Acrobatic snails

This morning Ive been watching a wonderfully strange acrobatic display by a snail in my garden. Balancing on the edge of a hosta leaf, the snail was stretched upright for hours, twisting itself slowly from one side to the other. Its tentacles extending and contracting continually as if to search for something always out of its grasp.

Perched on the edge of the leaf it looked more like a diver about to jump from the high board, but the snail was actually attached to the hosta's woody stem by a thread of slimy mucus.

How and why it got itself into this position I have no idea but I shall do some investigation and report back in next months post.

What makes this display more remarkable is how it has been able to remain attached and in this position in the wind. It has been quite a blustery morning and the snail has been blown and buffeted about, sometimes losing its footing on the leaf edge but somehow still clinging on to its thread.

Ive witnessed strange snail and slug behaviour in the garden before but never anything quite as remarkable and beautiful as this. When I first started gardening slugs and snails were an absolute enemy and I battled continually to save my seedlings and juicy hosta leaves from their jaws.

Over the last couple of years Ive become a lot more relaxed with the slugs and snails in the garden and only use pellets sparingly to protect and allow seedlings to get established. After that, I'm happy to let nature take its course and the wildlife to munch away.

The sedum has started to bloom in the last couple of weeks and as the tiny pink petals emerge lots of bees have been attracted into the garden. On warmer days the flowers are a mass of buzzing sounds with so many types of bees busily working their way around each cluster of flowers.
Sadly my bees, the ones nesting in a cavity of my house, have gone. So its fantastic to see so many other bees coming back into the garden.

Ive been volunteering at my local community garden this summer. Its only a small plot of land between houses in the middle of St Mellons but around 10 or 12 people regularly volunteer, with the men doing the heavy lifting work and the women planting, weeding, harvesting (and giving the men their instructions).

Sadly for me I could only attend for a few weeks as I'm usually working when its open. But in that short time Ive met some wonderful people, learnt how to take cuttings from lavender and come home with handfuls of vegetables, from runner beans, yellow tomatoes and sweetcorn.

The tomato plant I have was a gift from the community garden when we first met at the local fete. Ive been watching for days as one the four fruits has begun to ripen. It wont be a huge harvest but I'm sure they will taste incredible once I do get to pick them.

Day lilies final fanfare

The last few day lilies are in bloom today and by the end of the week they will all be gone. Their glorious trumpets will fall silent for another year. I've loved sitting in the garden as the evening draws in and the bats skit and scat around. In the darkness the orange/yellow lilies continue to glow when everything else fades into the gloom.

The last day lily of the year

Its been a good show this year with the first of the lilies to flower in early July. This is the time of year when everything starts to change with the autumn moving closer. While the poppies and hostas have also finished, the heuchera continue to attract bees to their tiny flowers and the sedum will soon burst into colour.

Over the last couple of weeks I've not seen any bee activity from the nest in my bathroom wall. I'm not sure when they would naturally leave the nest but it seems a bit early in the year. I suspect that they have struggled with the location. On only slightly windy days I've watched as each bee would make numerous attempts to get to the hole in the wall and perhaps that has exhausted them.

Day lilies in bloom - at last

Our grey and miserable summer continues to dampen all things in the garden, including my enthusiasm. But all that might finally be about to change with the first day lily in bloom in the Garden of Shaz.

And according to my own records of the past few years, this years day lily bloom is about 14 days later than  usual. Confirmation, I think, that even the plants and flowers have had a miserable summer too.

This years day lilies have also struggled to produce flowering stems and some of those that have made it, have been distorted and weird. I'm not sure what this distortion or lack of growth is caused by, but I suspect a combination of insect damage, such as beetles or ants, and the poor weather.




The slugs and snails have been having a great time munching on the hostas, but have only affected the smaller plants and those in the dampest areas. The largest hosta is thriving so well that its flowering spear rivals the apple tree for height.

Im glad the see the runner beans in flower providing something at least for the bees to get up for. I do wonder if the delayed flowering of many plants is having an effect on the bees. Might I predict a shortage of honey next year? Perhaps.

A week in the garden

I've just had a week off work and at last I've been able to spend some quality time in the garden. Main duties for the week was to repot the peppers and late sown tomatoes. Then I planted a number of young potted plants into the bed to fill some gaps. The most rewarding part of it all though was simply sitting back and enjoying the view in the summer sun. Unfortunately the latter part of the week the weather was not so good but I was still able to do a bit of weeding and plant a lavander in the front garden.

The front garden is a real puzzle to me at the moment. Its just a plain patch of grass which on windy days must house the wheelie bins. Ive got two small shrubs that were cuttings from my mums garden this Easter. Once they have grown larger, and they are looking really strong, they will be planted in the front garden against the house. Not the most interesting plan.

One of the Hosta's has flowered this year. Bought and planted last summer both Hosta's have doubled in size. Only one has flowered and here is a photo of it.

Ive added another three Hostas to the boarder in the last week. All grown from bulb this spring. Of the eight in the pack six have grown successfully. The other two rotted in the soil.