I was asked, the other day, what creature was making holes in canna leaves and how on earth did they manage to make such neat lines of holes. The leaves had series of horizontal holes as though something had traversed the leaves, taking a bite every few steps. And, to add to the mystery, the series of holes were always horizontal and never vertical!

I am afraid that the explanation is rather prosaic. This happens when a slug or snail or other creature takes a bite out of the rolled leaf when it is young and before it unfurls. The effect is rather like the paper people we used to make as children, rolling or folding newspaper and cutting the shapes and then unfolding to make a string of people holding hands.

So no great mystery but it does look quite cool!

Sunday Puzzler solution: September 2

The answer to yesterdays’ puzzle was:

Rudbeckia

Dahlia

Callicarpa

Impatiens

Spiraea

Eucomis

Lavender

Hydrangea

That gives you R D C I S E L H

Rearrange those to get Childers – Erskine H Childers was President of Ireland from 1973-74, dying of a heart attack in November 1974 in Dublin.

cannas, erskine H Childers, slugs