Buster

for the heads up. Edit: as no serving suggestions were forthcoming, I have decided on some fava beans and a nice chianti !

I was walking through our market when I noticed the cut flower stall had some Sarra's for sale and well you know the rest. Sadly they were labled by the stallholder as 'Flytraps' and the individual plant labels were as generic, blah blah rainwater, blah blah tray, blah blah sunshine and a rather amusing warning 'for display only, not for human consumption!' They do look kinda yummy and was wondering if they should be served as a side dish to the main course or with a sorbet as a sweet and what wine would you chose to accompany ?(joking) Seriously though, can anyone tell me what I have purchased ? Many Thanks

Yeah, I thought snake at first but can't remember ever seeing a snake with such big eye globes in relation to its head size. I could be wrong ! Edit:- On closer inspection Corky you may be correct, there is a hint of an adder pattern to the left, though the head appears the wrong shape for an adder and the skin scales appear too large for a gecko. (although an adder would be an excellent way to deal with an ex's cat !!!) OK Al, please tell me, I give up

By the size of It's eyes it looks like a gecko of some sort but could'nt say what sort from that plc.

Hello and welcome Noticed the large unusual purple pitcher in the back of some of the shots, from the angle of the shot it appears to have a handle, what species is that ? Your nepenthes also appears to be producing hammers, that must have been a difficult hybrid to achieve.

Hello and welcome

Hello & welcome

Hello & welcome

Welcome Rich

I noticed the touchy feely approach straight away, every thought of becoming a urologist? You look like you have the touch Nice pics !

Bonjour Jbol et bienvenue !

Welcome Swizzy, Im an ex High Wycombite, many many many moons ago (early to mid 1970's)

Welcome Matej

For U.K. Members I have just purchased this rain saver kit and its great if you have limited space (fits on my narrow balcony)and for the price you cant go wrong http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Compact-Water-Butt-Rain-Saver-Kit-100L/p/189593

The size of this fly sounds as though it may be an older fly, and with age tends to come experience! Pesonally I only get concerned when they stand on the edge of the pitcher blowing raspberries at you and laughing.

Most modern flypapers are non toxic and consist of a sweet fragranced adhesive but I would check to see if the manufacturer has a web site and lists any toxic componant, old flypapers may contain metalic arsenic so attempts to lick the flies from the paper is not advised !

The sheen is multi-coloured iridescent and not just yellow and I too was surprised at the speed it seemed to appear (about 4 hrs between watering and noticing it) which leads me to think polution instead of algae.It may have been a particularly bad day polution wise, depending on wind speed and direction I sometimes notice soot specks in rainwater from large industrial fires that occur many miles away on the other side of London. I will collect some more rainwater and see if it reforms in a plantless bowl and in the tray that my plants sit in hopefully determining it's origin. My local 99p store is selling deionized water, is this a suitable alternative for CP's until I sort this issue out ?

Thanks for your reply I have not noticed the sheen before now nor have I changed position or care of the plants the only noticable difference was several poor air quality warnings on weather forcasts over the last couple of months, hence my concern. Buster

Over the last few days in London we have had some extremely sunny days and have noticed a multicoloured sheen on top of the water that my various plants sit in. I am not sure if the raised temperature has caused this sheen to form or simply the brighter days are making it more apparent. I have read that this may be caused by petrolium products absorbed by the rain from the atmosphere (we have some of the worst air pollution figures here in London) but also this may be caused by bacteria, as seen on top of many bog water/stagnent pools. I have stopped using rainwater untill I can determin where this sheen comes from and whether a bacterial sheen can harm the plants so I am using double filtered then distilled tap water at the moment. This temporary method of watering is unsustainable and wonder if any members have faced this issue before and how it was dealt with. Thanks Buster

Hello and Welcome

Hi Ian Yes indeed The Rose of Denmark in Charlton is still going strong !