Flighty's plot

I’ve now got lots of different grasses on the plot which look good

I’m also pleased to see two teasels growing in the wild flower cornerThey hold water in the leaveswhich insects drink from. They’re also a plant to stay well clear of as they are very thorny, on both the stems and the leaf undersidesLater on in the year I may even be lucky enough to see goldfinches extracting seeds from the flower heads.

I’ve given up trying to grow anything  in the pallet patio window box at present because as you can see a fox keeps on digging it up!

Last week I was pleased to see,  for the first time,  a couple of house sparrows foraging on the plot.

Tomorrow sees the start of the RSPB’s  Make Your Nature Count event which I’m sure that anyone who does the Big Garden Birdwatch will enjoy doing just as much.

The love-in-a-mist had started flowering by yesterday which Beginninghere will be pleased to see.

The Pretty Lady roses are on the way whilst one Valentine Heart is already blooming

On Thursday morning I was doing some weeding and kept noticing brown butterflies fluttering past me, although none settled on the plot.  I got the camera and went walkabout finding this one  sunning itself on a nearby path Once home I identified it as a Painted Lady which according to this have been seen in very large numbers over much of the country during the past week.  Whilst taking photos of the roses I turned round to see this one on the nearby perennial cornflower It’s amazing as I’ve seen more butterflies in the past couple of days than I have in the past few years!

My Swift early potatoes have now been in the ground ten weeks so this morning, after hut duty,  I went firkling and found these under one plant, of which the smallest one is about the size of a golf ball. I brought them home and for lunch had a few boiled along with a cod and parsley fish cake and some (frozen) vegetable mix. Very tasty! That was followed by some of plot neighbour Brian’s rhubarb with a couple of scoops of vanilla icecream.

I’m grateful to A Midwife’s Muse for giving me a One Lovely Blog Award. I shall do a seperate post about that during the next week or so.

Both the Pretty Lady and Valentine Heart roses have lots of buds on them, this will be the first of the latter to bloom

Bees drink from the pond and take nectar from the creeping buttercups that surround itIncidently the pond looked like this a month ago when I saw a pigeon drinking from it!

The first Love-in-a -mist will be starting to flower soon

My Swift early potatoes have been in the ground nine weeks so I’m leaving it another week before I have a gentle firkle!

A few days of warm sunshine and I’ll soon be eating some strawberries

Both the green Buttercrunchand red Lollo Rossa lettuces are looking good

The broad beans have flowers on them, these are the variety Masterpiece Green Longpod

The Jerusalem artichokes that plot neighbour Mary gave me are growing well

On Friday afternoon in the warm sunshine the bees were buzzing all around, especially on the comfryI shall leave it to finish flowering before cutting it right back.  It’ll soon grow, and flower, again.  The spent foliage will be added to the compost heap.

I hope that you all enjoyed a look round the plot!

The  Poached-egg flower (Limnanthes dougasii) is a quick-growing annual, and one of the most free-flowering,  from California which I think is a delightful little plant.

The flowers are apparently delicately scented and certainly beloved by bees.

These photos were taken on a dull day last week,  and as you can see I’ve used  another one for my new header picture.