Seasonal changes

This week we were very much aware of seasonal plant succession as early summer blooms begin to give way to our mid-summer flowers.

The dark pink lilies have now finished blooming and their place has been taken by rather splendid orange and yellow varieties with the addition of a smaller number of dark reds amongst them.

Japanese anemones now have flower buds that are almost ready to open.

Canna lily flowers – the Hummingbirds will flock to them shortly – are also going to open before long. They are a little late this season but the Hummingbirds are still enjoying the Monarda flowers so are not going to suffer.  J planted some extra Monardas last year and they have all benefited hugely from the additional rain we are still enjoying … especially last Monday when it poured all day and was very cool for time of year.

The Japanese Beetle patrol goes out several times a day and is rewarded by seeing many other, welcome, insects. On Tuesday there were two large Hummingbird Clearwing moths taking nectar from some Hosta flowers. These insects are very big and fly and hover in a manner very similar to real Hummingbirds – hence their name. They dart about at high speed and are not easy to photograph but you will find an “adequate” record shot in this week’s gallery. The next day we found a relative, a Snowberry Clearwing moth resting up on a Canna leaf that posed for decent pictures … but it didn’t seem a very happy creature.

Juvenile Purple Finches have been back at the feeders.

A “nest” of baby spiderlings came out to play … a single five foot long fibre of silk was spun between a Hosta flower and the wooden railing of the deck and dozens and dozens of pinhead-sized spiders walked along it to regroup under the handrail – it’s fascinating and we have a short video of their trapeze-walking for you just below.

We are noticing changes in the early morning light. There is a gap in the tree/shrub boundary with our neighbour that lets in early morning light at just the “right” angle, this week illuminating a large PG Hydrangea bush on which the big white inflorescences are starting to turn pink, accentuated by the low golden light as we enjoy our morning tea. Pictures, of course, in the gallery below.

Our Rowan trees are bearing huge crops of fruit that is turning orange, soon to be red, and will soon be feeding many birds.

It is a pleasure to note that the Lily Beetles have not been around in their usual large numbers – more than made up for by their Japanese cousins, the kill count is now over a thousand.

**  Next weekend we are travelling to the Bay of Fundy and Grand Manan island for the peak shorebird migration and will be having fun tracking down seabirds, early migrants, wild flowers and whales. This means there may be a hiatus of a week or two before our next edition of the garden journal … there is a chance we will have a short week report for you next Sunday but the week after will almost certainly have to be left to your imaginations.