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Beneficial Garden Insects and How to Attract Them to Your Garden

Ladybird

Beneficial insects are essential in keeping our gardens and farms healthy. Some pollinate plants that produce our food. Others eat pests that would otherwise destroy our food crops. They also help break down dead organic material and recycle nutrients back into the soil. We rely on these tiny insects more….

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Events in West Cork

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland

Saturday Evening Talk at Butlerstown Maria Long of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) will be giving a talk in Butlerstown, West Cork this Saturday evening about the BSBI, what it is, what it does, and why it’s important. It will be a great opportunity to learn about plant….

Jinny go up: the story of the thistle

Six-spot Burnet moths on a thistle flower

You have to walk through a lot of farmer’s fields today before you find a good patch of thistles. This strange thought occurred to me the other day after several strolls in the countryside around my house. For a plant that the books claim is extremely common I found it….

Book Review: The Wild Plants of Bere, Dursey, Whiddy and other Islands in Bantry Bay

Wild Plants of Bantry Bay

The islands of West Cork, a region I feel privileged to call home, have a reputation for being excellent locations for wild plants. My life-changing introduction to West Cork was as a volunteer biologist at Sherkin Island Marine Station way back in 1993. I worked on the rocky shore monitoring project….

Book Review: Ireland’s Wild Orchids, A Field Guide

Species account of the Pyramydal Orchid

Ireland’s orchids are a fascinating group of plants, and are among our most  beautiful and evocative wildflowers. There’s always a thrill when you spot the flower spike of an orchid thrusting skyward through the grass or pushing through the surface of a bog. Then comes the tricky part. You know….

New book documents the wild plants of Bantry Bay islands

The Wild Plants of the islands of Bantry Bay

Sherkin Island Marine Station has just published a book documenting the diverse plant life of the islands of Bantry Bay, Co. Cork. Edited by botanical consultant, conservationist and writer John Aykeroyd, “The Wild Plants of Bere, Dursey, Whiddy and other islands in Bantry Bay” explores the history, geography, geology vegetation….

Bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

The birds-foot-trefoil is a common flowering plant that has, over the years, amassed a host of common names; names like “lady’s shoes and stockings”, “crow-toes”, “lady’s slipper”, “bacon and eggs”, and “God-Almighty’s thumb and finger”. In all it has been attributed more than 70 different names, most of them related….

Chemical Warfare in the Irish Countryside

As you read this article a complex arsenal of chemical weapons is being manufactured at sites all over the island of Ireland. When deployed these chemical agents are designed to subdue, inhibit, mutilate, mutate and in some cases even kill! The manufacturers of this nationwide chemical stockpile are of course….