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  15 June 2026 Wild Waters and Gardens   Even a tiny pond (1.1m x 1.35m) can provide wild habitat for some plants and animals of the Wild Water streams and the Avon that flow near our villages. Submerged in this 4 month-old pond are young plants of Yellow Flag, Meadowsweet, Lesser Spearwort. On the edge, a  Great Willowherb (2, 4) will lure gorgeous Elephant Hawk Moths (3) which match the vivid pink petals - their caterpillars feed on willowherbs (garden pond edge, wild corner), bedstraws (mini-meadow), Evening Primrose and garden fuschias (flower/shrub border). To a moth, or any wild visitor, your varied habitats unite into a good place to be!    (5) Pulsating glossy yellow Marsh Marigold/ Kingcup/Mollyblobs grows well in ponds, as well along riversides and gives welcome very early nectar source for Queen Bumbles etc. (and there is white Water Lily). (6, 7) A pink, exotic flower – Himalayan Balsam is one to  definitely avoid ... you will see it by Avon st...
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  1 June                  Good Flowers and Good Water All that glitters isn’t gold... or is it? A rapid instant spread of a young vigorous plant into a riot of joyous vivid golden; a mass of beautiful peachy petals; cool water gushing out of a shady rock cleft down  a hill. A small marigold plant with closed green buds  outside a local supermarket enticed me...  I had been looking for traditional Pot Marigold. I should have noticed its thicker lusher green leaves. A fortnight of warmth and it transformed into a mat of golden petals. Maybe a gardener’s visual delight, BUT a ‘monster’ in disguise – a polyploid.  Instead of central mini tube flowers with pollen and seed potential there were flamboyant petals. No food for insects. Genetically modified by chemicals to have four sets of chromosomes this marigold ticks priorities of flower size, flower number, thicker leaves, resilience to extreme  conditions and bigger...
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18 May Unlikely Connections

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  18 May   Unlikely Connections Wildlife Gardening Tips in Italics   What do they have in common? Bee in Hi-Vis kit! ( 1 ) and a May Buttercup meadow ( 2 )? Two fledgling Long-tailed Tits - ‘fluff balls’ - high up on a branch, ( 3 ) and tiny spiders ( 4 )? Some might guess that one is the irresistible, ‘adorable’ garden visitor  and the other  the repugnant, even frightening and unwanted intruder to be annihilated. And add to that mix, small flies ( 5 ), an extra spider with longer legs ( 6 ), a lurid greenish crab spider with legs ready to grab ( 7 ), then white fly ( 8 ) and the horror reality show would be total!   But for the ‘fluff balls’ this creature show is a typical breakfast of multi nutritional delights .  Add in some insect eggs and moth ( 9 ) caterpillars and the meal is ideal with both moth larvae and insect eggs as key components for growing fledglings.   Wildlife Gardening Tips They find all these, and the gardeners’ drea...
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