Sawdust puzzle

The tomatoes in the greenhouse growbags are doing well so far, but the presence of sawdust on some of the leaves had me puzzled for a bit.  Sawdust, in an aluminium greenhouse?  Then I spotted the hole in one of the bamboo canes supporting one of the tomato plants - a neat little circular hole where something has bored into, or out of, the cane.  If it has gone in, why?  And if it came out, where is it now, and what is it doing?  I suspect it may be woodworm, of which we have plenty in the woodstore, but I wasn't expecting it in the greenhouse.  I would have thought that a bamboo cane would have been hard work for a woodworm.  The canes came from the garden centre; usually I use buddleja prunings, but I needed something slim enough to fit the holes provided in the new ring culture pots.

The weather has become even cooler - mid-teens and colder at night - and there have been a couple of miserably wet days (which is quite genuinely good for the garden, but not with wind and cold).  This has prompted some belated work in the greenhouse: seed-sowing and potting on of cuttings.  On dry days I've also started digging out the 'volunteer' raspberry canes in the veg patch, and getting at the nettle roots and other weeds around them while I was at it.  I need to clear more ground in the veg patch if all my new seeds are to find a home!  Most of the broad beans have been used, so their patch will soon be vacated (although it's not long now until the autumn-sown beans for next year go in ....).  The garlic bulbs have been plaited and hung up, and there were a number of little bulblets in the stems which I've potted up in the hope of getting next year's crop for free; if that works, they too will soon need a home.

The shrub roses are coming to an end, at least as far as pickable flowers is concerned, though I managed a nice posy of 'Felicia', 'Koenigin von Daenemark' and Gallica officinalis.  The other posy currently on the go is a much less tasteful, but definitely zingier, mix of dahlias ('Juliet' and 'Bishop of Auckland'), mixed zinnias and Crocosmia 'Lucifer'.  The zinnias are doing well and are quite a success; I'm pleased with them this year.

Last roses

Zinnias, dahlias and crocosmia

 Another success has been the fleecing up of the blackcurrant bush, resulting in several pots of jam and still more berries to come.  We've also had the first of the 'Belle de Fontenay' potatoes.  The first courgette buds are showing, so that's another glut on the way soon ....

Just as I thought that we'd had all the baby blackbirds for this year, a youngster, still with his gape and noisily demanding food, turned up in the raspberry patch this afternoon.  I think Mum was glad of the bare soil where I dug out the nettles yesterday as a source of worms.  There are still quite a few little sparrows being fed; a little dunnock showed up briefly the other day and three young starlings appeared this afternoon to pick over the lawn.  A greenfinch comes occasionally for a drink, as does Lefty the lame pigeon.  Today the pair of pigeons who 'own' our garden decided to have a spa morning in the birdbath, bathing and preening happily together (a bit of a squeeze - it's not that big a birdbath!).  There are other birds around in the background: a wren glimpsed briefly, a nuthatch heard pecking in the ash tree and a yellowhammer calling somewhere in the distance.

The first truss of flowers on the buddleja is out, but it hasn't been weather for butterflies to emerge; it's long sleeves and sweatshirt weather, even indoors.  And hot soup for lunch.  In July.  The forecast for August is no better.