Golden Rod now a blaze of yellow

Through self seeding my garden has accumulated a large number of Golden Rod flowers, so much so that there seems little room for other species to grow. There is even a large stand of them on my patio where the seeds have spilled into the joints between the slabs! When in flower they are a huge attraction to small bees and hoverflies so I am loathe to thin them out. A near neighbour now has a few of my plants in her garden - maybe I'll see if I can dispose of some more in that sort of way.

Apart from the absolute pleasure of seeing wildlife in the garden I also feel that in a very small way I'm doing something for the benefit of nature. I certainly wouldn't wish to see my garden full of exotic blooms that had no benefit for the indigenous wildlife.

Calendula sown

A friend has recently sown some calendula seeds (English Marigold) and she has kindly passed on the remainder of the packet she didn't use. Like her I'm very fond of these flowers and prefer them to the other types of marigold which I believe are more susceptible to slug attack. In the past I've bought already established plants so am crossing fingers that I will be successful. They are 'Orange King'; not only do I like orange flowers but with golden rod and evening primrose everywhere I have plenty of yellow flowers. And this year I also have yellow loosestrife kindly donated by another near neighbour.

The woodland across the valley has already lost its fresh green look and taken on the dark green mantle of summer. I always want to slow the clock down in May - it would be nice to have that delicious new green of the trees for just a little longer and of course the bluebells flowering. We are so lucky with our bluebells in the westcountry because they appear not just in the traditional woodland setting but in hedgebanks, on the moors and on the coast. So far as the last named habitat is concerned a particularly good location is along the north approach to Start Point in south Devon. Although the UK is I understand the best country in Europe for the bluebell there is concern that it might eventually be replaced by its more vigorous cousin the Spanish bluebell. These are the ones often seen in people's gardens but can't be compared surely with our native ones. Then there is the potential effect of climate change on their distribution I suppose. A worrying future for the bluebell.

A couple of butterflies and lunch on the patio

A dry day today with some reasonable warmth and sunshine. Sunny enough in fact to see a couple of butterflies on the wing over the garden. These were a peacock and a brimstone. And although it has now clouded up somewhat (late afternoon) it was pleasant enough to take advantage of the weather and eat my lunch on the patio. Eating out of doors is a particular pleasure I find, memories now coming back of having tea in the garden when we were children. A good many pubs and cafes in this neck of the woods have outside seating facilities which is excellent to see. Maybe it's all these foreign holidays people go on but folk seem more inclined to eat outside these days or so it seems to me.

I managed to get some work done in the garden during the afternoon, of the general clearing up kind. On a previous occasion I had mentioned the abundance of moss in my garden, not too surprising bearing in mind the damp air so prevalent in Cornwall plus the fact that the sun is still low in the sky. Bramble is another species that thrives here! My primroses are well out and as usual the aquilegia (columbine) has self seeded - like forget-me-not once you have it in the garden you'll never be without it!

Forsythias in full bloom

As long ago as December 22 I had reported a forsythia that had shown a few flowers for some weeks. It seemed to stay like that for a long time but now this one and others in the village are at their best. I will explain here that not only is my garden detached from the cottage but it is also offset slightly so that I don't look directly over it. This may appear odd, just let me say that this is Cornwall and we don't always conform to usual expectations! So the forsythia whose golden flowers I enjoy looking across the road from my front window belongs to a neighbour. It certainly lights up what is otherwise a dreary day.

Should I decide to gaze out from the back of the house what catches the eye? Happily another two forsythia belonging to a different neighbour whose mimosa is also still exhibiting a few flowers.

Having a few bushes and trees nearby helps to bring the wildlife in. Seeing an estate with very minimal amounts of vegetation is a really depressing sight. Surely not the way one is meant to live!