Progress Update

It's good to see the occasional success from my efforts and earlier today I noticed this.  It's not the clearest picture, but just underneath the tied up bamboo canes there is a spider, which was making it's way in and out of the canes.  It's the dark little speck against the stone wall.  Well, I know it's there and it's very welcome.

Bumble bee on Sea Thistle

Also, I am often now seeing bumblebees around the plants that are
flowering.  These really are the most lovable insects that are lovely to see around my plants and it is so important that we all do everything we can to help
and aid their survival.

Bumblebee on hebe flower

After a slight battle with snails, who have been thriving in the damp weather, it's great now to have nasturtium plants flowering as these are very popular with bees and other insects.  I have a few flowering around the tubs and plant beds now.  They make up for the poppies that were enthusiastically eaten by snails.  I actually saw one snail eating a flower, but was too incensed to take a picture.  Looking on the internet, I am not the only person suffering a the hand of snails but at least now the two poppy plants are starting to fight back although there are no flowers at the moment!

Garden Bioblitz 2012

Last weekend I took part in the 2012 Garden Bioblitz, which involves finding as many wild flowers (those in your garden that were not deliberately planted) and all wildlife that is in your garden or flying over your garden for a 24 hour period.  This involves taking pictures, identifying the items/creatures and recording the pictures on iSpot and details on iRecord.  I have a very difficult growing space, as I have mentioned before, but I thought I would give the Bioblitz a go as a way of finding out how, if at all, I have managed to attract wildlife and wild flowers.  It was a lovely sunny, warm day so there was no hardship being out and about taking photos.


Here are some pictures of what I did manage to find.  

Ribwort Plantain

Some identification of plants was given by most helpful twitterers who were also doing their Bioblitz at the same time.  Examples of this are:-  Ribwort Plantain, a weed, which grows very successfully on our lawn.  Obivously not a rare component of grass land, but it's there and now I know what it is.  It does seem to be like be insects.  

White stonecrop

Also identified by a twitterer was White Stonecrop.  This nestles on a part of a wall where some of the brick work has come away and again seems very popular with insects.  As a type of Sedum, I guest that's why it's quite hardy and also popular to wildlife.  Anyway, now I know what it is it can stay!

Almeria with a bee

Then I suppose there were the usual things.   You might just about be able to see this bee on one of my almeria plants.  I noticed it first of all on the White Stonecrop, but it moved around and I managed to get a picture here.

Then I noticed this spider, which looks suspended in mid air, but was actually building a web between to the railings around our carpark.

Spider building a web

We always have clover growing on our lawn and I have tried to move some to my wild flower area, but this is an example of the genuinely wild growing clover.

Red clover

As I moved tubs and rocks around I realised we have a whole population of wood lice.  These were very difficult to photograph as the moment they were exposed to the sunlight they scurried away down cracks or into the earth.

centipede

But possibly my most exciting find (although not remarkably rare) was this centipede. Also hidden underneath a tub but in one of the wells at the front of Phoenix Court.  These areas get very little light and so it's difficult to grow anything, but they do seem to be popular areas for insects and bugs.

Obviously I also had to note the ever-present seagulls but didn't get a picture of any of them flying overhead or nesting on the roof.  Other sightings were a ladybird, an unidentified and difficult to photograph bug on a car tyre parked on our car park and a type of daisy that I am still trying to identify.  

Still though no sign of any butterflies on the buddleia, which is flowering away.  Maybe this will happen later in the year.

Not mega results and I do hope that by Garden Bioblitz 2013 I have more to find but it's a start.

Buddleia

It's a lovely day here in Scarborough and my Buddleia is starting to flower. No butterflies and I've just heard it's a bad year for them because of the wet weather. Let's hope the Scarborough butterflies find my Buddleia.

Clover

I did mention that I had surplanted some clover from our lawn to my wildlife area. This is doing well and on a lovely sunny morning like today there are insects buzzing around all the plants.

More planting

Hebe, Poppy and Sedum

With a few more tubs moving from the front of our guest house to the back I have done a bit more planting.  This might be it for this year as I want to now see what happens, ie what attracts wildlife and what actually also survives, but we will have to see as the year progresses.  Anyway, I have put in the following - sedum selskianum, achillea x lewisii King Edward, and Hebe Blue Star also another Iceland Poppy.

Achillea x lewisii King Edward

These all are hardy up to grade 9, which appears to cover northern coastal areas.

I already have one hebe, which is recovering from a bad stay at the front of the guest house with north winds battering it.  So 2 hebes, might work quite well together.

Last weekend we had a strong wind battering all the plants I have put in and they all survived.  The most pleasing success was the buddleia, which still looks very well, although slightly bent.  It appears to be much hardier than I originally thought and has developing buds, which I hope will flower soon.