Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Hurdity]

I can't grow outdoor orchids here ........... they are so delicate looking but quite sturdy in the correct setting.  Did the rose grow over your front door?

We have red kites over here daily.  We also had a heron yesterday, crawking as it was chased off by crows!

Sorry I missed this as haven;t been on forum since then!

First - we don't grow them - the orchids - they are wild ones growing in a natural patch of grassland with all the other wild flowers

About the rose - well remembered CLKD!!!! Yes thanks - both (one each side) are doing really well. My husband pruned them in the winter and they look better for it - I'm a bit too timid. Also I chop off the flower clusters after flowering so they repat and thats improving too. They are well in bud now!

Hurdity x

[CLKD]

Some roses require chopping down almost 2 the ground, to two buds which will improve the overall look of the plant. Others, rambling, can be cut back every 2/3 years - some old plants require a saw  .   I was going to buy more roses during this year but have decided to wait - am filling the garden with shrubs and will wait to see how the established and recently moved rose plants 'do'.  I love cutting for a vase 

[CLKD]

Our pied wagtail - was very nervous until this morning.  Think his mate has told him not to return to the nest with any less than 4 live meal worms 

jackdaws abound

[jaypo]

Squirrel enjoying some strawberries I put out,as were the crows

[CLKD]

Hedgehog eating worms on our patio - off to put some grub out ;-)

[jaypo]

Ring camera captured an otter last night (at house in Scotland) it must have come from Loch Fyne (just across the road) and trotted up to the trees behind our (to be) new house 

[CLKD]

Oh look out for your goldfish  .  When we stayed for a week on Loch Long near Dornie, there were supposedly otters in the tidal waters - not seen by us.  It's 1 property that I would love to buy 

Pond pump blocked so the water level went down drastically, fortunately I noticed B4 bed!  One job makes half a dozen!

[jaypo]

On closer inspection of the camera footage clkd ,I think it IS a Pine Martin,sooooooo excited,never have I seen one in the wild before 

[CLKD]

It's the white under the chin, seen briefly .......... plus the narrow tail where as I think an otter's tail is broader near the spine.  Exciting, which ever :-))))

Also, don't otters lope when running ? 

[CLKD]

We have bug 'hotels' all round the garden, 2 large areas are in use by mason bees and other small insects      I am like a kid, jumping up and down on the patio when I spotted the holes that have eggs laid inside and are now sealed. 

[Ju Ju]

We have a wonderful view of swifts swooping around from the kitchen sink. Went for a short walk over the down near here yesterday evening. Very noisy……..all the birds and even a cuckoo in the distance. Good for the soul. We have extremely healthy looking squirrels regularly visiting for lunch. One in each of three ground bird trays. Probably ancestors of the squirrel that my DD released here when she volunteered at an animal rescue place a few years ago! They will sit and study me through the large window if I’m sitting on the sofa in the lounge. So cheeky.

[Jemm]

Blue tits nesting in the garden bird box are busy all day feeding their chicks.

[CLKD]

Our blackbird has built a nest opp our side door into the garden  .  It's not very large either so the nestlings will fall out 

Both male blackbird and a thrush are singing their socks off this afternoon ? sign of rain ?

Baby blue tits are like bumble bees when they fledge the nest  .    I haven't seen many swifts, usually heard B4 being spotted etc. yet. 

[jaypo]

We had man round today to look at bees going into the stone wall on our house,he said they are called stone bees and are harmless,don't go near humans at all,never even heard of them

[CLKD]

Mason bees perhaps ?  We have loads.  That's what bug 'hotels' are for.  Solitary bees don't live in hives, preferring to lay and egg in a hole: in our case bamboo canes fixed as well as a log which has been drilled with holes: add pollen then seal the hole; lay another egg until the depth of the hole is full.  Then they move into another bamboo cane - lay and egg, seal, lay an egg .......... I've been highly delighted this week to find lots of insects and bees around our 'hotels' 

I'm not sure when they hatch, eat the pollen then leave the holes.  Our 'hotels' get full sunshine from dawn until 2.30-ish p.m.