Tom Bola

A calm day today, with the mist hanging low over the hills - quite spooky. Did a bit of gardening this morning, planting out one of my latest acquisitions, a shrub by the name of Rostrinucula dependens. I'm still having difficulty in working out how to pronounce it! It's a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae, and was introduced from China for the first time in 1985. I'd never heard of it; some nurseries say it's quite hardy, others say it could be cut to the ground in the winter but will regrow in the spring, and one well-known nursery says : "Please note that although we usually guarantee plants for a year after purchase, we will not replace failed Rostrinucula dependens. Best grown by experienced gardeners!"
We'll see! I've taken cuttings of it so hope to have some plants to keep in the greenhouse as a backup. It flowers in late summer and the blooms are like a drooping pink buddleja apparently.

This afternoon I took a walk down to Dunollie, a good half-hour away. I've been asked if I would try to complete the database of plants in the garden - they have a grant for this and also for having labels made. I was a bit dubious as I would hate to say 'I don't know what this is', but I agreed to give it a go and will try to spend an afternoon down there each week. I said I would have been happy to do it voluntarily, but they said that as they have the money I might as well take it! Makes sense.

On the way back - there are so many different ways of getting there on foot! - I took the footpath which passes above the local bowling green, where a solitary bowler was practising his art. I hope his name was Tom! This ball was very close to the target so I called out my congratulations. He nearly had a fit - thought it was a ghost, he said! 

My extra today is of a bee on a flower of Buddleja globosa in a garden I passed. It's rather blown up, so not as sharp as I would like.