The weather this weekend has hardly been springlike and conducive to gardening, so just as well I was away. However, on the way home, I stopped off at Belton garden centre to see if they had any pheromone traps to protect this year’s apples from codling moth.
The information on the packet I bought says May is when the moths become active but BBC Gardeners Question Time had suggested April as a good time to hang the traps out. So, I will go with the latter to give the apples the best chance of protection.
Anyway, I was also on the lookout for pond and bog garden plants. It seems that there aren’t that many available at the moment but the garden centre did have an assortment, just not the ones I have on my list.
But wait, what was this?
The leaves of the Rumex sanguinea look exactly the same as those on red-veined sorrel I have overwintering in my shed. I’d saved a few of the plants we’d dug out of the beds at Old Sleningford Farm, having decided they would be great for the forest garden, with no idea they would be suitable as bog plants.
So, I’ve now got another job to add to my list. All being well, tomorrow will be a bit warmer, without snow or wind (the snow wasn’t the exciting kind you can play in, just cold rain). Then I can populate the bog garden with the plants I already have, whilst I keep looking for the rest.
Growing out of chaos 
Good luck with the apples
Thank you, Derrick.
I have 3 apple trees that are beautiful, blossom well and usually set lots of apples but…they are too tall to thin and the bloody Japanese beetles LOVE them. I have to spray them with kaolin clay just to keep the trees healthy and to keep the leaves on them. Good luck with the apples and happy “squidging” as they say on Rosemary & Thyme!
Fortunately, I don’t think we have Japanese beetles here! Just as well you have a solution in kaolin clay, although that must be quite costly and time-consuming.
Never heard of Rumex as a bog plant. Rumex acetosa, acetossela are both decidedly happy in dry conditions where they grow well for me. But then again the red veined keeps dying on me. Very interested to see how boggy of conditions it likes. Thanks for the note.
I looked up Rumex acetosa and the Royal Horticultural Society says soil should be well drained. Rumex acetosa | common sorrel/RHS Gardening https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/41751/Rumex-acetosa/Details
When it comes to the red-veined variety, it seems this has two Latin names: Rumex sanguinea and sanguineus. The site Plants for a Future states that ‘sanguineus’ likes damp soil: https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Rumex+sanguineus
On the other hand, a stockist of pond and bog garden plants goes further and puts in it the bog garden section: https://www.wetland-plants.co.uk/shop/british-native/rumex-sanguinea-red-dock-native/
Unless of course the two names signify two sub-species. In which case I don’t know what I’ve got!
I’ll give you an A on that homework assignment Helen. I guess our hunch was right. Thanks for the details.
And yes, botanical Latin does at times get messed up a little with declension endings. For instance Sunchokes have the species name tuberosus, but sometimes is written tuberosum. They’re both nominative forms (nouns) of different genders (-um is for it, us, is masculine for he). As you can imagine, this is just a small technical difference. Sometimes the ends are quite technical such as in japonica. The a end could just be a feminine declension -hence the noun form. But for almost all species where this is used it is a long a called “ablative of place from.” Japonica means it comes from Japan.
If its actually a subspecies or variety, you get an extra name following the species. At least that’s how its supposed to work.
Or perhaps you’re already familiar with these Latin details?
I’m not totally familiar with the Latin details, though as a linguist I find it interesting. So thank you for the information, Luke.
It’s good to know that there is probably just the one red-veined sorrel, so mine should do fine, all things being equal!
The important question for me is “Can you eat red-veined sorrel?”
Indeed you can!
That’s good. 🙂
I’ve learned that it contains oxalic acid (the stuff in rhubarb), so it’s best to eat it cooked or at least in small amounts. But it is pretty.
I think soup is a traditional way to eat it, so that should help.
Now, I didn’t know about the soup but will try it out.
If you Google “sorrel soup” you will end up with more information than you want! 🙂
I’m sure I will 😊