Lets take a stroll.................
Come take a stroll with me, lets see what we can find.............
Rosa rugosa is heavy with hips. The robins have started to peck at them. They are a firm favourite.
Plums are a plenty but much to high in the tree for me to pick. These are wild trees that grow in the hedgerow around the garden. The starlings and wasps will soon find the plums, I may get one or two if I am lucky :)
The old apple tree has done herself proud.....there are plenty to be picked when the time is right. Blenheim orange can be cooked or eaten straight from the tree. I absolutely love the crisp, slightly sharp fruit.
The cinnabar moth has been busy, caterpillars are working their way through the Ragwort.
Honey bees are a plenty.....the scouts have been out....Purple Loosestrife and Marsh Mallow are a favourite.....the bees will stay until every bloom has been visited, as long as the weather lasts:)
So many juvenile birds in the garden this year. It has been a good 2014 for Blue Tits, Starlings, Wrens, Great Tits and Blackbirds. The Robins have done extremely well, raising two broods in the garden. I have seen several young birds around........
Hope you are enjoying your garden...........and keeping cool.
Keeping cool??? hahahaha, not hardly with it being in the upper 80"s and Lower 90's. That is ok. It is summer after all. I am looking forward to the big cool down this week. Your garden is gorgeous. I love seeing the plums. Are they as blue as they appear in the photo? I bet your apples make great pies. My favorite pie is apple pie. :) Here we have had many young birds too. Such fun. Love your header photo. It is dreamy.
ReplyDeleteIt has been so very hot here. I am not used to really hot weather and find it hard to cope with.
DeleteCold showers help.....I love a cold shower in this weather.
Yes Lisa, the plums are that colour......they are sweet and juicy when ripe.
They are a particular favourite of mine, picking them is the problem. I have seen a few I can reach from the tree house deck :)
Tku re header...........
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ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos - I love the perfume of Rugosa Rosas my neighbour uses them as hedging and it looks fantastic when all the hips are out - but oh so prickly! There is such a lot of insect life about at the moment including horse flies - husband has been bitten three times and is enjoying moaning about it! We don't have many plums this year although the damsons seem to be doing ok, but as you say the wasps love them. Our biggest apple tree is a James Grieve which always has an over-abundance of apples, they are very fragrant and are a magnet for wasps and starlings - luckily there are always plenty of fruit to go round.
It is a little cooler this morning - hallelujah.
Good Morning Elaine,
DeleteI use Rosa Rugosa just for that reason, it is prickly, my rabbit friends avoid it like the plague :) I agree the perfume is lovely.....I plant it alongside honeysuckle.
We have a lot of horse flies around at the moment.......they are a nuisance to say the least.
The starlings and wasps seem to leave the Blenheim Orange alone. I have probably said it now and they will start attacking the crop :) As you rightly say, there are plenty enough to go around.
As I type it is pouring with rain and I can hear thunder in the distance..... I am absolutely loving hearing the pitter patter of rain on the conservatory roof.....I might even walk the garden as I havn't had my morning shower yet.........
Double hallelujah !!!!.
Your garden looks so relaxed and just beautiful. I also have rugosa roses in my garden, I love their scent, like rose soap.
ReplyDeleteAt this moment it is thundering and raining cats and dogs. The garden needed some water.
Thank you Janneke. Such a good phrase....like rose soap :)
DeleteMy garden needs the rain....I am pleased the storm came.
Enjoy your week.
It's heartening to see so much wildlife around, everything seems to love your garden, you've made a beautiful haven for all the creatures. My feeders were all empty when I returned from holiday, it took a couple of days for the birds to realise that they were full again and for them to return, they're so fickle.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo,
DeleteIt is indeed, I love to see wildlife in the garden, regardless of what it is :)
Yes, that always happens to me. Come back from holiday not a bird to be seen, fill the feeders and back they come.....they know where there bread is buttered JO.
It's a lovely morning to stroll through the garden--much cooler here this week. You've outdone yourself, Cheryl, with the bee and the caterpillar in one photo! I wonder what kind of caterpillar it is? Seeing the rose hips reminds me of my trip to Portland--I was asking someone if they knew what a particular shrub was, thinking there were fruits on it. They told me these were rose hips:) I don't know if it's because I don't grow rosa rugosa or if it's just that the hips are like everything else in Portland--bigger than anywhere else--but I'd never seen any this huge!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Rose,
DeleteIt is the caterpillar of the cinnabar moth. A striking red moth that flies during the day.
Rosa Rugosa produces huge hips. I grow it because I love the scent from the flowers, also because it is a source of food for Robins and Greenfinch during the winter months.
So pleased your weather is a little cooler. Have a good week.....
Such pretty photos Cheryl. It seems like everyone is having a great apple haul this year except me, my tree only has a few offerings this year, not sure why. Your borders looks fabulous in the first photo!
ReplyDeleteIt was not a good year for apples last year, for me. I think the tree took a rest but has made up for it this year.
DeleteTku re borders....look a bit tired close up but we won't go there :)
I loved the stroll. How kind of you to take us even in the heat. Hope you get a respite soon.
ReplyDeleteAnother hot day coming to a close......I don't think this weather is going to leave for a while ..........
Delete