Tigers in the garden

There hasn't been much butterfly activity in the garden this year; recent weeks have turned up one each of peacock, red admiral, small tortoiseshell and speckled wood, and a couple of cabbage whites.  But one day my eye was taken by a fly-past of something the colour of a red admiral but smaller, and whirring in an un-redadmiral way.  I followed it, and spotted another ... and another ....  there were five in all, and when they landed briefly it was clear that they were moths, a beautiful red and black when the wings were extended and black with white and yellow markings at rest.  The reason for there being so many at once was obviously that one was a female, and the males had sex on their minds; only one male struck lucky, and the rest disappeared.  My butterfly book tells me that they were scarlet tiger moths - new ones on me.  Interestingly the book suggests they belong to marshy areas, which might explain why I've never seen them before, but not why they turned up this time!  It hasn't been that wet ....

... in fact the last week or so has been quite dry, and we have at last had hot weather; the T-shirts have been brought out again (first time this year except for our holiday abroad).  Tuesday topped 30C, even in our garden, and Wednesday was also warm, but it has cooled a little (fortunately) and this evening has seen some welcome rain.  The summerhouse has been demolished and is now being rebuilt, so the good weather is very timely.

The nestbox, when removed from the old summerhouse, contained the nuthatch nest with the remains of one well-grown nestling in it.  I wonder if the woodpecker managed to extract the rest; some anti-raiding device needs to be worked out before the nestbox goes up for next year.  There were no signs of a recent nest in the summerhouse roof after all; so what were the nuthatches doing in there?  Mystery.  They are now off in the trees for the summer, although one came to the peanut feeder the other day.  There are lots of sparrows, several blackbirds including a couple of noisy youngsters, dunnocks, the wren and the odd finch (and of course the woodpeckers and pigeons, including occasional visits from Lefty the lame pigeon).  I've also heard yellowhammers in the distance.  The sparrowhawk (female) turned up one day and made off with a sparrow from the lawn; I suppose they have young to feed as well.

We also have a family of field mice in the woodpile at the side of the drive; they occasionally scamper out and down the side of the garage.  I suspect they've found the alpine strawberry plants that have seeded down there.

The broad beans are virtually finished - not a good crop this year.  The kale is running to seed, and a couple of the potato plants died back and have been dug up; the shallots have been a complete dead loss and there has only been one successful garlic plant.  On the other hand the courgettes are doing well, and the leeks are ready for planting out; I also have a good number of bean plants to put in.  The compost bin has produced another good lot of usable compost so the soil should be in rather better heart this winter.  I netted the small blackcurrant bush and the red gooseberry and got a small crop from each; the transplanted green gooseberry bushes did little (still too small, I think) but the big one that I left in place cropped heavily - I picked a reasonable number and left the rest to the blackbirds.  The raspberries are cropping very well, and the blackbirds and I are both quite happy with what we're getting from them!

Catching up ....

Spring and early summer is probably the busiest time in the garden, so not ideal (from the gardening point of view) for a long holiday - but most things seem to have survived our absence, thanks mainly to the efforts of helpful neighbours.  Preparations for and catching up after holiday have left no time for blogging, so there's a two-month gap to plug here!

Tulip 'Cairo' - back in May

It would be nice to report that summer weather has arrived, but it hasn't.  June has been miserably wet and July is starting in the same vein.  The sun is nice when it's shining, but that isn't often.  At least the garden hasn't needed watering, although the weeds have run riot while we were away and I'm still trying to get on top of them.  There's lots of flowers for cutting: the sweet william near the house are in full spate (the patch in the shade at the bottom of the garden are just starting to bloom); plenty of roses; the sweet peas are coming back after their first flush has been cut; the blue penstemons are looking excellent, especially the one in the big pot.  Most of the alliums, which have been really good, are fading (A. cristophii is still in good shape), but the philadelphus is now out.  Sadly we missed the late tulips, though 'Uncle Tom' and 'Cairo' did well.  I think my favourite of the new bulbs was Narcissus 'Silver Chimes', which I planted so late - tiny, but beautiful little clusters of powerfully scented flowers.  I look forward to them again next year.

Sweet william - not a bad show!

Blue penstemon

 The veg plot is looking a bit patchy.  There are a few strapping kale plants and a couple of cabbages - neither showing much damage from wildlife - and broad bean plants lounging all over the place.  The leek seedlings are fattening slowly, and the potatoes look good, but few of the shallots are still around (the result of the partridges' dust bathing, I suspect) and only one garlic plant.  I can't even see the apple cordons for weeds.  Before we went away I optimistically planted out all six courgette plants, with 'Slug Gone' for protection, certain that there would be some casualties from slug/snail attack all the same - but no, all six are thriving and fruiting!  I will do as the Greeks do and eat them very small, to keep on top of the glut!  In the greenhouse there are five aubergine plants, two pepper plants and three tomatoes, but all are still very small from lack of attention; seedlings of various brassicas were stood outside while we were away and have all succumbed to slugs. Gooseberries and blackcurrants are ripening nicely (time for some protection against hungry birds ....).

Pyramidal orchid in the lawn

Back in the spring I spotted some orchid leaves appearing in the lawn, and fenced them off from the mower.  Two are Early Spotted Orchids (one has flowered), as last year, but there are three of the taller and chunkier Pyramidal Orchids over by the plum tree - rather fine flowers.

Forward planning: the biennials are sown and germinating, and I'm starting off more salad plants.  Better late than never.

The birds are still busy, but fewer species coming to the garden at the moment.  Lots of sparrows and woodpigeons, and a few blackbirds; the wren comes daily to search around the patio pots (which still have the spring bulbs in them); and the robin shows up occasionally, but is mostly based down in the bottom hedge.  A young woodpecker is coming to the peanut container with its dad, and is not pleased when I'm in the garden.