Day 42: Bugle

Like an ethereal wood-sprite who only appears in your peripheral vision rather than being in focus when you look directly at it, this, the first flower spike on either of my bugle plants refused to allow me to focus fully on the uppermost open blue flower each time I pressed the shutter. The dark green-purple foliage spreading like slowly creeping arms to fill the bare ground below the winter honeysuckle, where I can make nothing else grow, is now throwing up thick, hairy purple spikes where these little blue veined flowers bloom. Their shape reminds me more of fairy-tale creatures, of fairies disguised as flowers, or as one with flowers, possibly more than any other in my garden, reminding me of days of poring over Brian Froud's fantastical books. 

This perennial woodland plant is also much loved by bumblebees and is a good early nectar source for green-veined white and orange-tip butterflies. The wild flower, native to most of the British Isles, is Ajuga reptans. The two I have, Ajuga reptans Braunherz, are cultivars of this and are easy to grow under almost all conditions.

References:

Thomas, A. (2017) Gardening for Wildlife, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/bugle (accessed 03/05/2020)

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/89313/Ajuga-reptans-Braunherz/Details (accessed 03/05/2020)

Day 31: Holly Blue Butterfly

Only my second recorded butterfly that has landed in the garden so far this year, this little holly blue caught my, it's pale wings catching the morning sun.

I'm not completely sure, but it appears to have it's proboscis extended. I had recently watered the garden, so could it be 'drinking'?

The holly blue is the earliest emerging blue butterfly, and is the most likely blue butterfly to be spotted in gardens. The caterpillars of this butterfly feed on holly in the spring, and ivy in the summer, although they may use other plants too. We don't have either of these species in the garden, but there is plenty nearby. We should soon have plenty of nectar-rich plants available for the adults, so hopefully we will see more as spring continues.

References:
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/holly-blue (accessed 22/04/2020)
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/butterflies/holly-blue (accessed 22/04/2020)