about Archangels:

Archangel was the name of a TV movie in 2005 starring Daniel Craig

An archangel is an angel of high rank. 

Metatron (no not Megatron) is an archangel and played by Alan Rickman in the 1999 film Dogma

(watch a clip of Mr Rickman in action)

Autumn Leaves

Autumn is a time of great beauty with trees turning from a bright green to shades of brown and red, but why do these leaves lose their green color and become the yellow, orange, and red we associate with Autumn?

When the air temperature drops the chlorophyll inside the leaves starts to break down and this reveals the other pigments that also exist naturally within the plant. Some example pigments include carotenoids and xanthophylls which usually give a yellow and or orange colour to the leaves.

At the same time as the chlorophyll breaking down a layer between the leaf and the main stem called the abscission layer also starts to grow which cuts off the water supply to the leaf. This eventually causes the leaf to fall off but before that happens, the sugars within the leaf also break down into anthocyanin which can give leaves that dark red colour.

(source: Science Facts)

Fruits of the Forest

"A berry must be a fruit which contains stones, pips, things . . . there must be more than one."
(Source: Stephen Fry QI Series 3.10)

So:

Blackberry, strawberry, raspberry are all not berries.

But a banana is...

Borago Officinalis

This is Borage, or Starflower, or Borago Offcinalis if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Three things I like about this plant:

1. The flowers are complete, perfect with five narrow, triangular-pointed petals.
2. It is bristly or hairy all over
3. It is said to protect or nurse legumes, spinach, brassicas, and even strawberries

However, there is a warning to be heeded when growing this plant alongside tomatoes. Claims that it improves tomato growth and makes them taste better remain unsubstantiated.

So, you have been warned.

Cockroaches

I managed to get hold of two dead cockroaches (natural causes) and one exoskeleton. There is something rather Alien about these creatures...