It was all go in the garden this weekend, there was so much to see.
Saturday was a lovely bright, warm day with a light breeze. During the afternoon I took a long, slow stroll around, taking time to peer under leaves and beneath stones and really allowing myself to connect with the experiance of being in the garden at that moment. When you give yourself the opportunity to slow down like this, it's amazing how much more you notice.
As well as the constant sound of buzzing bumblebees bobbing around the comfrey with white, overflowing pollen sacks, many other insects were on the wing. Small white, orange tip and common blue butterflies occasionally flew past and there were lots of large red damselflies too. Braving my spider phobia I managed to take the photos below.
Saturday was a lovely bright, warm day with a light breeze. During the afternoon I took a long, slow stroll around, taking time to peer under leaves and beneath stones and really allowing myself to connect with the experiance of being in the garden at that moment. When you give yourself the opportunity to slow down like this, it's amazing how much more you notice.
As well as the constant sound of buzzing bumblebees bobbing around the comfrey with white, overflowing pollen sacks, many other insects were on the wing. Small white, orange tip and common blue butterflies occasionally flew past and there were lots of large red damselflies too. Braving my spider phobia I managed to take the photos below.
Ants could be found everywhere and amidst the longer grass surrounding the pond I came across this little scarlet bug. Sadly, it's known only as Liloceris lilii, too serious a name for such a colourful soul.
At the back of the garden we've deliberately left things to grow tall and wild. Here, nettle, cow parsley and cleavers have grown tall and lush and as I scanned around I came across this gorgeous ladybird. I'm pretty sure it's an Eyed ladybird which are more usually found on or around conifers.
The pond seems so much clearer than it did, no dought helped by the native oxygenator Hornwort which has spread into dense clumps beneath the water. The lovely Water crowfoot still shows it's little white flowers upon the surface and six big flower buds are growing fatter on the Yellow flag iris. The pond scaters still haven't gathered in huge numbers but I finally managed to photograph one today; they're nervous little things! Later in the day, I was attempting to take a snap of a frog that was resting in the shallows. It was only when I took a closer look at the pictures that I noticed the discarded damselfly skins clinging to the stems of the Flowering rush behind. I count eight!
Many of the plants in the garden bear swelling flower buds. There's a sense that all it will take is a few more days of sunshine and everything will erupt into bloom.