I mainly post pictures of my #allotments which are full of flowers, fruit, veg & #wildlife. Winner of the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine 'Gardens of the Year Competition 2021'. I am also interested in outdoor #bonsai and #trees in general. I live in South England.
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2026-09-02T07:18:23Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment When topping up the smallest of my ponds I discovered a little frog peeking out of the duckweed. I am glad at least some frogs are still about, they must have a hard time with all the dry and hot weather. #frogs #wildlife npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment looks more like autumn now, with colour mainly coming from dry plants, seed heads and yellow leaves on stressed trees. We had a tiny bit of rain last night, not even enough to make the plants wet, the ground is as dry and dusty as before. At least it is not as hot anymore, a small respite before the next heatwave they forecast for September. #allotment #garden #climatechange npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Grasses and seed heads are still looking good, providing structure and interest. The beauty of naturalistic planting is that it does not depend solely on flowers but offers beauty in seed heads and foliage as well. I think with future gardens, in areas that will have hot dry summers, we have to accept that the majority of plants will go dormant in summer, and the main flowering season will be spring and early summer, like in Mediterranean countries. #climatechange #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment For several years now I am trying to adapt my wildlife allotment to climate change/breakdown. Planting more trees for shade, planting more densely and with high diversity, planting resilient native plants, lots of mulching, keeping ground covered, adding lots of organic matter, planting in layers as is done in forest gardening, encourage self-seeding. Still this is not enough, the climate is breaking down so fast now it is hard to keep up. Not sure what else to do. #climatechange #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment This is what my allotments look like at the moment, after a very dry spring, 4 heatwaves, 2 months without rain. Sustained above average temperatures & sunshine most days. Heatwave number 5 coming this week. Still no rain in sight. There are still a few flowers but most plants have gone to seed and are crisp & dry now. I water the young trees and top up the ponds. Everything else is left. Hopefully plants will survive and come back in autumn. #climatebreakdown #garden npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The wildflower area at the allotment entrance which I manage is in full sunshine most of the day and the soil is quite poor and stony. With no rain since mid June it still looks attractive thanks to naturalistic planting with grasses and drought-resistant #wildflowers, some are still in flower. The nice thing about naturalistic planting is that it still looks good even when most plants have gone to seed. It will continue to look good and provide valuable habitat for wildlife right into winter. npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment One of my favourite wild roses is Rosa glauca which has wonderful blue-green leaves, pink flowers in spring and bright red hips in late summer and autumn. It is very easy-going, drought resistant and just needs sunshine and well-drained soil. #plants #roses #climatechange npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment It is all looking a bit crisp and dry now after over a month without rain and heat wave after heat wave. But Echinops ritro is still standing firm with its wonderful globular blue flowers. A true survivor and definitely a plant for future gardens. #flowers #allotment #climatechange npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Sea hollies (Eryngium) are still doing well on the allotment, they don`t seem to mind the heat and drought. I have grown Eryngium bourgatii from seed a few years ago and the plants have now really taken off. They have the most amazing dark blue flowers which really stand out. Pollinators love the flowers, especially butterflies and solitary wasps & bees. #flowers #plants #drought npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment While inspecting my large peach tree I actually found one large peach right at the top! I thought all the flowers had been frosted in the bad spring frosts we had. What a nice surprise. Last year I had over 50 peaches but the one peach this year is better than nothing. I picked it and ate it straight away, sweet, juicy and delicious :-). #fruit #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment today, there is still some green, especially from the trees as I keep them watered. Everything is extremely dry with no rain forecast for the foreseeable future, we are officially in drought now. Plants have mostly finished flowering, everything is crisp and dry but I keep the ponds topped up for all the wildlife which need the water. #allotment #drought #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment This strange-looking thing in the picture is actually a dragonfly exuviae, the empty exoskeleton of a dragonfly larva. When ready to transform into adults, the larva crawls out of the water and finds a suitable place to emerge. Once the adult dragonfly has emerged and flown away, all that is left is the thin fragile outer casing of the larva, known as the exuviae. #insects #dragonfly #wildlife npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The Batman hoverfly (Myathropa florea) is quite easy to recognise as it has markings in the shape of the Batman logo on its back (Thorax). The adult hoverflies like areas with lots of trees and also visit gardens, the larvae are aquatic and develop in water-filled holes and crevices in trees, but adults can lay eggs in just about any container with some standing water, and even use wet compost and cow dung. #pollinators #insects npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment For several years now I have a wasp spider population (Argiope bruennichi) on my allotment. They are large colourful spiders and look quite beautiful when seen up close. The web has a wide, white zig-zag strip running down the middle, known as a 'stabilimentum', which is distinctive for this species. Wasp spiders like to eat crickets and grasshoppers so their webs are always quite low in grassy vegetation. #spiders #wildlife npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment In the driest areas on the allotment most plants have finished flowering now in the hot and dry weather. Thankfully the grasses and trees are still doing well and provide some interest and structure. We still had no rain at all, the last rain we had was a thunderstorm in mid-June. I now let the perennials go dormant (they will return in autumn) and save the limited water for the trees and ponds. #allotment #climatechange #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I am seeing many hornet hoverflies (Volucella zonaria) on my allotment at the moment. They sound and look a bit like hornets but are harmless flies. The females lay their eggs in wasp and hornet nests where the larvae eat the detritus. This hornet hoverfly is drinking nectar from Cirsium canum, but they like buddleia as well. #insects #pollinators npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Solidago canadensis (Canadian goldenrod) can be invasive in the right conditions (rich moist garden soil) but give it poor dry and stony soil in full sunshine and it is very well behaved and needs no care at all apart from cutting it down in late winter. Pollinators love it and the yellow flowers really glow in the sunshine. The plants in the picture have not been watered this summer and are still looking good while many other plants are flagging. #flowers #climatechange #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Grapevines are doing really well now in the South of England. I planted mine (all hardy outdoor grapevines) several years ago and they regularly produce huge crops of sweet and juicy grapes. Grapes are pretty much the only fruit I have this year as all my tree fruit got badly frosted in spring, currants and gooseberries got eaten by the pigeons and my blackberries and raspberries have all shriveled up in the heat and dry weather. #fruit #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment at the weekend. I am glad there are still quite a lot of plants flowering, we had no rain since mid June and sunshine and above average temperatures nearly every day. The plants which are still flowering are all very drought resistant such as Hypericum perforatum, Centaurea nigra and Echinops ritro. I also have some nice Evening primrose (Oenothera) and Antirrhinum flowering in the foreground. #flowers #allotment #garden npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I have a new garden chair :-). The old chair fell apart as the wood was all rotten and it was not safe to sit on it anymore, so I got a new chair which I put together yesterday. Very pleased with the result, a nice cozy place to sit and enjoy the wildlife visiting the pond (which is just opposite the chair). #garden #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Doing very well without any watering is Echinops ritro, the Southern Globe Thistle. The globular steel blue flowers are glowing in the early morning sunshine and are a magnet for pollinators. I let the plants self-seed which is the easiest way to get more of them, a climate change winner in my garden so far. #allotment #flowers #climatechange npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment There is still some colour from Verbascum and Anthemis tinctoria on the allotment, the ornamental grasses are also looking good. I am watering the trees to keep them alive in the hot and awfully dry weather but nothing else gets watered (apart from topping up the ponds). #allotment #climatechange #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment While out on fieldwork in Cambridgeshire, England, I discovered the rare Yellow Loosestrife bee (Macropis europaea). This is quite an interesting little bee as the females only collect pollen from Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris) as food for their larvae so the bees only occur where this plants grows (which is mainly wet and boggy places). The bees nest in the ground and are also using the oil from the flowers to make their nests water-proof. Quite ingenious! #bees #pollinators #flowers npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Another great plant for dry poor soils and sunshine is Catananche caerulea (Cupid's Dart). My plants are all grown from seed and planted in dry, poor and stony soil, and they have done exceptionally well this year with all the heat and dry weather. The flowers attract many pollinators such as hoverflies and solitary bees. The seed heads are papery and very attractive too. #plants #drought npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment All my hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are self-sown and flower colours vary every year. I really like this dark pink hollyhock, my favourite hollyhock colour this year, it is really glowing, and the plant is less tall so much sturdier. #flowers #plants npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Very happy to have found caterpillars of the rare Striped Lychnis moth (Cucullia lychnitis) again on my allotment. This moth is only found in a few locations in the South of England (one is my allotment), the caterpillars only feed on the flowers (sometimes the leaves as well) of Black mullein (Verbascum nigrum). I found 16 caterpillars in total, never had so many before. #moths #pollinators #caterpillars npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment No a Brimstone, which is a butterfly. They are quite large, one of our largest butterflies. The caterpillars feed on buckthorn. npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Seen several Brimstone butterflies on the allotment. They really seem to like the Dianthus carthusianorum flowers. Have also planted some buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) just for the Brimstone caterpillars 🙂. #butterflies #pollinators npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment This area of the new allotment is planted with drought-resistant plants such as Phlomis, Stipa, Origanum and Euphorbia characias. So far I have not watered this area this summer and it is still looking good. The heat and lack of rain is really bad this year, it is more similar to Mediterranean climate than British climate, fields and meadows have turned beige and brown with mostly woody plants still green. #garden #climatechange npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Have found the Pantaloon bee (Dasypoda hirtipes) on my allotment for the first time. This bee is quite distinctive as it has extremely long, golden pollen-collecting hairs on the hind legs. The bees are quite rare and like sandy dry habitats. The females often visit composite flowers like the chicory in the picture. I have also seen them on Inula flowers. The nests are excavated in sandy sparsely vegetated soil. Really happy that the bees like my allotment :-) #pollinators #bees npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment today, still colourful and looking quite lush despite the dry and hot weather. We had hardly any rain this spring and summer and I am surprised the allotment is still doing ok. But I am trying to adapt the allotment to the changing climate for several years now, with lots of mulching, planting trees for shade, planting very densely and having maximum diversity as there is always something that does well if there are lots of different plants. #climatechange #garden npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Not many flowers in the summer garden have a sky-blue colour, Himalayan poppies (Meconopsis) spring to mind but not many people can grow them. Wild chicory (Cichorium intybus) has the same sky-blue flower colour and is easy to grow, the plants are drought resistant and very hardy. Chicory is perennial and comes back every year. #flowers #plants #garden npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment My new bee hotel seems to be very popular with Leafcutter bees (Megachile sp.). I find it quite funny how they close their nests with pieces of leaves. The leaves they cut seem to come mainly from my Katsura tree which is the closest tree to the bee hotel, the tell-tale signs of the leafcutter bees in action can bee seen in the second picture. #pollinators #bees npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Tiny Harebell Carpenter bees (Chelostoma campanularum) are out and about at the moment. The female bees collect pollen only from harebells and other bellflowers and nest in tiny beetle holes in wooden posts or tree stems. The bees also like to sleep and rest inside the flowers so have a look if you have bellflowers in your garden and you might be able to spot them. #bees #pollinators npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Black Mullein (Verbascum nigrum) is flowering everywhere on the allotment at the moment. It is very drought-resistant and the flowers are loved by bumblebees and other pollinators. It is a native plant and self-seeds when happy. #plants #flowers npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment One of my favourite plants is Dianthus carthusianorum. It has such a vibrant colour and fits in very well with naturalistic planting. It is drought-resistant and easy to grow from seed. It also self-seeds. Here I grow it with Hypericum perforatum, Anthemis tinctoria, Digitalis ferruginea and grasses such as Melica ciliata and Stipa gigantea. #plants #flowers npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Found this beautiful Currant Clearwing (Synanthedon tipuliformis) on my allotment today. It does not look like one but this is actually a moth! It is quite small and not easy to find. The larvae feed internally on the shoots of red currant and black currant bushes (Ribes), but as they are not common they don`t do any obvious damage. #insects #moths npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Black mullein (Verbascum nigrum) is starting to flower on the allotment together with the Viper`s bugloss (Echium vulgare), both give some useful height in the borders and are very drought-resistant. Both self-seed easily and are loved by pollinators. Verbascum nigrum is also the food plant of the rare Striped Lychnis moth which I have recorded on my allotment. #plants #flowers #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Have seen the first Wool Carder Bee on the allotment today. The males are very aggressive and defend a territory, they are even known to kill other pollinators if they come too close. They like flowers such as lamb`s ear and perennial foxgloves and the females collect the hairs from lamb`s ear leaves to build their nests. #bees #pollinators npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I made a giant bee hotel by drilling holes of different sizes into a horse chestnut tree log. Now it just needs some guests to move in :-). #insects #bees npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment You might remember that back in March I asked everyone to vote for me in the 'BBC Gardeners’ World Best of the Best' competition. npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment A beautiful freshly-emerged broad-bodied chaser (a type of dragonfly) on my allotment at the weekend. npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Seen this beautiful stag beetle male on my way to the allotment this morning. Normally I see them late May and June, they seem to be very early this year. #beetles #insects npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment One of my favourite solitary bees is the Tawny mining bee, Andrena fulva. A very distinctive bee with long, dense, bright reddish hairs. I often see them pollinating my apple trees and other fruit trees in April and early May. They are ground-nesting bees and dig their nests in soil with short sparse vegetation. You can spot the nests quite easily as the excavated soil is heaped up around the nest entrance and has a hole in the middle. #bees #pollinators npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment A few of the third allotment. The wooden posts are bee hotels with holes drilled into the sides for solitary bees to nest in. They also give some structure, especially in winter. #allotment #garden #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment is still predominantly green, but there are already bursts of colour from Euphorbia epithymoides and Veronica gentianoides which you can see in the foreground. Just some more rain needed now but looks like we get some at the weekend 🙂 #allotment #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment This pretty flower is Thermopsis montana, also called False Lupin. The flowers appear in mid-spring and really look like yellow lupin flowers. It originates from western North America, occurring from the Rockies to New Mexico, and enjoys well-drained soils in full sun or partial shade. It is easy to grow and copes well with drought. If happy it can spread but is easily controlled. An easy-going garden plant for pretty spring flowers. #plants #flowers #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment at the weekend. The Camassias have nearly finished flowering, as well as the apple trees. Everything is early but flowering does not last long because it is so dry and warm. We had quite a damaging frost a few nights ago which damaged my grapevines, asparagus and some of the newly emerged tree foliage. It looks bad now but everything will grow back soon. #spring #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I manage a wildflower area at the entrance to my allotment site. It has mostly perennial plantings and a small meadow area. I have one area for annual flowers which I sow every year which looks very colourful. But sowing annuals in spring is very challenging now as we get spring droughts nearly every year. Annuals don`t establish well without rain. I solved the problem and converted the area into a gravel garden, which will be planted with drought-resistant perennials next winter. #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment in the sunshine. It is looking greener and greener now but there is still no rain. Just more sunshine every day. I am glad now that we had a wet winter and there is still enough moisture in the ground for anything more deeper rooted. But I do have to water my newly planted trees and perennials to help them get established before summer arrives. #allotment #garden npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The sinking feeling when you see your precious seedlings to suddenly disappear into a mini-sinkhole during watering... because a mole has tunneled underneath! As happened to me today. If I don`t water the mole stays away but nothing grows (as it is so dry already), if I water the mole digs tunnels everywhere but still nothing grows as the plants are pushed up with roots drying out or they disappear into the tunnels! I cannot really win. #allotment #drought npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment A view of the new allotment through the rose arch. The rose arch has rose 'The Generous Gardener' planted on the right and Clematis 'Arabelle' on the left which flowers all summer. From the seat I can watch what is going on in the newt pond. #allotment #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I have erected several wooden posts on the allotment, to add some height and structure and to grow some climbing plants. I got the idea to drill holes of different sizes in them to provide some nesting opportunities for solitary bees. Just a few days after drilling the holes the first bees have arrived! Mainly Mason bees Osmia bicornis which use the large holes, but have also seen Osmia caerulescens and O. leaiana which are smaller and are using the medium-sized holes. 😃 🐝 #bees #wildlife npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The allotment a week ago, turning slowly greener now and with some colour from tulips, pasque flowers, cowslips and fruit trees. The nights are still cold so growth is still slow. Come mid-May and everything will explode 🙂 #allotment #garden npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I love wild tulips and have planted quite a selection of different ones. Most like a well-drained sunny spot in relatively poor soil. They are normally reliably perennial and the first start flowering at the end of February, the latest in May. Here you can see some of my wild tulips (Tulipa tarda, Tulipa linifolia, Tulipa clusiana, Tulipa saxatilis) in flower at the moment. #flowers #tulips npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment A very well-disguised crab spider (Misumena vatia) lurking in a tulip flower on my allotment. This crab spider can alter the colour of its body to match it`s surroundings. Any small pollinator landing on the flower will get a nasty surprise! #spiders #flowers npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I have added some height to the allotment with many arches and climbing structures. This arch at the back of the allotment is planted with two apple trees, one is the variety Sunrise, the other Blenheim Orange. Sunrise is an early apple and has just started flowering. It is a nice entrance to the allotment, eventually the trees will be self-supporting. They do produce a good crop of apples in late summer and autumn. #allotment #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The bluebells are flowering already, seems to be earlier every year. Went for a walk yesterday to have a look and the small woodland near where I live was all blue :-). Always very uplifting to see this flower bonanza. #bluebells #flowers #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment This is my third allotment which I got in 2018. It has the newt pond which is the largest of the 4 ponds I have. The pond is home to the newts, dragonfly larvae, water beetles and many other animals. Hedgehogs, foxes and many birds use it for drinking and bathing. I have also planted many fruit trees such as pear trees, plums, apples, apricots and a large peach tree. And it is full of flowers in summer 🙂 #allotment #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment The cold frame is full of little plants I have grown from seed, mainly flowers, some trees and a few vegetables. They are all now patiently waiting to be planted out on the allotment which I will do over the next weeks. Planting out is my favourite gardening job so I am very much looking forward to it 😃 #gardening #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment A nice and sunny day on the allotment yesterday. I left work early as it was just too nice for sitting inside. More and more flowers are opening now, especially many tulips and all the fruit blossom. Bumblebees, solitary bees and the first butterflies were out and about as well. #allotment #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I love our native primrose (Primula vulgaris). It has the most pretty pale yellow flowers, so much better than all the gaudy colours of primroses and polyanthus in the garden centre (which hurt my eye). I planted one primrose plant years ago, and now have lots everywhere as they self-seed very easily. #spring #flowers npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment A drone fly (looks like Eristalis pertinax) is enjoying the sunshine on a wild tulip flower. Drone flies (part of the big group of hoverflies) have aquatic larvae called rat-tailed maggots which like water with high organic load and low oxygen, they can be attracted by leaving vegetation to rot in a bucket of water. #insects npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I had to change how I garden as with climate change my original plantings did not work as well anymore. I planted a lot more woody plants with deep roots such as fruit trees, fruit bushes and canes. They provide shade and don`t need watering. I also planted perennial veg such as rhubarb and perennial kale as well as many perennial flowers for wildlife. This means less watering, more shelter, and leaves for mulching. I also have more birds now. #climatechange #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I have built the frog pond a few years ago as the tadpoles always got eaten by the many newts in the larger deeper pond. The frog pond is more shallow, in full sunshine and warms up more quickly in spring, the frogs love it and the tadpoles have a greater chance of survival. #frogs #wildlife #allotment npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I am managing a little strip of land at the entrance to my allotment site as a wildflower area, to attract wildlife and to have something nice to look at for people who come to the allotment site. It looks like this (left picture) at the moment but will burst into flower in June (right, picture from last year) and will look very colourful then. #wildflowers npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Bee-flies (Bombylius major) were out and about on my allotment at the weekend. They parasitise solitary mining bees as they lay their eggs in the bee nests, the fly larva then eats the pollen store intended for the bee larva, followed by the bee larva itself. Bee-flies don’t have a negative impact on solitary bee populations, a healthy bee-fly population indicates a healthy solitary mining bee population, it is all part of a healthy ecosystem. #pollinators #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Every week the allotment is looking a bit greener now, there are also more and more flowers opening. The pretty yellow flowers to the right are Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) which is an easy-going native plant, the bees love it as well. #allotment #flowers #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I accidentally created a nice nesting place for solitary bees on the allotment. I piled up all the weeds I dug out 2 years ago and let them rot down for a year. I planted this 'hill' last year with drought-tolerant plants, it has a nice south-facing slope which warms up quickly. I now have discovered quite a number of solitary bees swarming there, all males at the moment, but the females will come out soon too 🙂 #pollinators #bees npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I love all the glorious fruit tree blossom at the moment. It is mostly plums, cherry, apricot, almond and peach flowering on my allotment now but everything else has already buds swelling. In the picture is the pretty pink blossom of Nanking Cherry, Prunus tomentosa. It has edible little cherry fruit in summer but I leave it mostly to the birds and just enjoy the flowers. #spring #blossom #tree npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Nice sunny morning on the allotment, with the newt pond and some early fruit blossom. I like this time of year as everything is coming awake again, flowers opening, buds swelling, leaves unfurling. But still not as much to do and more time to enjoy everything compared to when spring starts properly which is always a mad rush. #allotment #gardening #spring npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment While working on the allotment at the weekend, this cute little robin kept watching me intently from the fence, he was probably hoping for a worm or two 🙂 #wildlife #allotment #birds npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Nice to see all the early pollinators out and about on sunny days at the moment. Bumblebee queens have already started looking for nesting sites, solitary bees such as the Hairy-footed flower bee and some mining bees are out as well, mostly males at the moment as the females emerge later. The first bee flies are looking for nectar as well, they look cute and fluffy but are actually parasitic of solitary bees as they lay their eggs in solitary bee nests. #wildlife #pollinators npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Thank you for following again. I was ill for a while and had not much time so cut back on social media. But thought it will be fun doing some posting again as this is a nice community here on Mastodon. And there is always something going on on the allotment. I have also changed a lot in the allotment and made it climate change resilient, which is still ongoing. npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment I managed to build myself a chair (from an old bench which was falling apart) so I can sit in the sunshine and watch the frogs , newts and other wildlife in and around the pond. Only problem, once I finally found some time to sit down and relax, I see the next task which needs doing, so I never sit there for more than a few minutes 😉 #allotment #gardening npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment Thank you. I will try to regularly post some pictures of my allotment again, there is always something going on there 🙂 npub1wzccwevehqmcwwdf0n9rcmnrkqxvhcrv85e9cyl0v5yutzs5p3pq4ggpkf My Wildlife Allotment If you live in the UK you can vote for my wildlife and climate-change allotment garden in a big BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine garden competition which wants to find the best garden out of 20 past winners (I am Nadine Mitschunas, Judge`s Choice Winner 2021):
