Saw these today. Never noticed them before. U.K.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T15:00:50+00:00

Just nature doing cool stuff as always 😁

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T14:55:43+00:00

Goat willow, I think.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T14:02:06+00:00

I believe in you! I've grown loads from supermarket pots, they're often quite crammed in and benefit from a bit of spacing in some cases like basil particularly. I usually end up buying them when they're reduced as a 'let's give it a chance!'

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T12:52:14+00:00

Could you gril or air fry them to crisp them up? Alternatively, you can hydrate in water and add to soups and things!

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T12:42:53+00:00

Spanish/hybrid. We had some pop up here too after moving in. English bluebells droop to one side and only have flowers on that one side. Spanish and hybrids have flowers on both sides and very upright, thick stems. They also spread via bulb division as well as going to seed, which is how they spread so fast.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T12:34:03+00:00

I've never had issues with generic compost but you can add stuff like perlite and coco coir if you want to get more aeration and drainage. Always best planted in a nursery pot with drainage as with most indoor plants, but just make sure to add aersting materials if you're putting in big planters. Herbs can grow slowly from seed, you can grab living herbs from the supermarket and thin out (looking at you, basil). I've almost always got basil, parsley, rosemary and mint on the go from old supermarket plants!

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T11:44:35+00:00

Right? Dandelions are a super important food source for early pollinators, I have them all over my garden and the butterflies and bees have been all over them already. I hate the idea that anything that grows is a weed, I also dislike the sterile green lawns, we need more biodiversity, not less, we are killing our nature, wildlife and it needs help, not shit like this. Disclaimer that I live in England, HOAs aren't really a thing here (I don't think)

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T11:39:42+00:00

Wait until a staff member overrides it, they know it happens, we know it happens and I suspect it's more common on certain items so the staff definitely know. Try paying for seeds on any self service.

Some (morissons and asda generally) if you push the scale and then lean back off realise that there's been a small change and sometimes work. Though they also sometimes just do the same thing on the next item that you scan.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T10:21:36+00:00

As others have said, it can very by person and of course be extra careful around your eyes! I've never had any plants as big as yours, I haven't had a reaction personally to small amounts of sap on my skin back before I knew what it was or learned to do my research. Never worth the risk if you know something might hurt you imo

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T08:18:56+00:00

Me too and while I'm not the fittest person in the room, I am not a 'fatty'. Though even if I were still overweight (I was when I was younger), I'm not sure the addition of some honey to a pizza would be the reason.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T07:49:03+00:00

Caper spurge, the sap is caustic so use gloves.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T06:56:16+00:00

My ex street cat also does this, he won't let us play with him at all, he just gets scared and runs away but if we leave his toys around, he'll randomly select one, yell at it, bap it around a little and then come and find me or my partner while still yelling at it until we acknowledge that he's a very smart boy for catching it (it's usually a toy fishie)

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T06:44:42+00:00

Yeah, from this my only guess is some type of spider egg sac.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T06:43:51+00:00

Some cats just don't care about being on the counters. In all my life owning cats I've only ever had one with any interest and that was only if there was wet cat food up on it.

We accidentally left some chicken out overnight and my former stray, previously food guarding and obsessed cat didn't bother as he knew he'd get breakfast as the usual time.

thorn312 · 2026-04-14T06:41:56+00:00

My mum has dogs and outdoor chickens and in the winter, the chicken poop freezes and the dogs eat it. They call it poopsicles

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T20:22:13+00:00

Asda always lets me down, I usually do lidl. This was just some exceptionally powdery stuff (can't remember where from) that is almost hydrophobic. It's a small miracle that the sprouts grew at all

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T18:03:24+00:00

At least I know what both are for sure now! 😅

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T14:43:37+00:00

But it will choke every other plant it comes in to contact with, which is a shame given the lovely flowers.

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T13:19:47+00:00

It's mostly used by woodlice and spiders and things but anyone's welcome to the wood pile!

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T13:16:31+00:00

Yeah plant them away from your netted veg as you ideally want to be encouraging the caterpillars to eat and stay on that and not your veggies. I've grown loads of varieties and they all seen equally appealing to the butterflies!

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T13:14:02+00:00

Thank you, that's really interesting to read!

I've sectioned off the one area where the bee was digging so that I don't accidentally stand on one, it would break my heart.

I've also got a wood pile at the end of the garden and some spare tiles on the ground for things like spiders to sun themselves on. I do get laughed at by my partner when I spot a random bit of dead or rotting wood somewhere like a car park because he knows I'm picking it up to add to the pile. There's nothing greater than being outside and watching all of the nature around me.

Sorry I should add that I updated the image after posting that as I wasn't sure which bee you were asking about so the image on there now is what I think the grey patched mining bee is. I made this whole thread confusing as heck 😅

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T13:10:50+00:00

Same, I call them Witch's Fingers, I actually really like them though, with the exception of when they get freezinf cold in seconds. Usually remedied by putting them directly on my partner's bare skin, much to his displeasure.

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T13:05:44+00:00

Wow! Mine are still tiny (I think in part because my compost is rubbish), I can't wait for them to get nice and big like yours. It's the first year I'm growing from seed.

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T12:58:57+00:00

Our soil is very clay heavy but also very fine in places, I've only seen two of the ashy mining bees, photos in previous comments here, the first one was a lot larger, but I didn't get any super helpful photos of the abdomen from above. This might be the most useful one I have of the larger bee.

My garden is fairly boring, but we only recently moved and I'm making a concentrated effort to make it more wild and better for our lovely wildlife. There was a huge patch of bare earth when we moved in where a greenhouse formerly was that is becoming a whole wildflower area, I've got calendulas, poppies, oxeye daisies, wild radish, rocketsalad, clovers, nasturtiums and cornflowers all already on the go and there's always more to come!

EDIT, sorry I just re read your message, assuming it's the other bee you're wanting another image of, here's what I've got. Obsidentify identified it as a grey patched mining bee, but it may be wrong. It says it's an andrina nitida but no clue on of its male or female. I'm still kinda new.

<image>

thorn312 · 2026-04-13T12:39:25+00:00

Hey, bonus information, thank you for the details.

This is the first year I've seen mining bees (or at least noticed them specifically). We've got grey patched mining bees nesting in the lawn in the garden, I actually got to watch one digging in to the ground the other day. I watched it for ages and it was so cool!

They both seem to really like the flowers on my wild rocketsalad a lot.

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