Silent Sunday

Cee’s Black and White Challenge – Lines

Hands

Our hands, like our finger prints, are unique. Big, small, long, wide, chubby, thin. Each beautiful they’re own way.

 

Silent Sunday

Garden bumblebee on delphinium

Six on Saturday

Here is what is blooming in the garden this mid summer. I was a little worried that the sage would not flower, it was looking somewhat poorly, but thankfully it has bloomed. I fear the bees would miss it if it hadn’t as they do enjoy it.

Sage

Campanula – Bellflower. This is a tall, large flowered one. It does get a bit battered with the wind but does manage to seed itself around a little. I love plants that give you more plants for free.

Campanula

Our beautiful native foxglove. I need to collect seed this autumn and grow more of these. I have lots of shady corners where they can go.

Foxglove

These are wild orchids that grow in my meadow. Each year I get one or two more of them popping up.

Orchid

orchid

Snapdragons are great for adding colour and are loved by bees too. These are ones that came through the winter, but I have just planted out some new ones which will hopefully provide some late summer colour too.

Snapdragon

snapdragon with bumble

Inspired by The Propagator’s – Six on Saturday

 

 

 

Summer Solstice

The year is speeding by and here we are already at the summer solstice. Compared to last year’s hot June we are having a more “normal” Irish June this year, with plenty rain and temperatures more often below 15 degrees Celsius than above. Still next week is promised warmer.

We still get to enjoy the lovely west coast though, even if we don’t venture into the water!

Cross beach, Mullet Peninsula, Co Mayo

Happy Solstice to all.

 

Glorious trees

What would we do without our glorious trees? Trees come in all shapes and sizes and yet each one grows from a tiny seed and can live for hundreds of years.

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From giant oaks and beeches……..

Beech tree

Oak tree

beech tree

To smaller wispy things…..

An oak and ivy natural sculpture

Oak trees

They all have their magic.

Inspired by this week’s Lens artist photo challenge #50_trees

Silent Sunday Rose

Old rose FOTD

Six on Saturday favourites

This week I am combining my Six on Saturday with some of my favourite things.

The wildflower meadow is just coming into it’s own. One of my favourites parts of the garden.

I did say in a comment that I would post some of my yellow alliums this week. I just love flowers.

And these alliums are one of my favourites, they remind me of fireworks going off.

And of course I cannot post about my favourite things without including a photo of a bumblebee……………

And growing my own food is another love – broad beans with another bee!

And this year I am loving vetch, because there seems to be so much of it and the bees are loving it too.

 

 

Garden bees

Wild bumblebees – as regular readers will know, are one of my favourite subjects. We are now in our second week of rain (and yes I know some of you are looking for it), but how do the bees cope. They just wait for a break in the showers. Not that there were many  today.

Common carder bee

Some clever bees feed on the flowers in the greenhouse and polytunnel. But yesterday when I was in there during a heavy down pour I noticed the buzzing stopped. I couldn’t see the bees so think they’d gone back to their nests. Outside they wait for the brief glimpses of sun. The lupins are popular with many of the bees (here just white tailed).

White tailed bees on lupins

White tailed bees

White tailed bees

White tailed bees

While the larger Garden bumblebees seem to like the delphiniums, even those that have fallen over in the wind and rain.

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Garden bumble

The garden bumblebees also use the blue iris.

I have only seen the carder bee on the lavender (and some butterflies too). Both the carders and garden bumbles bees will still fly in light rain, I suppose they have to, otherwise they will starve. It is important to have lots of variety of flowers in your garden, that way you will attract lots of different bees, and other pollinators.

Inspired by Lens Artist Photo Challenge #48 – Wild

Silent Sunday

Green veined white