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Birds and Other Creatures
The pheasants have made their presence known again as they join the foxes in their noisy calls. Now all we need are for the crows to return and the raucous section of the winter orchestra will be complete. The long dry summer has distorted the foliage in the garden and some of the trees changed […]
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A Benign But Dry September
The nights are drawing in, but it is the changes in the wildlife that to me are the signal that winter is on the way. The goldfinches have started to return to the garden and I do hope that I have as large a flock as last year. The slugs are less evident although by […]
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Summer’s End
I have never really been able to replicate the pleasure that I got as a child from growing my own vegetables in my own plot in the garden. Years later, in the North East of Scotland, it seemed relatively easy to grow vegetables despite the long harsh winter and frozen ground. In the short window […]
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New Beginnings
I have a love-hate relationship with the Inula Hookeri which dominates whatever part of the garden it inhabits. Its flower is interesting from the moment it appears, but it spreads rapidly and will quickly push out anything growing near it. Each winter I have the arduous task of containing it, muttering under my breath as […]
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Nature’s Way
22 July At this time of the year the air around these two willow trees is humming with the sound of thousands of swarming wasps. They are attracted to a translucent sticky substance called honeydew which also drops onto the leaves of the hydrangea and hawthorn trees. This honeydew is created by large willow bark […]
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December Blossoms
I always think that it is a minor miracle that I can find enough flowers in the garden to decorate the house for Christmas. I divide the sources into three categories – those shrubs that usually flower during the winter such as Camellia, Correa and Viburnum, those summer plants that keep producing one or two […]
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Metamorphosis
24 July 2021 Cape Clear is hidden by a sea mist while the mainland bakes in the sunshine At twenty four degrees the weather today is slightly cooler, but I have given up any pretence of gardening. The dogs and I have taken to relaxing in carefully selected parts of the garden where there is […]