#plantsman

[fangisms]

rubbish and the weather

A/N: my first hp universe fic 🥺 i hope somebody enjoys this because i LOVE neville and i LOVE friends to lovers tropes

Pairings: Neville Longbottom x Fem!Reader

Summary: Neville is hiding two things from you: the chest under his bed and his affections for you. 1.5k words

Warnings: fluff, face kisses, friendly teasing/bullying, SICKENING pining, neville being borderline creepy but in a sweet way, cursing, friends to… lovers?

"'Some have begun to question whether or not the Sorting Hat even exists'. Oh, be serious, there's no way anyone would believe this rubbish"—you toss the flimsy tabloid to the foot of the bed, nearly pelting Neville with the busily patterned cover—"Now, if they'd asked, does the Sorting Hat actually sort... well, then I'd have to think about it."

"If you think it's rubbish, then why are you subscribed?"

He doesn't even have to glance up from his almanac to know you're glaring holes through his skull. And you don't have to see the other side of his skull to know that he's borderline laughing at you.

"Oh, and I'm sure what you're reading is much more enlightening. What is this?"—You snatch the thin booklet from his lap, illuminating the soft yellow cover under your suddenly glowing wand—"Last year's Farmers' Almanac?"

"Give me that—I'm trying to follow weather patterns to understand what crops might attract juvenile basilisks to common gardens in order to decrease slug attacks on spring harvests. Are you even listening?" he whines, smacking your calf with the booklet as you reach for a worn quill and a shred of parchment.

"Mhm! Baby basilisks, slug attacks, harvests, got it!" you coo, scribbling across the paper flattened against the headboard of his bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, plant boy! Go back to reading."

"Actually, I prefer plantsman, thank you very much."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, plant boy."

He turns his back to you again, sitting criss-cross on the edge of the bed, hunched over as he scans the pages for keywords and uncommon patterns.

You shift across the bed, draping one arm over Neville's shoulder and dropping the slip of paper into his lap. Your head rests on his other shoulder while he picks at the edges of the piece and ignores the fire in his face.

"For me?" he says, holding it in his palms like it could rip at any second. Like he'll blink and it'll turn to shreds in his fingers.

"It's your little basilisk"—you run your fingertip along the bottom corner where a tiny, overly worried snake sits looking up at a gigantic slug with sharp teeth that towers over him and his tomato plant—"I don't know how he's going to defend his crops this spring."

You blow a puff of air against the back of his neck, chuckling when he startles and slips the comic into the breast pocket of his pajamas.

"So you were listening after all," he teases, turning over his shoulder to find you splayed out across the bed, face buried in his pillows, arms outstretched like you're reaching for something. He wants to reach back. He wants this kind of view for the rest of his life, if only from afar.

You mumble something into the fluff and shriek when he grabs for your ankle.

"Can't hear all your whining through the bedding."

When you look at him, he thinks he could die. Your eyes sparkle in the dim and awfully warm lightning. If he's lucky, you'll brush off all of his feverish blushing as some sort of medical condition. But he's never been very lucky which is why he reaches for the back of his neck when you grin and roll over.

"I wasn't whining, I was saying—"

Light floods the room as the door flaps open to a few familiar faces that look like they've seen a ghost. You spring out of Neville's bed and gather your supplies. He feels a buzzing in his palms that begs him to beg you to stay. But it's against the rules. Even more so than your presence alone in the boys' dorms.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," you chirp, saluting to the quartet of boys shuffling through the doorway with wide eyes and shy smiles.

"Goodnight, Neville."

You kiss his cheek, patting his shoulder and flitting back through the door with one last wave. Neville sighs and tosses his almanac aside, swinging his legs off the side of the bed before he hears a chorus of high-pitched teasing:

"Goodnight, Neville! I love you, Neville!" Not to mention the kissing sounds and squeaky sighs from the group of Gryffindor imbeciles.

He would never admit it out loud, but even imagining you professing your love for him gives him butterflies. His heart races at the thought of your voice wrapped around the sweet words, your lips forming the dewy syllables just right. But he rolls his eyes and groans, settling across his mattress and forgetting the drawing in his pocket.

...

You'd been wandering around the boys' dormitories in your house sweater, humming the song that played in the pub down the road. Usually you invade Neville's space to study or catch up on tabloids, but tonight you're restless. His quill is flicking away at a sheet of classwork he forgot about until the last minute.

As you press your fingertips to each quilt stitch and dresser decoration, you notice a piece of metal gleaming at you from underneath his bed. A sharp corner protrudes from the edge; it belongs to a small brown leather chest buckled in brass and blooming with rust.

"What's this?" you coo, holding the chest across both of your palms, nudging his calf with your foot and grinning mischievously down at him. And he looks genuinely scared. Pale as a ghost and scrambling after you as you take off across the room with elated giggles and chirps.

"No—no! Give that back, it's personal!" he whines, panting as you bound over one of the beds and curl your arms around the box.

"What's yours is mine, Longbottom! Come on, whatever it is can't be that bad—"

He grabs the back of your sweater like the scruff of a puppy, dragging you backwards and knocking you off kilter. He nearly catches the chest with his hands, but you duck out of reach and jump onto his bed before he can get to you again.

"Tell me, what on Earth could Neville Longbottom be hiding—"

His heart stops when you flick open the latch and toss the lid wide. Then your smile falls.

You finger over the contents of the chest, scraps of parchment and ink fill it to its brim. They nearly spill over the edges when you plop down onto his mattress with the chest in your lap.

Your mouth opens and closes with revelation and awe. Each page is one of your spontaneously dorky animations. Spiky creatures and demon garden spawn and caricatures of Professor Snape litter the pile. They're all drawings you remember, each connects to a moment between the two of you.

Neville takes a deep breath and doesn't dare step closer, "It's not what it looks like—"

"You kept them?" you whisper, looking up at him in shock, "All of them?"

You're still flipping through the stack when he shrugs with a worrisome smile.

"...Yes."

You pause. You pause and take a sharp breath in because he's never sounded so sure in a word. You do a double take at one of the sketches. He sits on the edge of the bed, wringing his hands and glancing over at you anxiously.

"Neville"—and here it comes, he thinks, creepy, perverted, obsessive, and those sorts of things. And you wouldn't be wrong. But then he thinks he might be wrong. Because you set the box aside and spring toward him like a goddamn panther, landing him flat on the floor with a groan.

"That's adorable!

Your wet lips find his cheek and the rest of his face, hands wound into the collar of his sleep shirt as you leer down at him with a grin.

"I didn't think anyone paid attention to those stupid things."

"Well. I do," he huffs.

"I can see that, you sicko!" you shriek, "You better thank your lucky stars I'm so nice. Any other girl would've sent you right to Snape for being so perverted and creepy."

Called it.

"That's why I did it to you, not some other girl."

He doesn't know what to do with his hands, and you go shy thinking you might've crossed a line. Maybe you got too excited, flew too close to the sun, lips too close to his own. But the closeness had felt nice, and you want to make him blush like that forever.

"So you're saying it's not because I'm the prettiest girl at Hogwarts."

And you bat your lashes, pouting and leaving him weak in the knees. With your palms on his chest and you leaning closer, he's tempted to admit he's taken with you. To admit he's loved you since first year. To admit you are the prettiest girl at Hogwarts and in London and the rest of Europe. Forget the world, you're his.

"I never said that," Neville mumbles. It’s the closest he'll ever get to a real confession. At least this year.

masterlist

[bumblebeeappletree]

The name Aglaonema is not so well known in Australia, but in Indonesia, the genus of plants is so popular it has its own theme song. Tammy and guest presenter Sean Salim, ‪@onlyplants‬ visit plant breeders Mia and Greg Hambali to see the wide range of Aglaonemas they are growing.

Greg Hambali is well known in plant circles for producing some of the world’s best-loved cultivars, but of all the plants he has worked with, the Aglaonemas are the heroes in his greenhouse. He has bred about 100 hybrids.

His daughter Mia learnt the ropes from her father at his Bogor nursery and now runs her own nursery in Bali.

Mia shows Sean some of the behind-the-scenes tricks of the trade – using a paintbrush to move pollen from one parent plant to another – and explains the patience needed to wait for results: sometimes up to eight months for seeds and then even longer for the hybrid plants to grow before you can select the best plant from all the thousands of ‘babies’.

Greg shows Tammy some of the many cultivars he has created. Tammy is used to seeing these plants in shades of green, but here there are pinks and reds in a whole range of combinations. It is the colourful plants that are most popular, especially the red ones, because in Indonesia red is associated with bravery and luck.

The main parent that brings these red tones to hybrids is Aglaonema rotundum, from the island of Sumatra. Greg compares this plant to salt in the kitchen – “without it all the dishes are bland”.

Because each individual hybrid is different there is always an incentive to keep trying to see what the next combination will bring.

Mia shows a huge pile of boxes filled with labels of hybrids that have been deemed a ‘failure’ – not different or interesting enough to propagate. She says her father has produced more than 10,000 ‘failures’ in his lifetime. “I’ve already made more than 1,000 failures and I intend to make any more before I achieve success,” says Mia. “A failure is not the end of the world. We keep doing what we’re doing and we never give up.”

Behind the nursery is a huge experimental garden. It’s more like a personal jungle than a garden, with something new at every turn.

Sean finds a Paradise Palm similar to one that he killed by underwatering - he says it should never dry out and likes acidic soil and bright shade.

Tammy finds a Philodendron ‘Java Beauty’ with leaves almost as big as her!

For decades Greg has been working on breeding Salak – a palm with a sweet firm fruit that’s an important food in south-east Asia. It’s also known as snake fruit because of the pattern on the fruit’s hard outer skin. The skin is peeled off, like a rambutan, revealing a white, soft fruit inside with three segments, each with a pip in the middle. Tammy is surprised to taste both sour and sweet at the same time.

Greg aims to breed a fruit with even better flavour – and on a palm with fewer large spikes on the stems, so it is more gardener-friendly!

Rest in peace:

Gardening Australia expresses great sympathy for the family of Greg Hambali, the incredible plantsman, fondly regarded as the Father of Indonesian Aglonema, who died a few months after filming this segment, on November 4, 2023.

He will be deeply missed by his family and plant lovers in Indonesia and around the world.

Featured plants:

Aglaonema cv.

Aglaonema rotundum

Paradise palm (Licuala mattanensis)

Philodendron ‘Java Beauty’ syn. Thaumatophyllum cv.

Salak (Salacca zalacca)

Filmed in Bogor, West Java

[dearauroraa]

what is my heart to you that you must break it over and over like a plantsman testing his new species?

The Wild Iris, Louise Glück

[aisphotostuff]

Wild Summer Colours @ Nymans NT Sussex.. by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: Naturalistic planting at Nymans in the Forecourt Garden.Discover ruins, statues and year-round beauty and interest in the garden at Nymans. Created by plantsman and designer Ludwig Messel in the late nineteenth century, it’s a garden lover’s delight with significant international and heritage plant collections. More open and flowing than a ‘garden of rooms’, the June border, rose garden, South African meadow and famous summer borders represent Nymans’ distinctive blend of formality and informality to perfection.

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 16, 19th of May, 2024 Research

How to understand plants with Piet Oudolf

From the text: The Dutch garden of renowned plantsman Piet Oudolf, by Clare Foster...

Legendary Gardner, Piet Oudolf is 72 this year, but insists that he is still learning. One of the world's pioneers in planting design, he creates complex, highly successful naturalistic schemes that are constantly changing and evolving - due in part to his never-ending curiosity. 'You have to grow plants to understand them,' he says. 'In the beginning, we propagated 95 per cent of all our plants for the nursery and garden. You see how competitive it is, you watch how it flowers, how it seeds, how it dies.'

Now the garden is given over almost entirely to drifts of ornamental grasses and perennials with curving brick paths taking you through the middle of the beds so you can really experience the feeling of being among the plants - touching them, smelling them, examining them up close.

Piet is as interested in the way that plants die, always choosing those that are going to add value in autumn and winter. When a low sun can light up the plants in infinite shades of gold, bronze and coppery brown as the garden settles slowly into dormancy. 

Plants can be beautiful in death as well as in life... Many species do indeed continue to look good after life has ceased to flow through their veins, especially in late autumn when the subtle straw tones of their stems and leaves are still fresh.'

It's all about planting things together in the right communities so that they are happy,' he concludes. 'Patterns in nature influence you in ways you can't understand.'

With his wife Anja in the perennial garden at the front of the house.

access here: https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/dutch-garden-piet-oudolf

[tintinntabuli]

Plantsmanship 101

“You must visit my friend Mary; she’s a plantswoman.”

I’m a fairly placid sort of chap really. I do what I do and I’m largely happy for the world around me to just happen.

The word ‘plantsman’ or ‘plantswoman’, however, elicits a strong response from me; I’m never rude I hope, but if someone introduces themselves as a plantsperson then I do feel inclined to challenge them.

Apios americana is an American species grown gaining popularity in the UK

What is a plantsperson anyway?

It’s a word banded around fairly widely in the gardening world, but as far as I can see there is no actual definition.

In my experience ‘plantspeople’ fall into three categories:

1. People who have a large collection of plants.

2. People who have a large collection of opinions.

3. People who know a lot about plants.

Bistorta ‘White Eastfield’, a bistort I’m keen to recommend

Collections

‘Plant collections’ fall into two categories.

You have the botanical collections, where enthusiasts have gathered together a large number of plants with a common theme. This might be plants from a particular region or habitat, plants of a particular botanical family or genus, or even plants raised by a certain breeder or during a certain era. These collections are built by gardeners with specific interests, with the best ending up being important reference collections for us all.

A collection of asters would be a great thing to have for this time of the year…

Then we have the ‘credit card collections’, gatherings of plants brought together by someone who just likes having lots of plants. There’s no problem at all with gardeners having a lot of plants together, providing of course they work together to create a garden that is pleasing to the gardener. However, spending lots of money at the nursery doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t, imply any particular level of knowledge.

Opinions

It’s healthy to have opinions about plants and gardens. Sharing those opinions, however, can be risky.

An Aucuba or ‘spotted laurel’; just because it’s not fashionable doesn’t mean it’s not a great plant

As the old saying goes, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”; this would certainly be good advice for some in gardening circles. Having an opinion doesn’t mean you’re right, and lambasting someone else’s planting choices purely because you wouldn’t have done what they have done is nothing but rude and obnoxious.

Choysia ‘Sundance’; like many plants with yellow leaves it’s looked down on by some gardeners

There are those in ‘planty’ circles who have made themselves into gardening personalities purely by by being opinionated, and some are just unnecessarily rude. If a plant is grown to perfection by an enthusiastic gardener then it should be celebrated, at least publicly.

Knowledge

I love having plant knowledge. I hope I never use it to belittle other gardeners; that’s not what I’m about.

I get enormous enjoyment from being able to go into a garden and know what I’m looking at; it gives me a greater appreciation of the depth of what I’m seeing.

Those who don’t spend their time nerding out with plants will still enjoy garden visiting, although as with my recent Abbotsbury post I do wonder about those people who just march around everywhere; how do they see things?! I personally enjoy knowing about the plants and taking my time to personally appreciate them.

A wise gardener once imparted a very important piece of gardening wisdom to me: novice gardeners think they’ve got a good knowledge of all they need to know, while expert gardeners are those who appreciate the scale of how much they can never possibly grasp.

Some of the books in my library; so much knowledge shared on these pages

Certainly when I was a novice gardener I knew how to sow seeds and take cuttings. I knew how to plant trees and roses. As I’ve gained more experience I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that gardening knowledge is a lot more fluid and flexible than I’d originally thought. Some people will find this intimidating, others will find it exciting; it’s down to us as individuals.

I’ve had the privilege to meet some incredibly knowledgeable plant people in my life so far; these range from amazing ‘arch-nerds’ who know a everything about a small number of plants, right the way through to people who are knowledgeable about a wide range of topics. I respect and value all those people who have encouraged me to look outwards to learn new things.

Knowledge is a precious gift and should never be squandered.

Status

Inevitably there are always those who seek status in life. Some are regarded highly because they’re generous and kind, while others just try to put others down.

I’m not naïve; this is something that occurs everywhere in society, not just in gardening.

Camellias are popular garden plants with gardeners around the world, subject to the right conditions

Those who weaponise obnoxiousness should be ignored. There’s no need to belittle other gardeners. No good comes from putting people down, and just buying plants for your gardener doesn’t make you a ‘somebody’ (although the nursery will be glad to see you!).

I increasingly wonder about those gardeners who leave nurseries or plant fairs with cars full of plants; do they all have massive gardens, or do they kill lots of plants?

Proper Plantsperson

Let’s leave our egos at the garden gate and come into the plant world with an open mind and an open heart. We don’t need to compete; there’s plenty of joy for all of us. We can all afford to share our love of plants and gardens.

Anthemis ‘E.C. Buxton’. Mr Buxton was a well-regarded British plantsman

It’s nice to share plants but that’s not always possible for all of us, yet sharing our experiences and knowledge with others, with the aim of helping other gardeners out, must surely be a noble aim.

This display of Dahlias is fabulous, whether the varieties are common or rare. This is what gardening is about…

To me the mark of a true plantsperson is their willingness to share their knowledge and passion with others. When we’re in the company of a plantsperson we should be excited by new possibilities and a new love for our gardens, not downtrodden because our plants aren’t rare or obscure enough.

*When I say ‘library’ I mean the chaotic arrangement of bookshelves hosting an assortment of gardening books in a bedroom.

Plantsmanship 101 originally appeared on GardenRant on September 25, 2023.

The post Plantsmanship 101 appeared first on GardenRant.

Read More

[succulentsaltz]

The largest Saguaro Cactus ever recorded was 78 feet tall that is 28 feet over the normal height. Can you imagine! Have you ever stood next to one of these amazing species? Let me know in the comments if you have and if so where you saw them at. Thank you, have an amazing evening!

[hortushorrei]

Cyperus alternifolius (maybe). This umbrella papyrus was a gift from my gardening friend and writer Renato Ronco of Torino. So many wonderful plants have been added to the garden this summer that I am having difficulty remembering and recording them all. They also need to find good spots to grow, so it's exciting but also challenging to adopt so many at one time. #renatoronco #cyperus #cyperusalternifolius #newplants #lamacchinafissa #gardenersofitaly #gardeningfriends #mezzogiardiniere #nurseries #italy🇮🇹 #mantuangardens #greenisclean #cyperaceae #plantsman #gorgeousplants #clarkanthonylawrence (presso La Macchina Fissa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CScVA6MIRxn/?utm_medium=tumblr

[gardendesigner01]

#evening #eveningfalls #mygarden #mygardenthismonth #mygardeninaugust #instagarden #professionalgardener #plantsman #instagardening https://www.instagram.com/p/B0onlJdg0GD/?igshid=i1yormrqe4m3

[wdcgardener]

Listening to Dr. Allan Armitage talk #plants at Patuxent Nursery’s private reception. He will be giving 2 talks to the public tomorrow (Sat 4/27) at 11am and 2pm #gardendc #dmv #bowie #md #gardensoeaker #plantsman #plantgeek @perennialfarm @patuxentnursery (at Patuxent Nursery) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwvRohzFY2g/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1p7tgp88rnlwa

[what-david-sees]

Vintage botanicals.

[regnum-plantae]

small updates

This week has been particularly busy, and my exams are also around the corner so I haven’t really had enough time to write much, but to compensate, here are some news from the past few days.

- I bought a kit to grow button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) indoors and I’ve finally set it up today. Button mushrooms are boring in the kitchen for me, but I’ve always wanted to buy one of these kits online, and when they arrived at the garden centre where I work with the new stock I had to buy the first one! Post to come.

- Today I also checked the batches of seeds I placed in wet towels and sealed bags a month ago and found life! The natal plum (Carissa macrocarpa) seeds I brought from Lanzarote are germinating, and so are those of a yet unidentified shrubby fabacea I found on the beach there. The most surprising germination though, is probably that of the seeds of an Opuntia fruit, a prickly pear, I ate in Milan in October 2016, which had been given to my aunt by a friend of her from Sicily. If all these seedlings survive there will be posts to come about them! 

- We moved the seed racks in work and I noticed two packets of seeds within hundreds are for plants which can grow indoors, mixed cacti and coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides). I bought them mostly because I couldn’t restrain myself, I have never grown either from seed so why not try. We don’t really stock any houseplants so I can’t throw my money that way. 

- I’m doing some more plant related diy. After the windowsill plant shelving I am now turning a small pallet I brought home from work into a coffee table on wheels which I can also use to move plants around the living room or for indoor gardening. If I don’t die before I’ve finished sanding that thing you will probably see me using it in photos of my plants. 

- I bought a katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) a few weeks ago and since it is a temperate deciduous plant I keep it in the backyard at work. It has some potential to be a nice looking natural style bonsai, very similar to what a multi-stemmed mature tree looks like. I’ll be working on it and you’ll get to see the progress. I am also keeping an eye on other small trees in work, but I’m trying to control my enthusiasm, I’d buy too many plants, too often otherwise.

- My kitchen has a door-window that opens onto some awkwardly designed railing. Hanging containers there is not a straightforward process and my next door has tried with precarious results. This year I’ve finally accepted the challenge and have bought some containers. I am planning at least one for kitchen herbs and one for small, soft fruits. Posts to come at one point.  

[iplantsman]

Even though it is still quite long on top, you wouldn’t believe how much @saranormand just cut from my mop of hair. She’s done a great job and I’m very happy. . Coached her extensively during the process. The more she got annoyed at me, the more I knew I was doing the right thing! . I feel better prepared to chat with @herveybrookes this week, who’s hair inexplicably looks better each week! . #lockdownhaircut #haircut #hair #redbeard #beardsofinstagram #iplantsman #plantsman (at Crowborough, East Sussex) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAz3nI3ghD6/?igshid=vs02dz4iy8df

[peterturski]

Autumn in a private rock garden

[bonchjela]

My Tillandsia takes months to flower. After which, the plant forms offsets and dies. Bloom where you are hung. #lels2020 #airplant #plant #tillandsia #anthophile #plantsman https://www.instagram.com/p/B7hUSadh80M/?igshid=1ogcyplb4se0q

[hortushorrei]

Rodologists can identify (or quite accurately guess) many bare, leafless stems of roses by their thorns and forms. I suppose bulb experts can tell you the name of many tulips before the flower forms. This species tulip, Tulipa acuminata, is one of my favourites, and I look forward to showing you why in two weeks or so. 😍 A bulb expert friend of mine saw that I had written the date I planted the bulbs and supposed name of the tulip on the vase, and he said "You will see that what comes up isn't really Tulipa acuminata when it blooms" but they were under the soil. That's either magical powers of prediction or years of experience with tulips being called by their incorrect names. We shall see. #tisfortulip #hollingtonsflorilegium #tulipleaves #lamacchinafissa #clarksgarden #mezzogiardiniere #potsoftulips #tinytulips #expertgardener #plantsman #plantidentification #plantlatin #tulipaacuminata (presso La Macchina Fissa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbZkpbyISLY/?utm_medium=tumblr