Drip, drip, drip, little April showers

Well, it's been so wet for several days now I haven't done anything else to the garden area.  However, despite all forecasts we have had two dry days.  Here's the same view when the rain stopped.

This picture is taken just after St Marys Church, a very historic church close to Phoenix Court.  The grave yard includes the grave of Anne Bronte and the church itself has suffered attacks in the first world war and during the English Civil War.  It still stands bravely on the cliff top.

I suppose we need the rain and it will be benefiting all the plants I have put in already.  Today I did see a huge bumble bee, quite early I thought, but it was lovely to see it.  As soon as I get time I am going to make a bee log.  I have got all the necessary bits - more on this in future posts.

Pied Wagtail

Today we saw a pied wagtail wandering peacefully across our car park.  It was grazing on the grass area, obviously looking for bugs and insects - looked very peaceful.  This isn't the first time we have seen a pied wagtail on our car park and it seems an unusual bird to find around here as we normally only see Seagulls.

Not the one that likes our car park, but it was like this.

An alternative name is the Gypsy Bird and it appears to have a variety of widespread locations - it does like water.   Anyway it was lovely to see it.  I tried to get a picture but as soon as I got my camera it flew away.  I will persevere, but here is a picture of a pied wagtail in another location.

Herb Planting

Well, most people don't know how to cope with the weather changes over the last two weeks, I can't imagine how wildlife are coping.  Last week was warm, sunny and dry.  It was a false start to summer and obviously far too early for this lovely island we live on.  This week has seen a fierce north wind followed by an easterly wind and rain for a whole day.

Waves coming in across the North Bay

Obviously we can't complain about this as we do need the rain.  However, during the warm sunny week I was filled with enthusiasm for planting and gardening.  I planted a few nasturtium seeds, which should start to germinate over the next few weeks.  Also I planted four herb plants.  Rosemary, Chives, Sage and Thyme.  These will all be useful for cooking, but also seem to be popular with bees and butterflies.  At least they got the warmth when first planted and then a fantastic drink of rain water.  So they should start to thrive.  The mint from last year is definitely looking extremely healthy.

Not grand enough to be called a herb garden!

No surprise, though, that I moved them all out of the way of the wind when it was at its strongest point.  I didn't want them to get destroyed before they had a chance to make an effect.

Sea Thrift

Sea Thrift -one year old

Last year a sea thrift plant survived very successfully in one of our flower beds.  This is an extremely hardy sea side plant (armeria maritima) and is well loved by bees, moths and butterflies.






This year I have planted three more - two pink, one white.  This is one that has been planted in the gravel area to the side of our car park.

One of three new plants

It's been lovely weather this week so they are starting to look quite settled in.

What we are attracting without trying

It seems we are not the only people who have large numbers of ladybirds around the garden area.  There seems to be a massive surge in their numbers.  From a look on the internet it appears that this can happen occasionally and so long as they have aphids to feed on they will continue to thrive.  It just seems odd that there are so many around at such an early stage in the year.  If anyone has any further information, please let me know.

The other thriving creatures are of course, SEAGULLS.  Once again they are nesting on the roof so we are starting to see dropped bits of nest material at the front of the guest house.  Also the annual event of our television satellite being out of order has once again occurred.  The long suffering television repair man knows only too well that seagulls like nesting in satellites and also with the amount of additional movement that happens on the roof at this time, any wiring can easily be dislodged!  Just one of the joys of living by the sea.

First actions of the year

Sea Thistle

Last year I started planting things that would hopefully attract wildlife.  This was a mint plant, a sea thistle, lavender and nasturtiums.  After a long winter it's time to look at what has survived from the items planted last year.  Surprisingly the mint, which looked dead to the world last autumn, is thriving.  The one sea thistle also looks healthy.  We removed the remains of the rambling nasturtiums and will recycle the seeds at the right time.  The lavender is also doing well. 

Lavender

Optimistically I have now planted another Sea Thistle, this time Eryngium Gigantium.  Any thistles will attract insects and these are particularly hardy and look quite dramatic.

Eryngium Gigantium