Day 44: Germander Speedwell

Another gorgeous wildflower that is growing well in our 'wildflower meadow' is the Germander speedwell. Clusters of pale blue flowers with dark blue veins that look as thought they could have been painted. The four blue petals surround a yellow and white centre, with two long anthers and a stigma emanating out like whiskers.

This plant is widespread and common in verges and hedgerow, so are relatively easy to find. Even so, these 'cat's eyes' are a colourful addition to our little wild patch amongst the fresh green leaves of those yet to flower. 

References:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/germander-speedwell (accessed 07/05/2020)

Day 43: Common Vetch

These beautiful magenta flowers belong to the common vetch, a plant that is growing in abundance in our 'wildflower meadow'. The leguminous plants are scrambling and climbing over each other to create a lovely display of fresh green foliage with, from afar, polka-dots of pink. Close up, these flowers look like miniature sweet peas, so it is unsurprising that both are in the pea, or legume family. Their climbing habit has caused this patch to become a small jungle of leaflets and delicate flowers, creating a wonderland to peer into from the undergrowth. 

As I watched, several common carder bees were visiting the flowers, seemingly favouring them over other nearby blooms. Looking closely, many of the leaves have also been nibbled, so they are hopefully hosting some caterpillars or other animals. The common vetch also has other uses, being in the pea family, it is a nitrogen producer, so can be used as green manure and can be grown as livestock fodder.

References:

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/common-vetch (accessed 06/05/2020)

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/common-vetch (accessed 06/05/2020)

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 41: Red-tailed Bumblebee

The luxuriously black, velvety thorax and abdomen, finished with a deep orange-red tail make the red tailed bumblebee a wonderful insect to see. This is the second queen of this species I have spotted in the garden, but the first was far too fast too photograph. This individual seemed content to sit on the sunny fence to have a spruce up, diligently cleaning her antennae as pictured. 

Queens of this species are partial to gorses, dandelions and various Prunus species, amongst others, whereas workers love, for example, clover, birds-foot trefoils and St John's wort. Another reason to let lawns flourish with dandelions and clovers. 

We do have an abandoned mouse nest in the 'lawn', and as this is a ground nesting species who often use old burrows, I wonder whether we will be lucky enough for a queen to decide that our little garden is the place for her to nest? If so, the colonies can grow to contain 300 workers!

References:

Falk, S. (2015) Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/red-tailed-bumblebee (accessed 03/05/2020)

Day 40: Garden Snail

The last few days of wet weather has certainly awoken the snail and slug population that lurks under pots, leaves and rocks in our garden. This garden snail (which I'm hoping I've correctly identified, it seems there are more species of snail in the UK than I realised...), whose shell does look rather battered, was making a break for it across our patio. Admittedly, like most gardeners, I get cross if my plants get obliterated by snails and slugs overnight, but have come to accept that this is just a part of gardening for wildlife. They are also providing a food source for the hedgehogs, and, since the hedgehogs arrived in the garden, there has certainly been less damage to plants. 

This group of molluscs are also interesting in their own right, whether it be the foot they move upon with its rippling muscles visible through glass, or their toothed radular they use to eat, or the fact they are hermaphroditic 

I left this snail be to carry on with its journey, whether that be to munch on my heuchera leaves, as often happens, or whether it ends up as a midnight snack for our hedgehog visitors.

References:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/other-garden-wildlife/insects-and-other-invertebrates/worms-slugs-spiders/garden-snail/ (accessed 02/05/2020)

Day 39: Dandelion

The golden dandelion, lighting up lawns, verges, pavements... any where it can lay its roots. Time and time again, we are told how pollinators use these much maligned wild flowers as an essential source of nectar and pollen, and yet time and time again, gardeners and councils try to obliterate them where they dare to shine. John Clare described them as "fallen stars in a green sea of grass" in his poem A Rhapsody, so why can't more of us see the dandelion in this light? Those awful adverts still appear on TV where they depict 'evil' cartoon dandelions being heroically removed by a gardener with weedkiller, but surely it is time we stopped showing these misleading roles. What is the worst thing a dandelion is going to do if growing in a lawn, park or playground? 

Worryingly, in trying to search for a paper I read some time ago that suggests dandelion pollen lacks certain nutrients and may be poor quality if fed to bee larvae alone, I came across a slogan that stated 'Save the Bees, Remove Dandelions'. Whilst it may be true that dandelions alone won't save our dwindling insect population, we do need to include them in a more diverse ecosystem that we can encourage in our gardens and parks. Using pesticides of any sort is certainly not going to help, due to the many, now well documented effects many have on the nervous system of pollinators. Caterpillars of some butterfly and moth species will use dandelions as a food plant, so we must also consider insects other than pollinators (or at least different stages of their life cycle).

Perhaps if we shifted views to seeing dandelions as a wild flower, rather than a weed? Or perhaps if we shifted the obsession so many of us still seem to have with keeping a perfect lawn? Or at least try to become more tolerant of allowing the boundaries to blur between a 'perfect garden' and 'nature'. Indeed, my perfect garden would encourage as much wildlife in as possible, and I try to.

References:

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/dandelion (accessed 02/05/2020)

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/07/what-do-caterpillars-eat/ (accessed 02/05/2020)

Day 38: Starling

The starlings arrived today, Wednesday 29th April. I'm always happy when these colourful characters return, even if the photo above doesn't do them justice, taken through the window, in the rain, as it was. Like a few other of our avian garden visitors, a small flock of starlings arrive in spring, stay with us whilst they breed, often bringing fledglings to the garden with them, then disappear again come the summer. On our daily walk, we also heard one calling in its clicking-whistling voice and, having not heard them here for almost a year, couldn't place it until we spotted in sitting on a roof.

These birds have a clown-like side to them, and when they turn up in a gang, which they inevitably end up doing, they squabble and bicker and make such a racket. This one, however, visited alone today, probing the wet grass for worms and other delicacies. I think it turned up a slug in the picture above, and happily flew away with its prize. According the the RSPB, they are still one the most common birds found in gardens, so I'm not quite sure why they don't stay with us throughout the rest of the year. However, I look forward to their antics for the couple of months we have the pleasure of them for.