Stan da Prato

Enjoyable visit to RBGE cacti /succulent collection ably shown round by Marc. More pics on Lothian BCSS forum site. @TheBotanics @TheCaley @DKnott8 @BSBIScotland

11 chiffchaffs singing this weekend along the Pencaitland railway walk. Didn't do full census but robins in good voice and counted 49. @birdinglothian, @EdinburghNats, @ELCrangers

Narcissus ‘Snow Baby ‘ which it seems is a synonym for ‘Ice Baby’. All white 1W-W raised in the USA and first registered in 2014. @TheCaley

Narcissus ’Elka’ an Alec Gray introduction also bicolour so classified as 1 W-Y .Thought to a wild hybrid. Flowering early this year.@TheCaley

Narcissus ‘Topolino’ rather similar to the wild N. pseudonarcissus that Wordsworth wrote his famous poem about. 1W-Y in daff parlance as it has white and pale yellow flowers. According to Daffseek it was raised in Holland and registered in 1965. @TheCaley

Rhododendron dauricum ‘Hokkaido’ . (Rhodorastra section ). The species which ranges across NE Russia, China Korea and N Japan was introduced as early as the late 18th century. This white form is said to have been named by Peter Cox in 1981. #rhododendron

Rhododendron x ‘Cilpinense’ in flower despite the cold east wind. This one will get a bit bigger if I either plant it out or give it a bigger pot. Raised in the 1920s in the well-known garden Bodnant, in North Wales by crossing the species R. ciliatum with R. moupinense.

The displays of crocus in Macmerry are very effective as unlike many council plantings these are in single or at most two colours.@TheCaley @DKnott8 @BSBIScotland @EduLothian

Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ which, despite its name, is just opening now. It used to be forced in greenhouses as a Christmas decoration thus the name. Said to be a hybrid between R. caucasicum and an unknown species, bred in Edinburgh by T. Methven & Son around 1895.

Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin' and I. ‘Sheila Ann Germaney’ Both hybrids of the yellow I. winogradowii and the blue I. histrioides. Katharine has more yellow. Very weather resistant and reliably perennial unlike some dwarf Iris.

The show of grass of Parassus on the East Lothian coast is exceptional this year.@ELCrangers @BSBIScotland @EdinburghNats @TheBotanics @TheCaley

Tranent Civic Square again full of colour thanks to loal post office working wth East Lothian Council's nursery. @EastLothianAP @TheCaley @TranentRegen @TranentBelters

Unfortunately there is evidence of avian flu at Dunbar. This unusually tame immature cormorant is probably infected. A guillemot in the harbour is unusual suggesting it is not entirely well. @ELCrangers @EdinburghNats @SteelySeabirder @ScottishBirding @SeabirdCentre

Despite avian flu good number of young kittiwakes starting to fledge at Dunbar harbour. Productivity over 0.8/nest; still to finalise figures. Some shags and herring gulls also successful. @EdinburghNats @SteelySeabirder @SeabirdCentre @ScottishBirding

Summer colour from a neighbour's pots. Cosmos, nemesia, bedding dahlias, African marigolds, busy lizzies and a white-tailed bumble bee . @TheCaley

Some wildlife snaps from the East lothian coast the other day. Confiding roe deer, Skylark atypically on a hawthorn, Sanderling just back from Greenland, Lapwing @ELCrangers @EdinburghNats

Common on local coasts woody nightshade is one of the less poisonous members of the Solanaceae. Poisoning in humans is rare probably due to the berries' bitter taste. Note the resemblance to its edible relations potatoes and tomatoes. @ELCrangers @TheCaley @BSBIbotany

Another coastal delight Campanula rotundifolia is known as the bluebell in Scotland but the harebell futher south. @ELCrangers @TheCaley @EdinburghNats