Skullcap (Scutellaria altissima), acquired I know not where, has given considerable pleasure and seeds 

 around so well that it is a candidate to be described as a thug. The very choice Gentiana paradoxa 

 seeds itself into gritty compost. This gentian merits its name; it tolerates dry chalky conditions unlike the 

 great majority of Gentiana species (as opposed to Gentianella). Peony species tend not to be good 

 value in the garden as flowers because the blooms are usually short-lived but they eam their places 

 because of the beauty of the young shoots and of their fruits. I did not expect such apparently exotic 

 species to seed around but I have self-sown seedlings of Paeonia potanini, P. mascula and P. ludlowii 

 var. lutea. My next-door neighbours acquired a Summer Jasmine (Jasminum officinale) years ago and 

 now its offspring have to be weeded out every year. My Clematis viticella produces abundant seed 

 which germinates well in the grit of raised beds. Clematis cirrhosa also seeds around but less enthusi- 

 astically. Another surprise was to find seedlings of a red-flowered form of the South African Gladiolus 

 dallenii. A greenish-flowered form of the same species has not showed the same generosity but Its 

 relative from South Africa, an Angel's Fishing Rod {Dierama sp.) has done so. 



More species come to mind, less spectacular than some that have been mentioned. The orange- 

 flowered poppy Papaver atlanticum seeds around just as enthusiastically as the Welsh Poppy 

 Meconopsis cambrica. Spurges seem to like my garden: the alpines Euphorbia myrsinites and E. rigida 

 seed themselves in raised beds. The rather grand spurges E. characias ssp. characias and ssp. 

 wulfenii thrive and self-seed, producing hybrids between the two subspecies. Sisyrinchium species 

 seem always to seed around: S. striatum is always available, as are seedlings of the rather confusing 

 small blue and yellow-flowered species. The two Alexanders Smyrnium olusatrum and S. perfiolatum 

 have to be kept under control to prevent their taking over areas of garden and swamping other species. 



Over the years, other species have proliferated from seeds in the garden but have been eliminated by 

 climatic and nutritional changes or because they threatened to be too invasive. It is apparent from study 

 of my not exceptional garden that Michael Crawley is correct in his supposition that the private gardens 

 of Berkshire contain very many species that might be described as "wild". 



Some may be concemed that the species mentioned may "get out" and become the next noxious pests: 

 I doubt that this will be the case. The garden is a protected environment and most species in it are 

 cosseted by weeding out competitors, cultivation of the soil and by feeding. In the wild they would not 

 receive this attention and would die out rapidly. Of the species I have mentioned, the larger ones might 

 well survive: Euphorbia characias does persist in several locations in the Reading area (but, I suspect, 

 usually in Oxfordshire). Tanacetum macrophyllum might well persist and spread: in Bulgaria it occurs 

 in light shade of woodlands and it is cultivated in several country gardens that are open to the public so 

 there is a source of its small seeds near to suitable habitats. On the evidence of my garden the Skullcap 

 (Scutellaria altissima, if that is what it is) would proliferate well in light shade. In gardens Trachystemon 

 ohentalis can become a major pest, swamping smaller species, but this appears not to be the case 

 when it escapes into the wild. Some of the smaller species might survive well in habitats where is little 

 competition for example the scraped areas of Greenham/Crookham Common where the surface is very 

 gritty. There is a temptation to test this theory but that is illegal. 



VISIT TO APULIA - 14TH TO 21 ST APRIL 

 Chris Bucke 



A group of 23 members of Reading and District Natural History Society and Pang Valley Ramblers 

 travelled to Apulia, the "heel" of Italy for a sight seeing and walking holiday organised by Ramblers 

 Worldwide Holidays. Our base was Alberobello, a small, ancient town famous for its "tmlli", conical 

 houses built of the local limestone. The trulli were a form a tax avoidance that could be dismantled 

 rapidly, so counting as temporary dwellings, some of them now over 200 years old! Alberobello is 

 located at about 1 ,000 ft above sea level and the climate in April was similar to Britain, cool and showery, 

 though it becomes very hot in the height of the summer. 



After a tour of the town and a picnic lunch in the town park on the first morning, our leader took us out 

 of the town to a wood, the Bosco Selvo, for a stroll. This proved to be a wonderful place that some of 

 the party visited four times during the week. It is one of those very interesting areas where northem 



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