Ouch !

Finally sorted out the database so that the "free text" bits are spell-check-able. AND arranged for spellcheck of Latin against the BSBI database.

A lot of mistakes have been revealed and corrected. Apologies to any site-visitors who were annoyed at the level of typos etc. We strive to improve.

Cultivars

... and variants of species / sub-species. I tend to the view that what is important is the species and the selected forms of the gardener no more than specially chosen examples. (This is oversimplifying of course - many garden daffodils / roses etc are very distant from their wild ancestors genetically.)
The site is now modified to deal with these consistently I hope. Main indexes list species / sub-species but there is now a Variant / Cultivar index as well.

Surprises in the garden

My garden may be rather untidy but it does support a wide range of interesting plants that "just happen".

Latest discovery is Scilla bifolia, hidden among daffodils and snowdrops that pre-date my time here.

Might have been introduced with the bulbs I suppose.

Other gems include Ivy Broomrape and the various species that have colonised the walls.

Yew

Anyone might notice a male Yew flowering - quite a show en masse even - but you only get to see the female flowers if you look for them. Which trees to look on ? The clue is in the old decaying berries from last year.

Leucojum flowering times

The plot thickens. I think the two sub-species of L. aestivum differ quite significantly in this parameter. Books like Stace don't commit on flowering time...

Spring just round the corner

But only apparent as Bluebell shoots and Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage in Long Wood. The recent cold has kept pretty much everything on hold in the garden as well. We have a cold weekend forecast but hopefully after that...

Oh - and Scarlet Cups (fungus) were brilliant in Long Wood.

It's been cold

So no obvious botanical walks to do. We climbed Brent Knoll on a superb day visibility wise; enjoyed the view at the top (if not the icy wind) and, lo and behold, coming back down round the south side found a sheltered pocket where the road verge had Sweet Violet and Celandine in profusion. The Celandines were probably a large-flowered sub-species but it was too early to check the distinguishing features for certain.

What computer do I use ?

The Nikon Capture software I like using for initial processing of my images has just got a whole lot slower with the latest version upgrade so I had to consider a new computer.

I chose a Dell. It's a great computer (I think) but I note the facts below as they might be of interest to those contemplating a similar purchase.

I ordered the computer on line with two hard drives (lots of images to store) on 8th Feb.
Got an email receipt telling me to expect an order number within 72 hours.

On Mon 14th Feb I thought this "72 hours" was a bit overdue and phoned to enquire. I was told the order had been cancelled by the system - I hit the roof and was told it had been re-instated. Big mistake.

I never did get the order number by email but, after several increasingly fraught phone calls to Dell, I did get the computer on 21st Feb with the second hard drive not fitted but in a separate box. Next day I got a delivery note in the post listing the second hard drive as a "kit".

I was quite OK with this, if a little miffed, so eventually I got the case open (no instructions for this provided) and found there is a bay for the drive - there is even a power connector available - but no connector cable for the mother board in either consignment box.

A week was spent in fruitless phone calls to "Customer Service" and in sending emails requests via the site which got me nowhere.

Eventually today (25th Feb) I did get to speak to a nice Dell engineer who was as baffled as me at what I had been sent but confirmed that it was all as it should be according to the parts lists he had. He is, he tells me, sending a cable. His boss would not authorise an engineer to come and fit the drive (I have 3 Yr next day warranty service - or at least thought I had.)

All I can say and avoid being sued is that I feel sad about all this.

26th Feb 2005

In all fairness I should update. Latish yesterday I got a phone call from a very helpful young Irishwoman who agreed that I didn't seem to have been treated right and offered me the delivery charge to be refunded. As this now gets me back to about where I would be if I had bought the second drive as a self-fit part I am, if not exactly satisfied, at least able to go forward. She was also able to confirm I would be gettng the cable I need on Monday - we shall see !

6th March 2005

Fairness to Dell - they make good computers and you can spec to your desires. I'm happy with it now. But they are completely let down by customer service (particularly the difficulty to escalate to someone who can do anything).

A quiet week

No new flower images this week, although I am about to go out and check local Yew Trees for their tiny flowers which are due at this time of year.

Leucojum vernum

Found it on second visit to the area - right at the edge of the expected square. If it is a true native (or even if not) really some more effort should be made to help it become common again... (Meanwhile cultivated daffodils and snowdrops are appearing everywhere.)

Bad blogger

A lot has changed without my recording it here. The gallery now randomises every time I re-build the site - so frequent visitors get a different mix every time and new classifications / indexes have been added - trees, ferns etc.

Indexes

Floralimages: www.floralimages.co.uk

The site expands

As I am now getting better at identifying wild flowers and I am noticing a whole lot of common ones that are nonetheless worthwhile the site is expanding fast.

This has lead to urgent work to tame the page sizes ! Download times even for modem users now more under control.

More sectioning as well - a new catagory for things that frankly are not flowers for instance.

Floral Images

This will be a diary of my development of the site.