Wednesday 23 June 2010


It's that time of year where the garden moves so quickly that if you blink, you might just miss it.

The solstice has passed… Nooooooooooooooo I hate this now, knowing it's getting darker again… will try not to let it depress me!

The heat is rising once more... I hope it doesn't stay too long, there's only so many hot days I can cope with. As always, never happy :)

Dwarf Bean flower


And a first for my garden…

A Small Copper Butterfly!



Another Iris opened up, and it's even deeper than the other!

Tough choice to decide which I prefer…


Does anyone know what this is? I assume some sort of parasitic wasp…


Bird's Foot Trefoil, another great native, loved by the Bees but also a larval food plant for Blue Butterflies.


Honesty - I look forward to the seed pods!


A Ladybird… Not sure which type.


Does anyone know why one poppy has pink hairs and the other white? They both seem to be wild poppies…


A pretty Geranium


And a glimpse at the growth in one of the borders… Aquilegia, Hollyhock, Sea Holly, Allium, Foxglove and Verbena Hastata.


9 comments:

Nutty Gnome said...

Mornin' Liz! Himself was on about the nights drawing in now - he must be your kindred spirit!

Gorgeous photos, as ever.Don't know what that parasitic wasp is, but it looks like a nasty little beggar!
We've got builders in replacing the facias and guttering (amongst other things) and they found a wasps nest up in the roof yeasterday - they didn't have shift down that scaffolding fast!

Don't worry about the heat - it's bound to rain soon ;)

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

Ha ha, not to worry I just get a little sad when the solstice passes but then I soon realise that actually we don’t feel it until November/December when it suddenly gets much darker, until then we’ve got another few weeks of light until 11pm or sometimes I can see still twilight well past midnight as I look across the city.

The parasitic wasps aren’t a problem for us – I don’t believe anyway. They just attack other insects, lay their eggs in/on them and the babies eat the insect, hosts are often Caterpillars…
Good luck getting rid of the wasps nest in your roof! Lol, fantastic watching the builders running down the scaffolding, big, hard men are they? ;)

Mmm rain! Now you mention it I should probably water the garden tonight.
I think the heat is made worse when you have to sit at work all day and miss it. If I were at home I would be loving it right now! Working takes all the fun out of good weather.
I have tomorrow and Friday off though – my Aunt passed away suddenly last week, so I have the funeral to attend on Friday and sorting food etc tomorrow :_(

Laura Bloomsbury said...

Hi Liz - glad to find a kindred spirit in the solstice blues. But your flowers cheered me immensely - and your little copper butterfly

Going to be a scorcher here today. Must check on the thirst factor of the plants - seems like as soon as I turn my back, they wilt

Laura

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Liz, you are so right,the garden moves quickly! The same about this summer.How to slow it down?
I love your pictures, as always. You have your own distinctive style. The poppy heads are very attractive! Could they have different hair colors, like people do - blond, red, etc.?

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Hi Liz, gorgeous photos as always! I'm not a fan of summer solstice either. I prefer the winter solstice...knowing the days will get longer. The only good thing about the summer solstice, is that it does suggest that tomato season isn't too far away!

Diana Studer said...

Could the poppies be white hairs on a pale flower, and pink hairs on a dark flower?

VW said...

Looking good Liz. Your photos make me feel less bad about having so many close-ups on my blog. How else to get to know the character of a flower or leaf? How else to ignore the large blank spaces in my yard that I haven't planted yet? ;-)

Becky said...

I envy you your honesty flower. I just planted the seed this year.I'm looking at a little green plant. I totally love that color purple. Love all your photos. When I'm home and have my slow dial-up, I have trouble loading them. I'm missing a lot!

Kala said...

So may lovely images. I am a bit sad too that the days will soon grow shorter and shorter. Never satisfied I guess!