I always get a few with no flowers, but this year the majority have
none or almost none. Does anyone know why, or what triggers broad
beans to create flowers?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick we have done Broad Beans this year for the first time in years. Autumn sowing and they have done fantastically well. Plenty of flowers and we have been harvesting for a couple of weeks now.

Very well composted fed soil on a raised bed.

Unwins Meteor my gardener informs me.

On 15/06/2015 21:17, Nick Maclaren wrote:

I always get a few with no flowers, but this year the majority have
none or almost none. Does anyone know why, or what triggers broad
beans to create flowers?

I suspect it isn't warm enough yet. Mine are just about there now but
plants which should normally have been in flower on 5th June still
aren't out. It has been a cold spring and many things are delayed.
(there are still bluebells out in the woods here in N Yorks)

Anything that needs real warmth to get going is sulking at the moment.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 16/06/2015 08:54, Martin Brown wrote:
On 15/06/2015 21:17, Nick Maclaren wrote:

I always get a few with no flowers, but this year the majority have
none or almost none. Does anyone know why, or what triggers broad
beans to create flowers?

I suspect it isn't warm enough yet. Mine are just about there now but
plants which should normally have been in flower on 5th June still
aren't out. It has been a cold spring and many things are delayed.
(there are still bluebells out in the woods here in N Yorks)

Anything that needs real warmth to get going is sulking at the moment.

I grew my BB in the garage over Winter then put them out a few weeks
ago. I am not picking and enjoying them. Mind you we like them young and
eat them with the pods, delicious!

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

I suspect it isn't warm enough yet. Mine are just about there now but
plants which should normally have been in flower on 5th June still
aren't out. It has been a cold spring and many things are delayed.
(there are still bluebells out in the woods here in N Yorks)

Anything that needs real warmth to get going is sulking at the moment.

Broad beans don't. It may have been TOO hot for them, but it is
extremely odd the way that they have behaved. I have grown them for
38 years, and this is the first time it has happened on more than a
minor scale.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Tue, 16 Jun 2015 08:54:59 +0100, Martin Brown wrote:

On 15/06/2015 21:17, Nick Maclaren wrote:

I always get a few with no flowers, but this year the majority have
none or almost none. Does anyone know why, or what triggers broad
beans to create flowers?

I suspect it isn't warm enough yet. Mine are just about there now but
plants which should normally have been in flower on 5th June still
aren't out. It has been a cold spring and many things are delayed.
(there are still bluebells out in the woods here in N Yorks)

Anything that needs real warmth to get going is sulking at the moment.

Absolutely agree.

Just taken some visitors keen on seeing some of our wild flowers to a usually very good
site for a variety of species, including several nice orchdis, to find everything well
behind this year. Instead of saying "you should have been here last week", it was a
question of saying "you should have come next week or even the week after".

On 16/06/2015 18:44, Malcolm Ogilvie wrote:
Just taken some visitors keen on seeing some of our wild flowers to a usually very good
site for a variety of species, including several nice orchdis, to find everything well
behind this year. Instead of saying "you should have been here last week", it was a
question of saying "you should have come next week or even the week after".

pricks up ears A gardener who knows about wild orchids? Perhaps you
can help.

Last summer - our first in this house - I noticed an odd looking plant
in the grass, and as it was at the edge I let it grow to see what would
happen. It turned out to be a bee orchid. This years I've got my eye in,
and I've found a couple of dozen. They're just coming in to flower.

They've obviously survived at least 15 years of just being mowed - but
what's the best way to make them flourish?

Andy

In article ,
says...

On Tue, 16 Jun 2015 08:54:59 +0100, Martin Brown wrote:

On 15/06/2015 21:17, Nick Maclaren wrote:

I always get a few with no flowers, but this year the majority have
none or almost none. Does anyone know why, or what triggers broad
beans to create flowers?

I suspect it isn't warm enough yet. Mine are just about there now but
plants which should normally have been in flower on 5th June still
aren't out. It has been a cold spring and many things are delayed.
(there are still bluebells out in the woods here in N Yorks)

Anything that needs real warmth to get going is sulking at the moment.

My broad beans are doing quite well, with plenty of flowers,
although they are still quite small (about 18inches). However,
the black fly seems to have arrived already, but strangely only
on 2 adjacent plants. Out with the spray tomorrow!

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

On 16/06/2015 21:21, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 16/06/2015 18:44, Malcolm Ogilvie wrote:
Just taken some visitors keen on seeing some of our wild flowers to a
usually very good
site for a variety of species, including several nice orchdis, to find
everything well
behind this year. Instead of saying "you should have been here last
week", it was a
question of saying "you should have come next week or even the week
after".

pricks up ears A gardener who knows about wild orchids? Perhaps you
can help.

Last summer - our first in this house - I noticed an odd looking plant
in the grass, and as it was at the edge I let it grow to see what would
happen. It turned out to be a bee orchid. This years I've got my eye in,
and I've found a couple of dozen. They're just coming in to flower.

They've obviously survived at least 15 years of just being mowed - but
what's the best way to make them flourish?

Andy
I don't know why but this year I've got Helleborines shooting up everywhere.
I normally get around 10 but this year I must have at least 50, one
clump is around 20.
No idea why they are so prolific this year.

On Tue, 16 Jun 2015 21:21:32 +0100, Vir Campestris wrote:

On 16/06/2015 18:44, Malcolm Ogilvie wrote:
Just taken some visitors keen on seeing some of our wild flowers to a usually very good
site for a variety of species, including several nice orchdis, to find everything well
behind this year. Instead of saying "you should have been here last week", it was a
question of saying "you should have come next week or even the week after".

pricks up ears A gardener who knows about wild orchids? Perhaps you
can help.

Last summer - our first in this house - I noticed an odd looking plant
in the grass, and as it was at the edge I let it grow to see what would
happen. It turned out to be a bee orchid. This years I've got my eye in,
and I've found a couple of dozen. They're just coming in to flower.

They've obviously survived at least 15 years of just being mowed - but
what's the best way to make them flourish?

Mow the grass in the autumn after they've flowered and seeded, so that the grass doesn't
get too thick and matted over the years. Otherwise, leave them alone and enjoy them! And
don't let any fertiliser get near their area of grass.

Orchids are very long-lived plants,taking several years to reach maturity and then living
sometimes for decades, retaining the ability to withstand years of mowing/grazing. I had a
similar experience to you, moving to a house with a lawn which had been mown for years. In
the first summer, it was too wet to mow for a couple of weeks and several Northern Marsh
Orchids appeared.

On Tue, 16 Jun 2015 22:20:36 +0100, David Hill wrote:

On 16/06/2015 21:21, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 16/06/2015 18:44, Malcolm Ogilvie wrote:
Just taken some visitors keen on seeing some of our wild flowers to a
usually very good
site for a variety of species, including several nice orchdis, to find
everything well
behind this year. Instead of saying "you should have been here last
week", it was a
question of saying "you should have come next week or even the week
after".

pricks up ears A gardener who knows about wild orchids? Perhaps you
can help.

Last summer - our first in this house - I noticed an odd looking plant
in the grass, and as it was at the edge I let it grow to see what would
happen. It turned out to be a bee orchid. This years I've got my eye in,
and I've found a couple of dozen. They're just coming in to flower.

They've obviously survived at least 15 years of just being mowed - but
what's the best way to make them flourish?

Andy
I don't know why but this year I've got Helleborines shooting up everywhere.
I normally get around 10 but this year I must have at least 50, one
clump is around 20.
No idea why they are so prolific this year.

Typical orchid behaviour! I monitor sites annually for Greater and Lesser Butterfly, Frog,
Pyramidal and Marsh Helleborine and have recorded great variations in numbers, from a few
tens to several hundreds in different years.

On 16/06/2015 12:23, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

I suspect it isn't warm enough yet. Mine are just about there now but
plants which should normally have been in flower on 5th June still
aren't out. It has been a cold spring and many things are delayed.
(there are still bluebells out in the woods here in N Yorks)

Anything that needs real warmth to get going is sulking at the moment.

Broad beans don't. It may have been TOO hot for them, but it is
extremely odd the way that they have behaved. I have grown them for
38 years, and this is the first time it has happened on more than a
minor scale.

I have to say mine are OK, but the climbing beans are all way behind.

My H. petiolaris still isn't out and is now two weeks late.
It is normally regular as clockwork in full flower on 5th June.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown