Sunday 13 September 2009

Sunday Safari

Ok, so I’m getting behind on the photos again… Although to be honest most are the same old you’ve been seeing for months now, so perhaps they are best left well alone!

The past week or so has been wonderful here, and once again the water has dried up in the bird baths so I think that’s my indication to water the garden again…

I love September, the sunsets are stunning. A couple of nights ago we had a perfect example:


I was lucky to catch it…


Within a few minutes you never would’ve known what you’d missed…


I had Friday off for Pete’s birthday… We were lazy and didn’t go out but decided to save it for Saturday instead… Bad idea really because the city centre was far too busy and it was too hot, should’ve gone out on Friday when everyone was at work/school and it was a little cooler. I’ve decided to have an unofficial birthday in spring/summer because my birthday is always dull/grey/freezing and it would be nice if just for once I actually had a nice warm birthday.

With the warm weather I’ve seen a rise in the Bees, Hoverflies and Butterflies again… The Bees particularly love the Cyclamen:


I hadn’t realised how much they love them until this year!



Another popular choice is the Sedum…



Hoverflies also enjoy it…


I’ve yet to see a Butterfly on it yet though… Supposedly they love it…


My Cosmos ‘trees’ are going strong – they’re huge!!


And I’ve been hunting this guy all weekend… This is the best I managed… On my neighbour’s Asters…


Her son kindly gave me some of the Asters last year, mine aren’t quite open yet though, but hopefully the Red Admiral will visit me soon enough.

This is by far my favourite Scabious…


It’s a wonderful deep wine red, the only one to be so dark… The rest are all various lilac shades…

And then this little lady showed its face… A welcome sight as the warm weather has been perfect for Aphids agan… I’m being taken over by them…


I have been collecting seeds for next year from the garden, I’m attempting to be organised… But I know procrastination will rear its ugly head and I’ll be too slow again!
Some seeds were sown as soon as they were mature over the past couple of months and now have quite a few Aquilegia and Honesty seedlings and around 10 Salvia… Hopefully some will survive over winter.
Some plants are making me wait a little longer before I can collect the seeds though… I’ve been waiting weeks for them to ripen… The magical mystery plant has produced seeds for me too, I’m just waiting for the pods to open now and release the matured seeds for me…
Oh yes, more Dierama (Angel's Fishing rod) for me next year!



20 comments:

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

That sunset is unbelievable! Interestingly, the next picture's flower has one of its colors. Wine red scabious is so dramatic! Makes me want to put on a black dress and pour a glass of red wine.

Val said...

That sunset reminds me of the fabric I've just dyed! I love pink and purple! Superb pictures! Val

Meredith said...

Beautiful sunset -- I can't believe those colors! I love the busy bees and hoverflies, too -- nice shots!

Scott & Liz said...

Killer sunset and great macdo work,

ShySongbird said...

Lovely photos Liz. The sunset photos are beautiful, we too have had some fantastic sunsets here lately,

I too have Cosmos 'trees', one in particular is enormous, much bigger than ever before!

Belated birthday wishes to Pete! I am lucky to have my birthday in high Summer {July) and always feel sorry for those who celebrate theirs in the Winter, so you have a good idea there, double pressies too? ;)

The Quacks of Life said...

i do love a good sunset ta

Mary Delle LeBeau said...

You get such wonderful photos. What an amazing sunset. Your collection of flowers are beautiful. Like your insects too.

Shirley said...

Fantastic images Liz, yes I did enjoy the sunsets but the bees on the sedums are my favs here! Ah... didn't know about bees loving cyclamen either :-)

Jackie said...

Gorgeous sunset photos! They are new to me, at least ;) Thanks for stopping by my blog recently.

Tricia Ryder said...

Great pictures Liz but the sunsets are wonderful- there's something so calming about a really colourful sunset :D

Liz said...

Tatyana - Thank you so much, I'm thrilled you liked the photos! :)

The Scabious is wonderful, I wish it was in a different place though, but it was pot-luck which colours they were when I planted them... I will definitely collect some seeds from it later and hope it reproduces the same colours!

Liz said...

Hi Val - It really was an amazing sunset, I only happened upon it as I popped into the kitchen and saw it out of the side window... I just had to get photos of it because it was so stunning [:

Liz said...

Hi Meredith - Thank you for visiting my blog, I'm thrilled you enjoyed the photos [:

Liz said...

Hi Scott & Liz - Thank you so much for visiting my blog it's much appreciated :)

Liz said...

Hey Jan - I always find September is the best for sunsets, the mixture of warm(ish) weather and clouds seems to make for stunning colours...

My Cosmos trees must be 4ft high, they are enormous, their flowers seem to be the size of side plates too... Amazing!

Oooh, two sets of presents! I hadn't thought of that.... Ha ha ;)
I'm not a great fan of hot weather, but just to have a warm day like we did this weekend would be wonderful... It'll never happen though and no doubt the best I can hope for is 5 or maybe 10oC... Woo hoo [sarcasm] [:

Liz said...

Hi Pete - Same here! Sunsets, especially at this time of year when it's getting darker really make my day...

Liz said...

Hi Mary Delle - Thanks for visiting and leaving a lovely comment, it's much appreciated.

Liz said...

Hi Shirl! Thanks, I'm glad you liked them! The Bees do seem to love the Cyclamen, sat outside every few minutes I can hear them as their wings hit against the petals it makes a strange buzzing sound! It only seems to be one type that goes for them though...

Liz said...

Hi Jackie - No problem and thank you too for visiting my blog, it's much appreciated!

Liz said...

Hi Tricia - I wish it had hung around for longer to be honest... By the time I had gone inside most of the colour had gone... You never quite realise just how quickly the sun moves (or should that be the Earth rotates??) until you see it setting and with such wonderful ones as this they just never last long enough...