The weather's turned increasingly cold and unsettled of late, yet Suesie and I have continued to be busy in the garden. The meadow area has been stripped of it's old turf, and we're leaving it fallow now, ready for re-sowing next spring. We've also put three nestboxes up and the bog garden has been fashioned anew, and now forms a much larger area behind the pond, ready for new plants next year. The area behind the willow pod has also been cleaned of weeds; a heavy job considering all the nettle roots. But now the ground has been cleared, we've been able to fill it with a richer mix of plants including; garlic mustard, wood avens, grape hyacinths and dog violets. With colder weather setting in thoughts turn to approaching festivities and plans for next year. One exciting thing we're looking forward to, is contributing to Eastbourne's first ever 'Seedy Sunday' event at Leaf Hall, Seaside, on the 18th November. We'll be manning our stall showcasing our wildlife garden, sharing our seeds and some of our craft work.
At last, after weeks of being so busy, things seem to be finally settling down. Wev'e been very busy in the garden of late. We spent a couple of weeks completely renovating the long border; lifting all the plants we had, cleaning the soil of perennial weeds, then respacing the plants together with the large collection of new wildflowers we'd grown this year. So we now have a much bigger variety of plants now including; viper's bugloss, garlic mustard, betony, and masses of foxgloves busy creating new roots for flowering next year. Wev'e also decided to completely redo the meadow. As I suspected, the soil there is very rich and not condusive for growing meadow flowers. The grasses simply take over. So wev'e begun to strip away the old turf, and over the winter we'll work it as much as we can removing any lingering weed roots. When that's done we'll reduce the fertility of the soil by adding lots of sand. So by next spring it'll hopefully be ready for sowing with a wild grasses and meadow flower mix. With the approach of winter, things are quieting down now in the garden. Right up until the beginning of this month though, the flowering ivy was alive with bees, red admirals and comma butterflies. No peacocks sadly.
Apologies for our recent absence, we've been so busy with preperations for our impending wedding which happens tommorow! As well as the civil ceremony we're going to be sharing an outdoor celebration under the trees of a local wood. To help calm myself down I thought I'd add a little update of the garden goings on. During the hottest spells of weather things have continued to be busy around the pond, not the mad rush of spring, but lots of visits from the late summer dragonflies. The pond itself has become crammed with oxygenating weed; so important for wildlife.
The all red dragonfly sympetrum striolatum has been a frequent visitor, as has the gorgeous blue emperor dragonfly seen laying eggs, just below the pond's surface. On other occasions we've spotted southern hawkers laying eggs too. Interestingly, they seem to be happy to lay amongst the damp earth surrounding the pond.
Despite the changeable weather the broad-bodied chaser larvae have continued to emerge from the pond, making use of those days when the sun has decided to shine. Occasionally, we've witnessed the sad sight of newly-emerged dragonflies which have been trapped in limbo when the weather has deterioated, unable to complete the drying of their wings.
Today though was gorgeous; sunny and very warm and the garden glowed with the blooms of poppy and ox-eye daisy.
About 9.20pm and not yet dark, we suddenly noticed scores of chafer-sized bugs swarming around the tops of nearby tree and bushes. Excitedly, we managed after some effort, to catch one in our pond net. Honey in colour and very similar in shape to the rose chafer bugs mentioned recently this was identified to be a summer chafer bug. For a while longer we lingered in the garden, and were soon rewarded with the snuffling sounds of a nearby hedgehog and the sight of a pair of large bats swooping overhead; much larger than the usual p
At last! After what seemed weeks of wet and windy weather things have finally warmed up. Despite the barrage, the garden has held up pretty well and is now awash with poppies, ox-eye daisies and other wild flowers.
Another flower which has turned up under it's own steam is wild clary; a beautiful blue meadow flower. We've a whole trayful of seedlings waiting to be pricked out in the kitchen from last year's seed. Behind the pond we've had a bit of a surprise for some pale flax has appeared. This is quite a scarce plant so we'll be sure to collect seed from this too.
Action from the emerging dragonflies has slowed down to a trickle of late, though we still get a steady stream of broad bodied chasers and damselflies passing through. The other day I watched as a sparrow swooped down and snatched a hatchling from the bankside vegetation. The dragonfly's death means a meal maybe for hungrey chicks of course, it's the ones taken by the neighbourhood cat which leave me feeling sad. The water in the pond has become crystal clear thanks no dought, to the masses of hornwort and millfoil which have spread like mad below the surface. As a result, the pond has revealed new treasures such as this larvae which is probably the young of the southern hawker dragonfly seen laying eggs last year. I've no idea what the strange creature below left is.
Miniature froglets have emerged from the pond, and can occasionally be found hiding in the damp margins, whilst upon the surface water boatmen have really grown in size. Watching their actions you can really see their aggressive nature. A few days ago I also spotted the water measurer again and managed to take the shot below right.
Under a terricotta pot we discovered a mass of ants hurridly protecting their pupae. Gently replacing the pot we left them in peace. Little grasshoppers have begun to appear in the meadow whilst on the great mullein a group of colourful mullein moth catapillars are growing fat. They've made such a meal of the plant I'm unsure of it's chance to flower.
Last but not least, late one evening a hedgehog paid a visit to the garden. Hidden beneath the hedge we couldn't see it alas, but we could certainly hear it! Hedgehogs are often heard before sight; I love hearing their unmistakable array of snorts and snufflings.
Despite the renewed onslaught of rain and gale all sorts of wonderful things have continued to share their delights with us in the garden. During those intermittant spells of warmth and sunshine we have had, the dragonfly larvae have continued to creep their way out of the pond to perform their amazing transformations. There's something slightly eerie in the way the dried husks of their skins remain abandoned, alien-like, in the bankside vegetation. The photos below are just some of the sights we've been treated too.
Other discoveries have included a garden tiger moth hidden deep within the wild poppies, whilst in the pond, the female common newt has made frequent appearances.
The weather stayed hot and sunny this weekend with a lovely cooling breeze. As a result, the action continued unabated in the garden. By mid-morning on Friday, both male and female broad-bodied chasers were zooming all around the pond, frequently pausing to perch on the stems of the flowering rush and yellow flag iris.
Lots of damselflies were on the wing too, flying in tandom, and laying eggs around the edges of the pool and amongst the emergant stems and flowers of the water crowfoot.
That evening, Suesie and I decided to stay out late in the garden enjoying the slowly fading light. Although the damselflies had vanished the pond was still a hive of activity. Frogs occasionally poked their noses up to say hello, and we spotted a little black diving beetle, (another new-comer,) which repeatedly rose to the surface for a gulp of air before plunging back down into the hidden depths. And joy upon joy, we suddenly had a brief glimpse of our first newt! What a wonderful day. For a while longer we lingered, and were treated to the sight of a couple of bats as they fluttered silently overhead, no doubt gourging on the midges which had risen from the pond. Early Sunday morning, we awoke to discover another dragonfly larvae had crawled out over night, up onto the stems of the bankside sedge. Spellbound, Suesie watched as it split from it's casing and emerged into another beautiful broad-bodied chaser; a female this time. A little later in the morning she was seen once more in the meadow strip, still drying her glistening wings.
By 10.30am it had already become hot and we were treated to the wonderful sight of another female chaser laying eggs in the margins. Rhythmically, she dipped her tail just below the surface. Damselflies; mostly blue now, continued to lay all over the pond and at one time I saw eight pairs all at once!
By mid-day, one of our foxgloves was in bloom and just a hint of yellow could be seen at the top of one of the yellow flag irises. What a wonderful weekend!
Today dawned cloudless and still, and by mid-day it had become hot. What a differance it made to the garden. Suddenly, the californian poppies, wild clary and foxgloves were all starting to bloom, whilst in the meadow strip lots of germander speedwell was beginning to give a beautiful show of blue beneath the hedge.
But the pond! I couldn't believe the change! Suddenly, everything erupted into life with damselflies fluttering around the grassy margins and over the water crowfoot in tandom, dipping their delicate tails in the water to lay eggs. As you can see, most of these were large red damselflies. The first photo is of a pair in a "copulation wheel" where the male passes sperm to it's mate.
Later on in the day, a stunning pair of broad-bodied chasers flew over and we managed to photograph the female as she rested on the washing line.
But the excitment was only beginning. All day we'd noticed that some of the dragonfly larvae had been particularly active, crawling all around the edges of the pond. At 5.30am the next morning, Suesie woke me to say she'd found that two larvae had crawled from the pond onto the sedges and grasses on the bank. Alas, I had to leave for work soon after, but Suesie was able to watch entranced, as two beautiful female chasers emerged and took their first flight.
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.
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.
What a change to the weather we saw this weekend! Sheltered from the breeze it even felt hot at times, and bathed in the warm sunshine the garden quickly came alive with the sound of buzzing insects. The comfrey is still a big hit with bumble bees but lots of other insects were on the wing including orange tip and common blue butterflies, and damselflies too. The one below left is a female large red. On the right can be seen a St. Mark's fly which alighted for a while on the tall grasses around the willow pod.
Now that the dandelions are slowing down the meadow strip has returned to a lush, green hue though a few primroses still bloom, and amongst the grasses it's amazing to see the variety of plants that are beginning to thrive. It's a rich community of plants including; herb robert, black medick, wood avens, ox-eye daisy and the gorgeous germander speedwell seen below.
Elsewhere, the long peroid of recent rain has meant the plants have rocketed up and the foxgloves, ox-eye daisies and wild poppies are all developing healthy flower buds. Forget-me-nots still give a lovely band of blue at the front of the border but much of the garden yet remains green. Certainly, one of the plans for next year will be to add more early flowering nector plants. For now though, it's lovely to feel immersed in so much verdancy, and there's a sence of gathering energy; the pause before everything bursts into bloom. With the evocotive sounds of blackbird song nearby and the distant calls of a green woodpecker, the garden feels so peaceful right now. In the pond the tadpoles are beginning to finally reappear much, much bigger than when we last saw them. Every now and then, one will pop up for a gulp of air before plunging back into the depths, and I guess this shows they're beginning to move away from a life dependant on gills. Two more newly hatched damselflies were found resting on the grasses at the pond's edge and the baby water boatmen have grown to about four millimeters across! Lastly, given clear night skies take a look at the heavens sometime. Saturn can now be seen shining due south-eastwards and can easily be seen with the naked eye. Remember, unlike stars planets tend not to twinkle but shine with an unwavering light. Even in binoculars Saturn appears to have something odd about it, but in a small telescope it's beauty is revealed. With it's amazing ring structure it seems almost unreal; like a tiny model hanging by a thread at the end of your telescope. If you've never seen it, then I defy you to take a look and not be awestruck.
Martin. and Suesie are not genious gardeners nor wildlife experts, our main hope is to encourage everyone, however small their plot is, to have a go. We can all play an important role in helping our native wildlife.