Six on Saturday – 1st May

May already, and we are still having night frosts. Time they went away now. This week’s Six on Saturday. Thank you to The Propagator for hosting.

1. Red crab apple – tiny apples but makes up for it with it’s beautiful foliage and flowers.

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  Red crab apple

2. Newly emerged and very green maples leaves.

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  Maple

3. Bluebells. Yes May is bluebell season

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  Bluebell

4. Geranium – small and delicate and I am afraid I don’t know the name.

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  Hardy Geranium

5. Dandelions are already setting seed and attracting a goldfinch pair into the garden.

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  Dandelion

6. And finally we have six new chicks just a couple of days old.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #145: Getting to Know You

Last summer, a number of chicks hatched from the incubator. As the chicks grow, you really get to know their characters.

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  Day old chick

There are the cute ones.

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  Chicks on arm

The cheeky ones.

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The shy ones.

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The bossy ones.

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Now we have new chicks and the getting to know you will start all over again.

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  New chicks

In memory of Mac – who was one of the shy ones.

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Six on Saturday – 5th September 2020

Yes it is definitely feeling autumnal now. So first this week some apples.

1. Crab apples. This tree was packed with blossom earlier in the year and we have some fruits but not as much as other years. They are also a bit scaby.

Crab apple

2. Another apple – this time an eater – a Bardsey. Again very few fruit but one of the few which has fruited this year (we had a very late frost).

Bardsey apple

3. Chilli peppers in the greenhouse. I just had one plant, but it has a good crop so I will probably dry them.

Chillies

4. Caterpillar damage on the brassicas – mostly in the polytunnel. The netted beds outside are generally okay.

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5. Now this one is puzzling. This is purple sprouting broccoli which isn’t relay supposed to produce broccoli till spring – so is it just very confused or did I plant it too early? I shouldn’t complain though as I will enjoy eating it.

Purple spouting broc

6. And finally two of our seven chicks . They are growing quick.

Covie and Tina

Thanks to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

Six on Saturday

We have had a minor disaster this week in that strong winds (not even a storm, but a gust of strong wind during some heavy rain) felled one of my favourite apple trees. Both in 2017 and in 2018 it was also our most productive tree so a big loss.

Annie Elizabeth apple tree

Here in the west of Ireland we have had a very wet spell with what feels like constant rain. So while there are good blackberries and autumn raspberries, many are going rotten because of the rain.

Blackberries

We have a reasonable crop of cob nuts, but each year we loose a lot to nut weevil grubs. We wait to see what this year brings.

Cob nut

It’s all a bit negative isn’t it – so here is some positive news. The chicks are growing. They have been moved out to the polytunnel during the day, and are enjoying consuming chickweed which tends to seed itself in the poly and greenhouse!!

Growing chicks

While in County Clare I really saw the value of scabious as a pollinator plant. We do have a small patch of wild devils-bit scabious but it is one thing I will try and grow more of next year. I also hope to try out some of the cultivated forms too.

Devils bit scabious with pollnantors

Devils bit scabious with hoverfly

 

Finally for this weeks six, Osteospermum. In one of my previous gardens, this plant did really well, but it has failed to thrive here in the west. This time I bought a potted plant and just re-potted it in a larger pot. And this is its second flowering. I will over winter in the greenhouse or polytunnel and maybe keep it as a pot plant for next year.

Osteospermum

Thank you to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

 

Six on Saturday

I managed to get another photograph of a dragonfly today. I spotted this one while cutting the beech hedge. It was a little worn, possibly having been caught out in a couple of the very heavy showers we had today. I think it is the blue form of a female common hawker, but open to correction. Neil has corrected me – it is a Brown Hawker, Aeshna grandis.

Dragonfly

Finally the coneflowers are flowering, but there doesn’t appear to be many flower heads.

Coneflower

The chicks are growing and they had their first explore of the greenhouse today.

Chicks

And look what my daughter found in the garden, left over from the Easter bunny!!

And finally we have been enjoying the first blackberries from the hedgerows and bog road!

blackberries

Thank you to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

Lens artist photo challenge #58

This week’s lens artist photo challenge is –

Something old, something new, something borrow, something blue

Today we were introduced to some beautiful and very old elm trees. Many elms in Ireland were lost to Dutch elm disease but this is one of a few magnificent specimens that survived.

Elm tree

I haven’t yet introduced you to our new arrivals – they are just over a week old now, seven little chicks!

Chicks

Chicks

 

We have borrowed some much from nature including honey bees. All bees were originally wild bees, Apis melifera, but thousands of years ago humans thought it would be a good idea to provide bees with hives so we could steal their honey! This is an interesting article about the history of honey bees.

Honey bee

And finally something blue. Regular readers may remember a few weeks I showed you the Common blue butterfly – I managed to get a photo today of it’s wings open. This is a female not quite as blue as the male, but still very pretty, even if a little weather-worn.

Common Blue

New arrivals

I haven’t shown you our new arrivals – only two, but very cute! They will be a week old tomorrow – but the photo was taken when they were just a couple of days old.

chick