Wednesday 21 May 2014

Wren Racket and Rosemary Beetle Crushing


 Wrens are among my favourite birds - they're  feisty and  you'd never believe such a loud variety of sound could  come from such a  small bird. And I love their apt  latin name 'Troglodytes troglodytes'  hiding as they do among the ivy ! Mum made this hand quilted wren piece which I treasure - being called Jennie, they had significance for her ( I suppose it should be magpies for Mags  but I don't feel the same affinity....) 
With the lovely weather, on Sunday we had all meals  outside (including breakfast ), enjoying  the greens of our garden and the borrowed vista of trees in the small park  beyond. 
A couple of years ago I was  amused by a  group of 4 fledglings literally bouncing up and down on a tree branch in next doors garden  using it like a trampoline, so I was delighted yesterday to catch glimpses of some   fledglings at the bottom of our garden and their harassed parents trying to keep them in order.  The combined sound I can only describe as a racket it was so loud!
 This evening there  was a lot of activity nearer the house  among the scrambling rose that's done so well now the bay tree has gone ( and just look how that fig is taking off!). Sparrows had nested there earlier in the year so it's obviously a des res! We ate indoors with the door open and they almost drowned out the sound of the television.

 The  pink cistus I brought  as a cutting from my previous garden is doing very well, as is the fuchsia which was already in the garden when we moved in. Most of  our gardening involves hacking things down - I had a good go at the Kerria thicket which has allowed the Macleaya to grow unimpeded and I finally got round to planting  the 'Black Lace' elder I bought at Hampton Court Flower Show in the space I cleared.
 Not everything is welcome in the garden however.  Beautiful as these Rosemary Beetles are with their shiny red and green stripes, I'm following the advice of the RHS and picking them  off and stamping on them  before they cause too much damage.

2 comments:

Annabel said...

I hadn't been aware of Rosemary Beetle so followed the link - what an absolute shame they're so beautiful to look at. I shall be on my guard, but will probably try and get those colours into paint at some point!

CATHY DANIEL said...

So glad I found your blog as it is so informative and your quilts are just fabulous. As for the Rosemary Beetle, I didn't know about it, but I expect we've got it in our garden, as we've got just about every other kind of pest! xCathy