Friday 26 July 2019

Wildlife plant of the month

... is Common Ragwort!

Wasn't entirely sure what this was until it started maturing. It first became evident towards the end of last year and steadily grew into a compact, dense bush. Recently it became quite leggy and required tying-up to stop it flopping over. Often seen as an untidy roadside plant, it looks great growing in a big clump.


About a week ago we noticed cinnabar moth caterpillars (click the above photo and see how many you can count). They get fatter by the day. 

The adult moth is unusual in that it's active by day. It lays its eggs on the underside of ragwort leaves. The caterpillars feed on the poisonous plant - to which they are immune - and thereby become poisonous themselves. Their bright colouring advertises this fact to predators, who learn to leave them alone. 


Ragwort gets a bad rap. It's covered by The Weeds Act and many pet and livestock owners get het up about the supposed risk of poisoning. There was a good programme about the danger of ragwort on Radio 4 a few years ago. The conclusion was that most of the concern is unnecessary. Herbivorous animals, dogs, children and what have you won't eat fresh ragwort because it has a very unpleasant taste. The problem arises when it's dried, which diminishes the flavour. So, if it gets mixed up in hay it can upset whatever the hay is fed to. But most hay makers are aware of this and take great pains to avoid contamination, so actual cases of poisoning are rare.

We've also seen many other insects flocking to this plant: various kinds of bee, hoverflies, green bottle flies and gatekeeper butterflies. Definitely the wildlife's favourite this month.

Wednesday 3 July 2019

Teasels gone wild

We bought a couple of teasel plants last year. They say that once you have teasels in your garden you'll never be without them. Certainly this seems to be the case as this year they popped up everywhere. One clump has gone crazy, reaching a height of over 7 feet:




Flowers very popular with the bees. Looking forward to seeing finches feeding on the seeds later in the year.

Monday 1 April 2019

New patio

Noticed last year that the rafters under the decking were going rotten. Had a couple of quotes for replacement before realising it wouldn't cost much more to have it hard landscaped instead.

Note the height of the posts at the back. 10 tons of road stone needed to fill.
Old decking planks become smart new compost bins
We'd hoped the patio could somehow be constructed without disturbing the L-shaped planter (just visible on the right) but it wasn't to be.
Given the amount of infill, double wall needed for strength
End result, with plum tree and L-shaped planter reinstated

Many thanks to Kevin of F. Hewitt & Co., Chilwell (celebrating their 100th anniversary this year!) for another great job - couldn't be more impressed with the quality of work and care taken.

Tuesday 12 February 2019

Winter flowers

They flower in winter but have the promise of spring!

Winter Aconite

Crocus 

Snowdrop 


Primrose

Saturday 29 September 2018

Bug house


Latest garden project is construction of a bug house

Made from plywood and self-tapping screws.
Bird box in roof gable
... and hedgehog house in the base
(enter through tunnel bottom left, turn right into chamber).
Based on these plans from RSPB.

Filling all the cells is a work in progress.
Chicken wire retains things that would otherwise flop out (thanks Struth Ravem, Beeston FREE-Recycle).
Pine cones and straw foraged from Nottingham University Park campus;
twiggy stuff from A52 verges just south of Dunkirk flyover, of all places.

Friday 17 August 2018

Sunday 22 July 2018

Bees

Seems to be a good year for bees. Here's a video of honey and bumble bees enjoying the Joe Pye Weed and Purple Loosestrife:


Joe Pye Weed, by the way, is the showy American cousin of our native Hemp Agrimony. Legend has it that Joe Pye was an 18th century native American medicine-man who used the plant to treat fevers, but the supposed medicinal powers of the plant have since been debunked.

There are several apiaries in the area. Didn't see any swarms this year but here's a video of one just outside the house last Spring:

We heard that a neighbour of the apiary on Cromwell Road got stung this year and complained to the council. Let's hope they did nothing more than offer to kiss it better.