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.

Ups and downs of a wildlife garden

The past couple of weeks' ups and downs have been on the wildlife front.  Positives have been the brief appearance of a female blackcap, the first female we've ever seen here, and a very brief sighting of - could it really have been a siskin? - that would definitely be a first in this garden.  Also a garden warbler, probably on passage.  The long-tailed tits haven't been about so much, but a pair of coal tits are now regulars at the suet feeder.  And today Mr Blackbird brought down two well-grown youngsters to the patio, to feed them apple (the apple store is coming to an end but, even though they are half-rotten, the blackbirds love them!) and suet.

The nuthatches seem to have decided that the nestbox is too risky, given the interest shown by the woodpecker and the cat.  Instead they have set up home in the summerhouse roof, just above the nestbox; they've carefully sealed up all the other possible entrances with mud, and use the nestbox roof as a stepping-stone into their new pad.  We did wonder whether they were building a property empire (sub-letting?  granny annex?  his 'n hers?) but they no longer seem to be going into the nestbox.  At least they only have one brood, so they will be gone by the time we demolish the summerhouse!

Although I've only had the briefest of glimpses, the sparrowhawk is obviously around.  At various times we've had the wings of a female pheasant on the lawn (our resident male had three ladies at one point), a pile of partridge feathers (although our usual pair are still about, and today were enjoying a dustbath among my shallots) and yesterday a dead female blackbird (now buried among the gooseberry bushes).  Parts of the pheasant and partridge turned up in the compost corner, and the reason became clear when Ratty bolted down there one day when we chased him; he obviously has a den in the logpile right in the bottom corner of the garden.  I constructed this logpile, and the others in the bottom hedge, with the deliberate intention of creating a home for wildlife, but this wasn't quite the sort of wildlife I'd had in mind.  I suppose I shouldn't be particular.  Ratty is in poor shape; as well as being mangy, he seems to be deaf and to have limited mobility in his back legs, which is probably why he hangs out around here for easy pickings under the bird feeders (and the apple when the blackbirds leave it alone).  I feel bad about chasing such a sick creature, not least because he's so slow that I could actually catch him (which I really don't want to do).  Yesterday he was scratching about under the suet feeder when a neighbour's cat came into the garden; he neither saw nor heard the cat and I thought that the problem was about to be solved - but instead the cat focussed entirely on the Geum rivale by the pond.  The geum sprawls over a small pile of stones which is all that is left of my plans for a scree garden, and we discovered the other day that a field vole (at least one) has its home in there.  I had no compunction about the cat putting Ratty out of his misery but I rather like the vole and so, rather reluctantly, I chased the cat off.  Opportunity missed.

The weather, on the other hand, has stopped being up and down - it's been down.  Cold with wintry showers, including a spell of huge snowflakes today.  It wasn't cold enough for the snow to lie more than a few minutes, but it would have given a bit of a reality check to my sweet peas which were hardening off out of the cold frame.  I'm holding off planting them out until next week when the temperatures are supposed to creep up a bit.  The greenhouse heater has gone back on, although on sunny mornings the vents have been wide open.  Some of the seedlings have been pricked out; the propagator is currently rather empty, so I need to do some more sowing to make use of it.  There's a usable number of courgette, tomato, aubergine and red pepper seedlings coming along (probably rather more than I can accommodate, but at least I'll have a few spares if the slugs get too active).  All the salad plants in the old growbags have now been used, so the old bags can go out to make way for more growing space.

There's still a reasonable show of daffodils, although the early ones have been deadheaded.  A small number of tulips are in flower but the main show is still to come; the only pot in full bloom so far is the first one I planted which is 'Chato'.  This is a very strong pink, with large double flowers and a sturdy constitution; it's a bit lacking in subtlety but as it was a freebie I won't complain!  It's paired with Muscari 'Valerie Finnis', which is well and truly elbowed out of the way by the tulip and rather overwhelmed by the colour.  The little daffodils in two of the pots (I forgot to label them - are they 'Elka'?) are lovely, a very delicate pale yellow that would pair well with any colour - even Chato pink!

Tulip 'Chato'

Mini-daffodils

Up and down

April is delivering its usual up-and-down weather (mostly down so far).  A week or so ago I managed a lunch outside on the bench, but we're back in chilly and showery mode and I'm not even feeling much like working outside, let alone eating.  Yesterday we had snow, sleet and hail in the showers; I had been putting the sweet peas outside to harden off for a few hours each day, but yesterday I left them tucked up in the cold frame.  Today they're outside again; they will have to learn to get on with this weather sometime!  At least the east wind has turned so it's less chilly, though rather wet.

The garden is in its yellow phase - daffodils, cowslips, doronicums, celandines, epimediums - with a little blue and purple (grape hyacinths, brunnera just starting, anemone blanda, the first of the honesty, a few pansies from the winter bedding).  The first tulip to open was also yellow; this was one of the ones by the dining room window which I thought I had dug up, but three of them obviously escaped (need to decide what to do about them).  The little red tulips in the front garden are just beginning to open, and some of the ones in pots are well into bud.

The greenhouse is getting into spring mode; the bubblewrap has been removed, dahlias and freesia bulbs potted up and the propagator is on.  The gazanias, salpiglossis and ipomoea have germinated in the propagator and are now on the new greenhouse shelving; some of the tomatoes have sprouted too and will be removed soon.  Strangely, the old 'Gardeners' Delight' seed has germinated more quickly than the new 'Sungold' seed; why? 

The nuthatches are persisting with the nestbox, despite the woodpecker still showing occasional interest and one of the neighbourhood cats pawing the box from the summerhouse roof and knocking it askew (we carefully straightened it up again).  Ratty is also still about; it seems to have a hideout under the shrubs at the side of the patio where there's thick ivy as well as much (unintended) undergrowth, so a clearout there is planned when the weather permits.  However we've had a couple of welcome visitors: a brief appearance from a small warbler (willow warbler?), and a longer visit from a male blackcap.  I think we've only seen a blackcap in this garden once in the twenty-odd years we've been here.  He was probably on migration (as I expect the warbler was too), making a pitstop while on his way elsewhere; from Friday to Sunday morning he was a regular at the suet feeder and the blackbirds' apple (he loved the apple), then disappeared, presumably refreshed and refuelled for the next stage of his journey.  I hope he calls in again on his way back south in the autumn.

The song thrush is also still about (to the blackbirds' annoyance), probably nesting, and the bullfinches too.  The long-tailed tits must also be nesting somewhere near; they're also still coming to the suet feeder.  The robins love the suet but one of them isn't confident about hanging on the feeder; today, delightfully, it sat on the pole holding up the feeder while its mate passed it bits of suet as a present.

Unwelcome visitors

The true wildlife lover, I suspect, treats all wildlife equally.  I don't find this comes naturally, especially regarding the garden; I will go out of my way to look after ladybirds but ruthlessly deal with greenfly (currently inhabiting the lettuce in the greenhouse).  We had some undesirable wildlife around this week, and I don't particularly mean the buzzard (still regularly overflying our end of the village) and the red kite that turns up from time to time.  The nuthatch pair, now busily applying mud to the outside of the nestbox to make it more homely, had a nasty moment when the greater spotted woodpecker dropped in to inspect the box.  I like the woodpecker, even though I know they take nestlings, but I like the nuthatches more and don't want their young to become woodpecker lunch.  Fortunately Woodie has no hope at all of breaking into the nestbox (it's made of terracotta), but I'm starting to see the point of the mud, if it makes the entrance hole too small for a woodpecker's head.

The other undesirable visitor was a rat which came to the patio to pick up droppings from the suet feeder and to nibble the apple left out for the blackbirds.  (Ironically, the blackbirds are much keener on the suet than the apple; the female blackbird can just reach the fatballs from an unsteady perch on the metal pole holding the feeder.)  I think it's an old rat; it looks a bit mangy and didn't hear me approaching.  It took refuge in the woodpile and I haven't seen it since; I have been taking a more lenient attitude to the local cats when they come into the garden (although on the whole I regard them as unwelcome visitors too!).

Woodie's less predatory cousin the green woodpecker has been drumming optimistically for a mate, and a tawny owl has been calling occasionally from nearby.

Good wildlife this week has included a song thrush, the long-tailed tit pair still coming to the suet feeder, and a pair each of goldfinches and bullfinches.  Flying insects are also coming out, including the first butterfly of the year (a brimstone, as usual).

The weather is still chilly, even when the sun is out, and recent showers have included sleet, snow and hail.  The flowers are coming out only slowly, with most of the main-season daffodils in bloom, some muscari starting and a few tulip buds showing, but little else at present.  At least the daffs are keeping us in cut flowers.  Seed sowing in the greenhouse has started, and the propagator is already full (with some double-decking); a new shelving unit has been assembled and is awaiting the rush of seedtrays ....

Bed and board

Our elderly and decrepit buddleja has now had its annual prune, which always opens up the views down the garden (it may be elderly but it's big when in full growth).  While I was working away at it I heard a dull banging noise, which turned out to be coming from the summerhouse.  The summerhouse is equally elderly and decrepit and has several holes in the woodwork (it's due for a complete rebuild this year); a bird had got in through one of the holes and was ricocheting from one window to another trying to find a way out.  When I unlocked the door, the panicky ball of feathers stopped pinballing around for long enough for me to see that it was a nuthatch (which promptly made a quick exit).  Last year they nested in the nestbox on the side of the summerhouse, so they're apparently considering a return; today one of them was speculatively trying to stick mud to the nestbox wall, as they did last year, so with any luck we'll have them with us again this spring.  Time to put up defences against the local cats; one of them tried to climb the summerhouse wall last time.

The relatively mild winter meant that we had fewer bird species in the garden - presumably enough food elsewhere - but now the need for nesting sites and some fast food to keep them going through the busy times ahead seems to be bringing them back into the garden.  The latest bird to find the suet feeder is a long-tailed tit, which has now brought along its mate and they've been coming daily; a coal tit and goldfinch have also appeared at the seed feeder, and a collared dove (haven't seen one of those in the garden all winter, most unusually).  Another new development is that a buzzard has been hunting overhead on several days; they appear over the field behind us from time to time, but not usually right over the house.  I wonder if it's nesting nearby?

Signs of spring: the blackbirds are starting to sing, quietly, the sparrows are collecting nesting material

Honeysuckle flowers (if you look closely ....)

and the first bumblebees have turned up, enjoying the winter honeysuckle and the rosemary flowers in particular.  The daffodils are continuing to open, and other flowers are waking up from their winter dormancy; the honeysuckle by the compost corner has some flowers just waiting to open.  The weather is still on the chilly side, especially as the wind is mostly from the northeast, but dry, and when the sun came out today it started to feel quite pleasant (if you were wrapped up!).

Status quo ante

Hellebore - self-seeded into the path

Back after 3 weeks away, and I was rather expecting to see more colour in the garden - but no, it all looks very similar to how it was when we left.  Although some of the daffodils had looked to be on the point of flowering when we went, only one of the big daffs (in the lawn by the septic tank) is half-opened.  There are some Tete-a-tetes in full bloom in various pots (including a pot in the cold frame which I thought contained crocus bulbs! - I really must get better at labelling bulbs that have been lifted), and some crocuses too.  Otherwise there are the snowdrops (the later ones; the earlies are going over) and wallflowers, the hellebores, the 'Whitewell Purple' crocuses at the bottom of the garden, and a few doronicums and epimediums.  One of the osmanthuses is starting to flower too.  The lawn does look greener than when we went away, although maybe that's just because, in Norway, any grass not covered in snow at this time of year is bleached grey-brown and anything looks green in comparison.

At least nothing much seems to have suffered in our absence.  The weather has been relatively benign for this time of year; some frost, a fair amount of rain and wind, but nothing extreme.  Some of the broad bean plants are looking the worse for the wear and one or two may be past saving, but otherwise the only damage in the veg patch is where Something has dug into the bean trench in the hope of finding food, but that's easily remedied.

On closer inspection, there are signs that the seasons are moving forward.  The transplanted gooseberry bushes are putting out nice green shoots and the blackcurrant bush that was moved is also budding nicely.  Rose bushes are starting to leaf and the first annual weed seedlings are showing - always a sign that spring is springing.  The weather at the moment is an early-March mix of chill, light night frosts, occasional snow showers and surprisingly warm sunshine.  The birds seem more sprightly too; a thrush that we heard singing a couple of times before we left is still around in the distance, and the blackbirds are getting territorial.