What am I doing wrong?

[Anthony Darby]

I find the slugs eat the developing seeds in ovaries of snowdrops in my garden, generally don't touch the flowers.

Grey Sqiurrels are bushy-tailed rats and, like rats, will eat just about anything. Chilli powder on the bird table puts them off as they can taste it but birds can't, so maybe on the bulbs??? .

[Gerdk]

Martin,
There is the same phenomenon with petals of daffodils (and other species). It seems
parts of the flowers don't contain the same poisonous or repellant ingredients as leaves, flower stalks and bulbs.
Maybe there is something like a barrier between sepals and petals.
When I did my job in plantprotection, we noticed, that a plant which was treated with a systemic insecticide for instance was not protected in all its parts.
In Hibiscus aphids where unharmed when sitting on flowers.

Gerd

[Martin Baxendale]

I find the slugs eat the developing seeds in ovaries of snowdrops in my garden, generally don't touch the flowers.

Yes, I find big slugs and snails will eat into the snowdrop seed pods to get the seeds once they've swollen and the seeds are well-formed, but they tend not to eat the ovaries prior to fertilisation and seed development - it's like they know when there's something nutritious in the pods and when there isn't. Wierd that your slugs don't touch the flowers! We must have different species.

[Martin Baxendale]

That's very interesting, Gerd.

[Maggi Young]

My mice know and I assume that they are aware that many Amaryllidaceae have silica needles in the tissues.
They do love Corydalis and Crocus which do not have this deterrent.
Are Galanthus now Alliaceae?Göte

Göte, see this thread:    http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1397.0

and in particular this note from Diane Clement:

Re: What Ipheion?
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2008, 11:42:35 AM »

"Ipheion.....
The taxonomists have called it all sorts and now thrown out Iphieon as a genus completely.  Some of it is now Tristagma, so Ipheion uniflorum is now Tristagma uniflorum.  Ipheion dialystemon (we discussed on another thread) is now Nothoscordum dialystemon.  There has been quite a considerable revision of the family Alliaceae in general.  Interestingly, (all? some?) genera previously in Amaryllidaceae are now in Alliaceae. 
So Narcissus and Galanthus are now onions. 
And little blue jobs Scilla, Hyacinthus etc are in Asparagaceae.   

This and other interesting moves can be found at Kew monocot checklist
 http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/    "


 

[Martin Baxendale]

"So Narcissus and Galanthus are now onions.
  
This and other interesting moves can be found at Kew monocot checklist
 http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/   "

That distant repetitive thudding noise you can hear is me slowly banging my head on my desk-top.

[mark smyth]

Asparagaceae!!

[johnw]

Asparagaceae!!

I suppose that lunch was blanched Bohemia White?

johnw