The Crepuscular Garden in August
Sometimes, the colours of flowers, especially yellows and golds, really "pop" after sunset but before it is fully dark. There are creatures out there in the garden still quietly going about their business.
The Flying Lobster
Snowberry Clearwing (Hummingbird) Moth Today is impossibly hot with blazing sun and a humidex of >40C ... on the other hand, these conditions brought this wonderful moth out to play amongst our phlox flowers. Hemaris diffinis The moth is not quite as large as a Hummingbird but easy to confuse at a [...]
Knowing the Neighbours
I am not a person who appreciates, or usually understands, poetry beyond Ogden Nash and the Horatio on the Bridge sort of thing. But there are exceptions. Many friends and readers of this journal will have noted that I enjoy wildlifing on my "patch", which is to say I like to go [...]
Our No-Mow July Garden – Update
A garden for children of all ages. Since, some three or four years ago we decided to stop mowing our lawn but create a native flower “mead” in its place, we have been fascinated by how much more interesting our garden has become - and also by the fascination this style of [...]
Indoor Garden
Flowers from the garden - arranged by J © RG 2021
500 … and a change of pace
500 days ago I set myself the daily challenge of identifying and then sharing at least one different species of bird, insect, plant etc that I could find locally. Yesterday the number reached the 500 mark. My intention is to double that and reach at least 1000 species but no longer will I [...]
Chez Nous
We have a much loved etching by the English artist Graham Clarke hanging in our dining room ... admire it every day. This is another of his works that pretty well sums up life for us these days - apart from the thatched roof. No complaints.
Take a Walk Around the Garden
An afternoon in July The experiment with "no-mow" gardening continues and now we are in the first half of July and three years along the road to creating a "mead" where once there were boring, monoculture grasses. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words so here is a small [...]
“Wot, no Oranges?”
Baltimore Oriole As most people know, to attract a Baltimore Oriole to your garden you are supposed to put out fresh fruit - a half orange being a classic meal for them or maybe some grapes. This immature male arrived and obviously had not yet reached that page in the How to [...]
Sunshine Garden
Today is the Fête nationale in Quebec, St-Jean Baptiste, and the sun is shining. Not many words to go with this, just a sunny corner of the garden to share with anyone who likes gardens. So much greenery here with fat flower buds starting to form ... it won't be long now until [...]