Dylan 2004 - 2018

On the 18th. December we said goodbye to our dear old dog Dylan. He was 14 years and 10 months old. He survived his brother Thomas by 10 months and 6 days. We will miss him dearly.
He is buried beside his brother in  our garden.

                                                           Photograph © Hans van den Bos 

An uninvited, but welcome guest found its way into the garden

Polypodium cambricum

The southern polypody or Welsh polypody, is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae, native to southern and western Europe. It is a spreading, terrestrial fern growing to 60 cm tall, with pinnate fronds. The sori are yellow in winter.

The specific epithet cambricum means "Welsh", from the Latinized form of Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales.

Photographs © Hans van den Bos

A birthday present

Xanthoceras sorbifolium

Photograph © Hans van den Bos

Xanthoceras sorbifolium (yellowhorn, shiny leaf yellowhorn, goldenhorn, Chinese flowering chestnut) is a woody perennial in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, and the only species in the genus Xanthoceras. It is native to northern China in the provinces of Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Liaoning, Nei Monggol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Shandong. It is also cultivated in Russia, having been imported there since the 19th Century.

Photograph © Kiewscience - Plants of the world online

It is a large shrub or small tree growing to 8 m tall. The leaves are arranged alternately, 12–30 cm long, and are pinnate, with 9–17 leaflets, the leaflets 3–6 cm long, with a sharly serrated margin. The flowers are 2–3 cm diameter, with five white petals, and are produced in erect panicles 10–20 cm long in mid spring. The fruit is an oval leathery capsule 5–6 cm diameter, which splits into three sections at maturity to release the 6–18 seeds; the seeds are black, 1.5 cm diameter, resembling a small horse chestnut seed.

The genus (which translates as "yellow horn") is considered to be the most basal member of the family. The specific epithet refers to the leaves, similar to those of rowans (Sorbus). It was originally spelled as sorbifolia, but this is a grammatical error that was corrected to sorbifolium under the ICBN.

X. sorbifolium has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

The leaves, flowers, and seeds of yellowhorn are all edible.

--source Wikipedia--

Open Day in Hortus Godotii

on 23rd June 2018 for special guests

Gerald Lane - Mitchelstown

Jonathan Mathews - Rathcormack

Ithel McKenna - Blackwater Garden Centre, Kinsalebeg Youghal

and 

Peter Stam - Stam Bamboo, Lismore

Ithel with Hans, one of the owners
[photo by Peter Stam]

The enemies of slugs and snails

Turdus v. viscivorus
photo: Hans van den Bos

The biggest problem in the fight against slugs and snails in the garden are cats
and dogs. They keep the enemies of slugs and snails far away from your garden. You will see, that the slug and snail population becomes smaller, when you can get neighbours' cats out of the garden and your own lovely one inside the house. Should your dog not be friendly to other creatures, also keep it inside and walk it 3 times  a day outside your garden.


Het grootste probleem in de strijd tegen slakken in de tuin zijn katten en honden. Zij houden de vijanden van de slakken ver van uw tuin. U zult merken, dat de slakken populatie kleiner wordt, als u de katten van de buren buiten de tuin kunt houden en uw eigen lieveling in huis houdt en als uw hond niet vriendelijk is voor andere diersoorten, houdt hem dan ook binnen en laat hem 3 keer per dag buiten uw tuin uit. 



Here is a list of slug and snail enemies:
Hier is een lijst met de vijanden van slakken:

Hedgehogs, rats, mice, shrews, squirrels, weasels, mollen, and ...humans.	Egels, ratten, muizen, spitsmuizen, eekhoorns, wezels, mollen, en ....mensen.
Song thrushes, blackbirds, grouse, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, starlings, fieldfares gulls, owls, robins, chickens and ducks.	Zanglijsters, merels, hazelhoen, roeken, kauwtjes, vlaamse gaaien, eksters, spreeuwen, kramsvogels, meeuwen, uilen, roodborstjes, kippen en eenden.
Toads, frogs, turtles, newts and slow worms.	Padden, kikkers, schildpadden, salamanders en hazelwormen.
Flies, mites, nematodes, millipedes, centipedes, some caterpillars and fireflies, leeches, beetles and their larvae.	Vliegen, mijten, nematoden, miljoenpoten, duizendpoten, enkele rupsen en vuurvliegen, bloedzuigers, kevers en hun larven.

Thomas 2004 - 2018

Today, on 12th February, Darwin's birthday, our dog Thomas died. He was 14 years of age and had a big problem with his kidneys. To prevent further problems and pains, our vet put him to sleep. We buried him today in our garden near his favourite spot. His attendants Hilary and Hans, his brother Dylan, and his friends will miss him dearly.

Thomas in 2016