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Having enjoyed the series on wildlife in gardens, ‘Living Gardens’ in The Garden magazine , the monthly magazine sent out to RHS members, I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the flowering plants that attract the most bees in my garden. Working in the garden at the weekend, I was struck...
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There are bees everywhere at the farm vegetable garden just now and in larger numbers than last year. Last week I found the eggs of leaf-cutter bees , but now other species are turning up. The nest of wild honey bees ( Apis mellifera ) in the wall of a cottage next to the garden, that I watched last...
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We were up at the farm vegetable garden the other day, where I should have been busy weeding and sowing more seeds, but instead I had gone to see the nice lady who lives at the farm. We were rooting through her flower pots to see if the Canna rhizomes had survived the winter (they had), when I came across...
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Sometimes, the wildlife in the garden moves too quickly to be photographed. You turn around and, as you do, a brief drama plays out before you. It all happens so quickly; at times, so quickly that if you blinked, you’d miss it. I thought I’d write down some of those glimpses, before they are forgotten...
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Having had some time off for an unpleasant injury, I’m raring to go again and keeping a close watch on what some of the other species around me are getting up to. There is a lot going on at this time of year, so much so that it can be hard to decide which thing to mention first but, on a visiting a few...
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Looking back over the last year of watching wildlife in the garden, 2010 was a fascinating year with much to be seen, learned from and puzzled over. Last January at this time, the ground was covered in snow and ice and we were experiencing the coldest winter for about 30 years . Despite this cold, pigeons...
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There are still bees about, though their numbers grow fewer each week, as the temperature drops and now we have had a week of rain, which will surely further reduce the number seen. The asters are just still flowering and although they look pretty soggy right now, the bees are there as soon as the sun...
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The sound of buzzing is more noticeable every day, as increasing numbers of flying insects take to the air, going about their business of finding food, mating and building nests. Up at the garden I saw what at first sight looked very much like a small bee. Only it wasn’t a bee at all, but a fly that...
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Climbing through the window into the garden the other day, I was struck by the sound of buzzing and stopped to listen. Much of it was coming from bees crawling over the rosemary flowers, whilst other bees were visiting the (unfortunately) Spanish bluebells which are popping up all around the greenhouse...
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Spring is a dream come true - a dream of warmth, new growth, and flowers. How fortunate I am that something so longed for becomes reality each year. I love this season so much and every year the anticipation of the land coming back to life is met by the intense pleasure of seeing it truly happening,...
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With the key to the garden door now in my possession, I made my first proper foray into the garden this week. For some time before taking on this garden, I’d had my eye on the big compost heap against the north facing wall. Whilst it is hidden from the big house, I can see it from the kitchen window...
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The days are shortening so rapidly now, darkness seeping into the sky a little earlier each day. Only two weeks ago, the air still felt warm and it seemed that autumn could last for many weeks to come, but now, with the arrival of the short days, it truly feels that the first days of winter are with...
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