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The Year of the Rose Chafer
I have only seen a couple of Rose chafers in my lifetime until this year. Recently, I found one on my doorstep looking rather ‘shook’ and to save it from the dogs’ paws I moved it to one of my favourite heavily-scented moss roses. A few hours later it had recovered and had eaten half…
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Red in Tooth and Claw
This was supposed to be a ‘feel good’ story as for weeks I have watched a blue tit feed its young in a nest in the tiny crack near the top of my garage wall. The semi-dry stone wall is a home to many small insects but, this was the first time I had seen…
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An Early Heatwave
My rhodendrons have finally flowered but they are not as lush as usual and each plant has just a dozen or so blossoms. Luckily, one that I thought had been killed in a storm is showing signs of life but the dry May weather is probably not helping it. My azaleas on the other had…
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Survivors and Casualties
22 April 2025 This willow is one of my favourite trees in the garden proper. Its shape has been honed by the endless gales that have battered it for at least thirty years. Each spring I await the first catkins with trepidation as I am never sure if it has survived the winter. So far…
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A Melody of White
I have always loved magnolias but, sadly, this Magnolia stellata is the only that I have managed not to kill since I moved here. It is in a well-protected corner of the garden and as other areas mature I hope that I will have a chance to plant a few more varieties. The leaves of…
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Sometimes I Just Play
The bad winter prevented me from doing many of the routine and necessary tasks in the garden. However, I was able to prune some willow shrubs and took the opportunity to play with the willow stems weaving some into a small fence. The colours of the branches that I used are striking. The orange-stemmed Salix…
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After the Floods
Sadly, the recent rains mean that the copse has been like a large lake on more than one occasion in the last few weeks. Luckily the trees are not in leaf as I would be worried about their chances of staying upright in the endless gales. There has to be a respite soon. However,…
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In the Absence of Spring
Each year I am visited by flocks of forty or more small birds who join the ‘locals’ at the bird feeders. This year it has been sparrows. I have enjoyed their noisy twittering as they waited patiently in the shrubs by the feeders. They were not deterred by storms Darragh and Eowyn – even though…
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Renewal and Renovations
A deluded daffodil. The rest have not even broken ground yet. I have about three acres of land here but I ‘garden’ about half. The initial division of the land into garden and field is interesting (and not of my making). The shape of the garden proper resembles a leg of mutton with the long…
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The First Anomolies of 2025
I found it hard to believe it when I saw these fuchsia blossoms on a plant that is growing in a secluded corner of the garden. Well actually it grows in my neighbour’s garden but blossoms in mine. The plant has just two leaves – so how on earth have these managed to thrive without…