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There are several possibilities, although it might be none of the "obvious" ones.

Thrip (or other tiny insect) damage within the bud is possible. Virus is another possibility, as it sudden temperature variation.

So far as I recall, I have used this only for Agapanthus and had very close to 100% success - there were a LOT of seeds.

Float the seed and wait for a root of 3-4-5mm long and then transfer to a damp sandy compost. Make a tiny hole in the compost with something like a cocktail stick and drop the root of the germinated seed into the hole, the seed sitting on top of the compost.

Job done.

It is usually a very dependable flowerer once the bulb is large enough.
Mine flower in tiny pots on an indoor windowsill. Totally dry for the summer, they may or may not lose all leaves.

Quote from: Judy Glattstein on March 24, 2023, 12:18:53 PMThis seems to express itself in book banning.

One of the UK's national treasures - Roger McGough - had a conversation on UK radio with an American lady who was responsible for having his books banned in at least part of the US. She admitted that she had never read any of his poetry and had no wish to as she knew what it contained. The conversation was both laughably funny and unfathomable.
I wish that I could remember the precise piece that had stirred her into action - it was harmless and had been completly misunderstood (not really a surprise - Roger is seen as part comic poet and part extremely wry observer and recorder of life in all its states).

Quote from: Bern on March 24, 2023, 01:02:15 PMBoy, was I wrong.

Oh? And so were, so are and so will be very many others. Oh for a perfect world.

I was basically against the Iraq war but for the comparatively trivial reason that I just cannot abide slime-ball Blair (often pronounced bluuurrrrr here, as in throwing-up). He has always struck me as one of the most duplicitous creatures ever to rise in UK politics.

Quote from: Arnold on March 23, 2023, 06:09:26 PMNo one wears leather shoes that I know

Fortunately, the UK hasn't reached that level of stupidity, not yet anyway.

I really just cannot get my head around all of this current PC madness - we have had plenty of that, including removal of statues, here in the UK too. What on earth does it achieve? Some people seem convinced that they can change the past through meaningless empty gestures.

The further you go back in history, as a generalisation, the more barbaric and unjust people become, so why are only recent figures attacked? Why does no-one bother with equally large symbols of man's inhumanity to man from more than 200 years or so ago? There are plenty in the UK from times going back to long pre-Roman (essentially BC for the non-Brits).

Peregrines are verging on common-place in the UK these days - the limiting factor will be suitable nest sites as they always choose tall rock/concrete formations of some kind. Most areas have ample feral pigeons for them although them taking significant numbers of rooks is a surprise as rooks are becoming extremely scarce - I would imagine that magpies, jackdaws and carrion crows would all out-number rooks by quite a margin.

Maybe there is a convenient rookery providing easy pickings?

Ravens are similarly common now too - if I spend any significant time outdoors here at home, I would expect to hear at least one and it is usually a pair. They even nest at work on a gantry and that is on the outskirts of Derby (peregrines also hunt the pigeons there). Ravens are easily missed unless they call and if they have nothing near to them to indicate their size, they are easily ignored as just being crows. (Oddly, UK ravens are actually a bigger race than the same species in NA.)

Bern - the sunken sub's and Titanic are SO far apart, that the story as portrayed by you can be nothing but sheer nonsense. It is akin to me stating that I discovered Australasia one day, when I walked to the bottom of my garden.

It is utter nonsense.

Mentions of the two lost sub's does reveal that the statement -

Quote from: Bern on March 20, 2023, 08:38:20 AMIn 1985, Dr. Robert Ballard at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, discovered the remains of the Titanic in what was presented by the news media as a purely scientific effort.  In short, it was a top secret US government mission to identify and study the wreckage of two sunken US nuclear submarines.

Is incorrect.

There was a "deal" between the Navy/Pentagon and Ballard - his team would check the known wrecks of the sub's and then he could use the loaned submersible to search for the Titanic.

The Scorpion is SW of The Azores, The Thresher is 200 miles E of Cape Cod and were known long before the discovery of the Titanic, which is around 350 miles SE of Newfoundland. I don't think that anyone could possibly, realistically, suggest that inspection of the sub's could in any way lead to finding the Titanic.

In the UK? Common sense and spending just a little time listening to sources other than anything to do with politics, governments and state media. Just a suggestion.

There are PLENTY of young Russians posting information to YouTube from both within and outside of Russia, just for example.

This is headed into the realms of lunatic conspiracy theories SO fast.

Amen, Martin

A couple of today's videos from Warthog Defence, over on YouTube, are even more chilling than normal. Lunatic Russian soldiers, propagandists and clergy.

But then, of course, Ukraine did start it all.

I work with a couple of Latvians and Estonians, and I suspect that Poles, and others will be of like mind.

Hell will be a long time frozen over before they are likely to agree to the reborn USSR taking anything.

There was comment on the radio here last week - someone who had met the man responsible for the quote - Leonid Brezhnev, if memory is correct. Paraphrased -

"Negotiationing with the West is easy - we go in demanding vastly more than we expect, the West go in refusing to give anything. Russia comes away with far more than it expected and the West believes it has achieved acceptable compromise"

What is there to negotiate? The same sort of negotiation involved over Crimea?

Buds look far too big for hyacinth. Hyacinth bulbs are also generally nearer spherical and seldom completely without colour entirely.
Allium seems unlikely but possible, although quite a few closely realted bulbs (Tulbaghia for instance, which this isn't), smell of onions/garlic.

I am not familiar with the plants except in photo's, but maybe chincherinchee?

They must surely have their own group or sub-family?
The latin form of Nomocharis will have changed but presumably still exists?

Chemicals, across the board, used to tend to get banned due to their potential for affecting human health, general environmental concerns are now much more common, presumably as much as anything because anything new has to get past so many checks for potential human health implications.

No bad thing, but used as intended, but not in the "outside world", but in greenhouses, even in our homes, they pose no major threat to anything except the intended. The problem is that the legislating bodies have little faith in Joe Average sticking to such restrictions, although good numbers of horticultural treatments are licenced for professional glasshouse use only.

I probably have, but do not recall ever using slug pellets outddors. Inddors and in the greenhouse - certainly. I also use neo-nic's in both.