Six on Saturday – 5th March 2022

A mixed week but the last couple of days have been frosty and then bright. Feeling very like spring, and first pollinators are emerging so bit of a pollinator theme going on this week. Many thanks for our host “The Propagator” for hosting Six on Saturday. Check out the participation guide.

My first this week is a dandelion with the first of the pollinators, a hoverfly, which I think is Eristalis pertinax. It is really important that we leave dandelions to bloom as they are a very important food source for these early emerging pollinators.

Dandelion with hoverfly

Crocuses are another great food source for queen bumblebees that are emerging from hibernation at this time of year.

Crocus

Willow catkins, again here being used by hoverflies, and they will also be used by bumblebees.

Hoverfly on willow catkin

As will Hellebores.

Hellebores

I love daffodils – and the larger ones are also flowering now – bees will use them but only if they are really hungry and can’t find anything more appealing.

Daffodil

And finally this week the frogs have pretty much finished spawning in the garden pond (this photo is from earlier in the week). I hope the spawn won’t get too frosted.

Frogs

Wishing everyone a great gardening week.

Six on Saturday – 8th August 2020

Finally some sunshine today. Hoping that a little bit of heat will bring the runner beans on. They are only just coming.

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  Runner beans

The most existing new arrivals though are our new chicks! Just started hatching last night.

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  Chick

Another new arrival is this Dahlia. Not the one I thought I had bought, but still an interesting flower, and a carder bee did visit it today so should be good for pollinators. From searching online this one appears to be Dahlia Honka Black, but open to correction. It is the first time I have grown Dahlia. I have another but no sign of flower buds on that one yet. Unlike The Propagator I won’t be able to leave them in the soil to overwinter, so for ease I have put these in pots which I can move to the greenhouse or polytunnel.

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  Dahlia

Next this week, we are getting the odd rasperberry. I got a photo of this one just before I popped it into my mouth!

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  Autumn Raspberry

Next a busy bumblebee collecting pollen from the outside oregano.

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  Early Bumblebee

And finally this week, American elderberry. It flowers much later that our native elderberry and so we rarely get any fruit. But the flowers are lovely.

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  American elderberry

Thanks to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

World Bee Day – 20th May 2020

Today is International World Bee Day. Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that one of my pasttimes is watching bees, recording them and planting food for them.

One of the best plants for bees is comfrey. It has a long flowering season which provides food throughout the spring and summer.

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  Carder bee on comfrey

Blossom, such as apple or cherry blossom, is another great food source.

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  Early bumblebee on chokeberry blossom

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  White tailed bumblebee on apple blossom

Herbs (e.g. sage, oregano, thyme) are also great for bees.

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  Garden bumblebee on sage

Vegetables often rely on bees for pollination, including runner beans, courgettes and many others. Allowing brassicas to flower can also provide food for bees.

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  Common carder bee on flowering kale

Wild native flowers are also important for bees too. So having some in your garden is a great asset.

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  Garden bumblebee on Red campion

Silent Sunday

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  Jacob’s ladder

Six on Saturday – 25th April 2020

Is it really time for Six on Saturday already? Despite everything, the week flies by. Spring is well under way. I do love this time of year. It has been exceptionally warm and sunny (for the west of Ireland at least), but we won’t complain. So here is this week’s six.

1. Ragged jack kale self seeds its self freely around the garden and at this time of year the flowers are valuable food source for pollinators – usually bumblebees and hoverflies but I have also had a solitary honey bee.

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  Hoeny bee on kale flowers

2. Common carder bee – this one feeding on comfrey that is now flowering outside as well as in the greenhouse.

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  Common carder bee on comfrey

3. Autumn olive – the flowers smell a little of citrus and are popular with bumblebees too.

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4. Crab apples. There is the one I showed last week. It is at it’s best now and the scent is heavenly. I have another crab which is the red leafed variety. The flowers are pink and not too plentiful – in fact it’s hard to see them against the leaves. The fruits are tiny. Still I like the leaf colour, as it adds contrast to the mainly green leaves of the other trees in the garden.

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5. American Hawthorn is also in flower. It usually flowers a bit earlier than our native hawthorn.

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6. Red campion, I grew these from native seed collected at Raheens wood and they are doing well at the base of a hedge.

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Thank you to The Propagator for hosting Six on Saturday.

Arable flowers

In the National Botanic Gardens of Wales, which we visited in the summer, they had an area sown with arable wheat which had all the traditional arable “weeds” – which are in fact all wonderful flowers that attract many pollinators.

I liked it so much I took photos from lots of angles.

Arable meadow

Arable meadow

Arable meadow

Arable meadow

Arable meadow

 

I would really love to replicate this is my own garden. In the summer it provides food for insects and in the autumn food for birds!

Arable meadow

Six on Saturday

Work has been busy, so garden jobs are mounting up, but thankfully many things just go on doing their thing, without my help.

So here are this week’s Six on saturday.

Lupins

I love many of the old cottage garden flowers and have lupins in blue, pink and purple. Always popular with bumblebees.

Geranium

This lovely small purple Geranium was given to me by a friend.  It isn’t in the best place,  hidden behind some sage plants,  so need to either propagate more plants or move.

Lavender

All herbs are good pollinator plants and this lavender doesn’t appear to get as leggy as other varieties.

Aquilegia

The blue ones seem to have gone over very quickly, but this one is still giving a good display. Single flower varieties will be used by bumblebees.

Guem

Always ready to add a dash of colour.

Bugle, Ajuga

The native bugle is a great little bee plant. This cultivated form has lovely dark crimson leaves and it readily spreads if you let it.

 

Thanks to The Propagator for hosting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring???

 

It is unnaturally warm. Some parts of Ireland it was 17 degrees Celsius today, here in the west only 15, a temperature we would be happy with in May.

The mild weather has brought out the bumblebees. Queen bumblebees hibernate over the winter. In usual years we would see the first queens emerge in mid-March.

Bombus hortorum

The first bees were spotted by my children on Sunday, and over the last couple of days we have seen some more. This was the first one I managed to get close up to photograph.

Bombus hortorum

The spring flowering heather is a new addition to the garden planted to provide early food for the queens. They need both nectar and pollen after there long winter sleep. Heather,  crocus , hellebore, dandelion and willow are all good early food sources.

Bombus hortorum

With Climate Change resulting in much less predictable weather patterns, bumblebees are vulnerable. If the weather turns cold again the queens can only survive a couple of days without food.

Woken too early

This poor little battered peacock butterfly had been hibernating in our wood pile. And it was accidentally brought into the house. Of course the warm house fooled it into thinking it was spring time (though the way the birds are starting to sing at the moment I think it is getting closer!).

Anyway my husband managed to get the butterfly into this bucket of bird peanuts and brought it outside to the colder workshop. It was given a sugar-water solution to drink. We’re hoping it’ll have enough energy now to settle back into a sleep till it is warm enough OUTSIDE  to let it free. Of course there will have to be some flowers out there for it to feed on. In previous years I have seen early emerging butterflies and bees feeding on hellebores, fruit blossom and crocuses and wild flowers such as dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) and coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara).

If you are at the stage of planning your garden for the year do remember our pollinators. The bumblebee trust have a great garden page including a page on scoring your garden –  “How bee kind is your garden“.

Peacock butterfly