Archive of posts from June 2008

In early May, I sowed our wildflower meadow. The plants are all now sprouting: Plant growth in the meadow Read on

For the first time our native honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) has flowered: Native honeysuckle flowers The Betony (Stachys officinalis) I planted late last year has also flowered: Betony flowers At the back of the pond the yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris) is also now in flower: Yellow loosestrife in flower Read on

Our first gherkin has appeared in the greenhouse. I’ve tried growing gherkins before but not had much luck. I’m hoping that the greenhouse will help produce a bumper crop this year. The variety we’re growing is called Adam F1. Our first gherkin takes shape Read on

We released our first froglet on the 5th May and over the last few weeks we’ve been releasing froglets on a daily basis. Sometimes we’ve released froglets in the morning and the evening as they’ve been developing so quickly. I’ve also been keeping a record of the number of froglets we’ve released and the grand total was 172 froglets! Read on

Today is the third birthday for our pond. It seems amazing that it was three years ago today that we first turned on the tap and filled the pond. I’m still stunned at the impact the pond has had on the garden and the wildlife in it. To celebrate the birthday here’s a set of pictures taken on the pond’s birthday each year: 2005 The pond being filled in 2005 2006 The pond on its... Read on

I knew it was coming but it doesn’t make its arrival any less welcome. Yes, the harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) has finally arrived in my garden. I thought I saw one individual last year but wasn’t 100% sure. This year there’s sadly no doubt: The harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) - succinea variant The harlequin ladybird arrived in Britain in 2004 and has been spreading rapidly ever since. The ladybird out competes with our native ladybirds... Read on

Whilst having lunch next to the pond we noticed this fantastic Emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator). The dragonfly was next to its nymphal exuviae so had obviously climbed out of our pond. Emperor dragonfly drying its wings having emerged from the nymphal skin I also noticed this horse-fly (Tabanus sp.). The larvae of horse-flies live in damp soil so I suspect this one could’ve originated from the mud surrounding the pond. Adult horse-fly We’re also now... Read on

Earlier last week I bought a starling peanut cake tube from CJ WildBird Foods. We put it up in the garden yesterday and were completely inundated with starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) today. At one point we counted more than 15 starlings in the garden! Amazingly they’d eaten all of the tube by this evening. Starlings feeding in the garden Read on