Green Pauline, Warsash (2026)

Seller of snowdrops, geraniums, Warsash, Southampton, Hampshire. 2026 speaker events are on this page. 2026 UK snowdrop list is now available.

13/06/2026

https://youtu.be/IIM1lct99_E?is=wshwbwsUi58-BC5P

10/06/2026

Did you know?

There is a lot of fun and knowledge to be had in the natural world, when identifying plants and animals (taxonomy). Certain specimens have a red label denoting a 'type specimen' (holotype / the anchor) showing the original species that was found, described and named. The robin was first described in 1758 (by Carl Linnaeus) that is the holotype by which all other robins have since been studied, described and labelled. How else would we know what the first named robin looked like?

A poem by Vladimir Nabokov about red label naming...

I found it in a legendary land
all rocks and lavender and tufted grass,
where it was settled on some sodden sand
hard by the torrent of a mountain pass.

The features it combines mark it as new
to science: shape and shade -- the special tinge,
akin to moonlight, tempering its blue,
the dingy underside, the checquered fringe.

My needles have teased out its sculpted s*x;
corroded tissues could no longer hide
that priceless mote now dimpling the convex
and limpid teardrop on a lighted slide.

Smoothly a screw is turned; out of the mist
two ambered hooks symmetrically slope,
or scales like battledores of amethyst
cross the charmed circle of the microscope.

I found it and I named it, being versed
in taxonomic Latin; thus became
godfather to an insect and its first
describer -- and I want no other fame.

Wide open on its pin (though fast sleep),
and safe from creeping relatives and rust,
in the secluded stronghold where we keep
type specimens it will transcend its dust.

Dark pictures, thrones, the stones that pilgrims kiss,
poems that take a thousand years to die
but ape the immortality of this
red label on a little butterfly.
ends

(My study is not for the feint of heart)

09/06/2026

A bit chuffed with this photo from yesterday. Looking at you is a female 'bee grabber' (Sicus ferrugineus f. Linnaeus, 1761). She grabbed this bumblebee off a pin cushion flower (Knautia macedonia), they tumbled down together quite fast, and landed in a low small evergreen shrub (Ilex crenata). This photo is her laying an egg inside the abdomen of the bumblebee. 11 days later her offspring will be fully grown inside the husk of the bumblebee. The larvae having fed on the insides. Great right!?

I often watch these thick headed bee grabbers but until yesterday had never managed to see this happen let alone take a photo, this all happened in a matter of seconds.

Normally if I see one I usually mutter 'Hi Gollum!' because they are not the prettiest, but they are incredible.
If you find a sunny spot full of nectar rich flowers and quite a few busy bumblebees you may spot a bee grabber somewhere feeding off nectar and lurking to lay! They are quite common.

I've looked for other photos on line to show this but haven't found any, so I've smothered the pic in copyright stamps.

This maybe a lesson to us all not to interfere with nature ie bumbles that appear 'still or apparently dead', they may contain life with in. Both of these animals are pollinators.

Hope you get to spot one!

05/06/2026

What is in the grass today?

04/06/2026

Just one benefit of longer grass...

We may occasionally find adult amphibians in the garden but may not have a pond? This is not uncommon, amphibians don't know about garden boundaries. We know that 95% of their time is spent on land eating and growing. (They have a lot of predators, especially trespassing cats). Amphibians will hide in nooks and crannies, under stones or wood and areas we don't often go near. They also bury themselves in the soil, very clever creatures.
Young amphibians emerge from water as soon as their four skinny limbs have emerged.
These teeny tiny amphibians must make their way to refuge in our gardens asap. They are often impossible to see with the naked eye unless you bend down and have a very good look.

I thought I was photographing a wolf spider in the grass until I looked at the photograph closely having cropped it. This is a newly emerged toad scrabbling through the grass. A couple of days ago I went out in the evening, semi dark and unfortunately stood on a young small but sizeable toad. Heart breaking. I like to think I'm careful but we now have a lot, purely from being relaxed especially about the grass. (I't doesn't get cut)

Often people say to me 'I haven't seen a frog or a toad (let alone a newt) for years'..it's generally because their garden is clipped, mown, shorn, beaten, blown and kept under regimented sergeant major control, like something from the 60's.
This time of year is the perfect time to take hold of your 'lawn mowing mind set' and give it a good talking to and you'll be amazed what you might find!

Have you spotted him/her ?

31/05/2026

It’s that time of year where Geraniophiles get excited to see what interesting crosses appear in the garden.

These flowers in this photo all have a specific ‘form’ to their petals ( rolled back to give a spilt appearance). This form (written as f.) is referred to as thurstonianum.

I’ve put a normal - ish geranium at the back to illustrate the difference.

Thurstonianums are something a bit different delicate and beautiful - these crosses usually emanate from the Geranium species - x oxonianum.

Too much Latin for a Sunday ? Very possibly - coffee time ! ☕️ 💚😂🌱

Hope you like the photo 😍💚🌱🐝

Address

Warsash

Website

https://www.greenpauline.co.uk/, https://youtu.be/RUk1Rm0DEnE?si=LkhiPo8JiRhvR2vU, https://www.youtube.com/@greenpauline

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