frogesque

Congrats MTC, great photo and a fantastic standard all round.

Nice blast from the past. Love the old Ford Thames van (looks like a 1950's vintage 300E?)

DIY Stevenson Screen This looks as if it's a nifty way to go!

Ice Crystals

All of those pics could go on my wall! Superb standard

Mowing now will tend to compact the lawn at a time when earthworms are fairly inactive. As has been mentioned it will encourage moss by reducing the aeration of the soil and encouraging surface water if we get a wet spring. Unless it's a real problem I would leave until March for its first light high cut of the year. Scarify in April to remove dead moss and thatch once growth is fully underway.

Japanese or flowering quince Chaenomeles japonica . Varieties can have white, red, pink, orange, and single or double flowers. Fruits are edible (though very tart) and can be used for putting some bite into jams or marmalade. Not the same as the normal fruiting quince, Cydonia vulgaris which will also do well in a shaded corner but doesn't have the same range of colours (the common variety is an orange/red) . Both types of quince have very fragrant fruit though cydonnia are larger. All are woody and fairly slow growing, safe, but some can have quite vicious thorns Another possible is Weigela, does well in semi shade and has masses of tubular blooms in shades of red and pink and there is also a variagated variety, Weigela florida 'Variegata' As long as it gets reasonable light and is well drained you could also try a Californian Lilac (ceanothus) masses of delicious honey scented blooms in late spring with small leaves that have an unmistakable sheen to them. There are low growing prostrate forms or others that will grow to 10ft so be sure to read the label. Normally known for their powder blue or lilac colours there are also white and pink forms (which I didn't know untill a couple of days ago!) Sure others will have their own favourites!

I think the Kp had already fallen by the time it got dark and we were cloudy here so not worth venturing out. Sunspot 848 has been disappointing :blink:

Elie, Fife, 14th January 2006.

That was difficult! Congratulations to everyone on the beautifull scenes and high standard. My five in no particular order: Char Waugh 5 Bigjoe 1 Beverley Lass 1 Verglass 3 Hilton 10

Yep, wet sleety snow here at present, not laying. Wind SE. Temp 1C

Just had a look at your photo ( ) - It's a nice looking little instrument and you'd think there aught to be a means of calibration. Does it have a manufacturer's name on it anywhere? It might be possible to find out a bit more about it. Certainly taking it apart looks like a job for a clock or instrument maker and you don't want to start poking about with it before you know what you are doing. As a matter of interest though, do you take the dome off when taking readings as this could make a big difference in what it's sensing inside its own little greenhouse?

Ah! Much as I suspected. 62% would be quite high for indoors unless you were in a bathroom or kitchen. To calibrate your little gismo you may have to remove the front bezel, pull the hand off then replace it so that it reads correctly as I doubt if there is an adjustment for it. Usually they are just decorative and will only provide an indication of changes, not absolute values - a bit better than seaweed perhaps but not a lot. Just for the exercise (how much fun can you have on a wet aftrnoon ) I've put the heating on (Gas warm air) and I'm now getting Db 23.4C Wb 14.9C giving an RH of 39.84% (40%)

Ah! That's another story I should perhaps add that the rag was soaked with plain tap water

Just checked my own RH in the house (Sad aren't I? ) Dry bulb reading 17.5C Wet bulb reading 11.8C Height asl 100m Result RH = 50.85% No special kit required, I used a home brew wine and beer thermomometer and tied a strip of rag around the bulb and stem, soaked it then waved it about for 5 mins until the reading settled for the wet bulb. The divisions aren't that accurate and the decimal places are estimates but using the same thermometer for both reading helps to eliminate errors. Outside: Db = 9.3C Wb = 9.2, RH = 98.78% (as you would expect - it's blowing through a fine cold drizzle )

Just take a wet bulb reading as outlined above then plug the numbers with your altitude into the handy caculator I linked to. It will then spit out an RH you can compare to your indicator.

All you want to know (and probably a lot more ) Specifically I would wait untill spring when it starts to put on new growth. Fernwood Nursery : Phormium cultivation (NZ Flax)

If anyone wants to check an RH reading there's an online simplified psychrometric chart and how to use them. It's American so is in °F but it's easy enough to convert. NebGuide: Air Properties If you take wet and dry bulb thermometer readings you can determine the RH from the chart then compare it with your sensor readings. Wet bulb readings should be taken out of sunlight in moving air and the ususal method is to fix a linty rag or cotton wool round the bulb and part way up the stem of a good thermometer, reliable to 0.1C or better, saturate the wick then twirl it slowly round your head for a few minutes. This will always be lower than a standard dry bulb reading unless the RH is 100% when fog or other fine precipitation will usually be present. Under those cirmstances it will be the same (or virtually so). Edit: Full Psycrometric Chart (Sorry - again it's in old units) Edit 2: Finally! an SI chart with good detail. 1 page .pdf file, prints off nicely Universal Industrial Gasses Inc. Edit 3 Or if you're feeling lazy just plug in the numbers, even takes your altitude into consideration Mumble-mutters - Thermodynamics was never that easy when I was a lad!

Pics are on this page beneath the poll, if you are on dialup you'll need to give the pics time to load. It could also be your browser or settings but it's unlikely that's the problem.

RussDelaneyUK Of the lightning shots this to me had the best perspective and nicest colours. All the finalists' photos are great though and it was tough.

Nice one, love the clear reflections - taken from Ben A'an if I'm not mistaken

Crepuscular Rays. Ruby Bay, Elie, Fife. 14th. Jan 06.

Is there any limit on the number of submissions for the January photo competition?

Great standard of photos and variation of weather shown by all :blink: My top 5 in no particular order: Cloudburst 6 russdelanyuk 1 Kar999 5 dee88 1 Hemlock 1

A garden I work in has an old established peach tree (and a red grape vine, both probably 50+ years old) in an unheated greenhouse and the peach tree did well last year producing a dozen fruits so it's not impossible in Scotland Snowy. It's not so much the cold but the wind that does the damage to the tree. Peaches flower very early though and it's the blossom that can easily get nipped by a chill wind or frost. When I lived in Guildford as a kid there were a few peach trees grown in gardens outside and we could get some pretty sharp day and night frosts down there so I think once it's established it should be OK planted outside but don't expect it to bear fruit every year.