The Joy of a Spring Garden and a New Nasty in the Greenhouse
Posted by Rodger at 18 May 2010, 7:43 AM 
Categories: Today in the garden, Garden Pests and Garden Pals
Tags: wildlife garden garden birds greenhouse gardening british garden birds garden
Categories: Today in the garden, Garden Pests and Garden Pals
Tags: wildlife garden garden birds greenhouse gardening british garden birds garden
This week’s diary is as much about the garden wildlife as the flora in the garden.
Everything in the greenhouse is taking off in spite of the unseasonable cold days and nights. I have only just taken down the bubble greenhouse lining which has helped to keep the young plants warm but does restrict the light levels. The only heat in the greenhouse has come from the propagator which is also now not in use.
Several large beetles appeared in the greenhouse, and I do mean large. Turns out that they are Cockchafers or to give them their common name Maybugs. I can only assume that an adult laid eggs inside the house and the hatchlings have matured and are trying to find their way out to wreak havoc. Reading about them it seems that they used to be quite a pest in grass crops such as wheat before chemicals started to be used to control them.
On a happier note outside in the garden our resident blackbird has brought his two fledglings into the garden to feed. What a lovely spring sight it is to see him stood by an apple on the lawn trying to feed himself and stoke up the two gaping holes in front of him! The best of it is that when he flies off they continue to feed themselves. To be fair they do appear to need him to break through the skin of a new apple presented.
For many years we never saw a long tailed tit in the garden then one year we heard a flock of them passing through. For anyone who has had the experience you will know what I mean. It would be a very short stay but as each year went by they stayed a little longer to feed on the peanut and fatball. Imagine the joy this year when a crèche of new noisy fledglings appeared in the magnolia. Definitely new out of the nest as when they tried to take off to follow a parent there was chaos as they tried to get to the height of the garage roof and failed miserably. One was even hanging upside down clinging desperately to a tea towel on the washing line while a brother or sister did actually manage to land on top of the towel. Thankfully the one on top of the towel did not leave a souvenir behind.
Maybe it is due to the much cooler conditions this spring but the rhododendrons are staying open longer and one is only just opening. In a hot spring the flowers seem to wilt very quickly in the sun.
After the damage caused by the harsh winter there is so much to do in the garden but there is so much colour at the moment that it is a joy to be out there. It is not just the bright red of the rhododendron or the pure white of Exochorda The Bride, the vibrant Acer Palmatum, the masses of blue forget-me-nots and the bottlebrushes of the laurel but the fresh luxuriant greens that you only get in spring.
We are promised that the cold winds will soon be gone and that the wind will not be coming from the cold north. Something to look forward to!
Everything in the greenhouse is taking off in spite of the unseasonable cold days and nights. I have only just taken down the bubble greenhouse lining which has helped to keep the young plants warm but does restrict the light levels. The only heat in the greenhouse has come from the propagator which is also now not in use.
Several large beetles appeared in the greenhouse, and I do mean large. Turns out that they are Cockchafers or to give them their common name Maybugs. I can only assume that an adult laid eggs inside the house and the hatchlings have matured and are trying to find their way out to wreak havoc. Reading about them it seems that they used to be quite a pest in grass crops such as wheat before chemicals started to be used to control them. On a happier note outside in the garden our resident blackbird has brought his two fledglings into the garden to feed. What a lovely spring sight it is to see him stood by an apple on the lawn trying to feed himself and stoke up the two gaping holes in front of him! The best of it is that when he flies off they continue to feed themselves. To be fair they do appear to need him to break through the skin of a new apple presented.
For many years we never saw a long tailed tit in the garden then one year we heard a flock of them passing through. For anyone who has had the experience you will know what I mean. It would be a very short stay but as each year went by they stayed a little longer to feed on the peanut and fatball. Imagine the joy this year when a crèche of new noisy fledglings appeared in the magnolia. Definitely new out of the nest as when they tried to take off to follow a parent there was chaos as they tried to get to the height of the garage roof and failed miserably. One was even hanging upside down clinging desperately to a tea towel on the washing line while a brother or sister did actually manage to land on top of the towel. Thankfully the one on top of the towel did not leave a souvenir behind.
Maybe it is due to the much cooler conditions this spring but the rhododendrons are staying open longer and one is only just opening. In a hot spring the flowers seem to wilt very quickly in the sun.
After the damage caused by the harsh winter there is so much to do in the garden but there is so much colour at the moment that it is a joy to be out there. It is not just the bright red of the rhododendron or the pure white of Exochorda The Bride, the vibrant Acer Palmatum, the masses of blue forget-me-nots and the bottlebrushes of the laurel but the fresh luxuriant greens that you only get in spring.
We are promised that the cold winds will soon be gone and that the wind will not be coming from the cold north. Something to look forward to!
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I really love springtime and this is the best time for me to go to gardens from neighbor to neighbor just to take macro shots of flowers and insects that I can found in the garden. sheds
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Hello there, that was a nice article with useful information. Thanks for sharing this info to us. Keep it up!
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