Dragonfly

At last, success! A photo of a dragonfly .. maybe not a great photo, but its a start. I think this must be a Common Darter, although the male should be red/orange and the female duller. This one was such a bright yellow.. but the closest match I can find is for an immature male Common Darter. I know you can barely see it, but be happy for me!



Much more exciting, however, were the ones that got away.. a glorious hot sunny afternoon at Arlesford and I was treated to a display of aerial combat and acrobatics! Several very large dragonflies soaring and hunting on the wing .. I was able to watch for a good while and was rewarded with with the occasional 'fly-past' when they came within inches of my head. Quite beautiful to watch.. and then, only a few feet away from me, a mid-air collision. Two large dragonflies flewstraight into one another creating a loud electrical-sounding buzz. Left me with lots of questions and a huge desire to find out more about them.



So many butterflies today that they just fluttered into you .. just a little shot of another type to add to our record this summer, Meadow Brown (I think!)

Tortoiseshell

Me and the little'un had to super-sneak out into the garden in our pyjamas to photograph this one this morning!

BioBlitz

Well we had a go in the garden at the weekend.. I'm still looking up and trying to identify many of the things we found, which is great because I'm learning all the time. The little one loved it, and his determined bug-hunting meant that we were able to identify three different types of woodlouse in our patch, including this rosy-coloured one.. I have to admit that before the BioBlitz a woodlouse was a woodlouse, as far as I was concerned!



A really noticeable thing was that we didn't find a single ladybird. Our garden is usually full of them. I've looked again this week, and have only found one or two tiny creamy-coloured harlequins, no red ones at all.

However, we were blessed with a large red damselfly, basking on a rose leaf in the mid-day sunshine:



And as well as white and blue butterflies, we found this tiny daytime flying moth:



I think it must be pyrasta aurata.. during the week I have noticed masses of them: numbers of them fly up as I walk amongst the plants in my herb garden, and now I know why! They feed on mints, marjoram and lemon balm, so I have provided them with pretty much a perfect place to set up shop.

May

A May bank holiday trip to Arlesford today and this amazing view of bluebells and stitchwort..





Heavily laden boughs of may were incredibly fragrant in the sunshine and the grass was colourful with buttercups and drifts of sheep sorrel.





I had a wonderful wander in the ruined old church and its graveyard beyond, where the grass and wildflowers are left to grow, hoping for butterflies.





I was treated to these beautiful white star-like flowers peeping out amongst the grass, which I've been trying to identify... Star of Bethlehem?





We did get to see some butterflies later on, walking in the grass (and nettles!) down near the little streams. We think this peacock must have hibernated over winter, as they're not supposed to be about yet - in the second photo you can see how tattered it is.





This was a beautiful butterfly I've not seen before, a Speckled Wood, which we found in dappled semi-woodland very near to a large stretch of water.



And as a fitting end to a fantastic afternoon, we were lucky enough to see both a blue-tailed damselfly and several large red damselflies, one of which obligingly sat on a leaf in the sunshine for us.

Scarlet and Gold

More scarlet and gold highlights from the herb garden .. just starting to flower this last week or so are Tansy and the bronze Fennel..

I'm sure from reading about tansy way back that its supposed to be an insect repellent .. I know it is used dried to put in pet's beds to deter/repel fleas .. but everytime I go to photograph the lovely golden button flowers, they are covered in flies.. hmmmm!

When the great tall (some might say overgrown and out of control!) valerian finished, I left the great tall stems to provide support for the bronze fennel. So glad I did, as the golden flowerheads supported up high are providing a nice extra dimension in the herb garden.











... and on the windowsill soaking up the sunshine, the infused oils I prepared about six weeks ago are nearly ready and have changed colour ...

this golden one is Chamomile

and this gorgeous blood-red one is St John's Wort..

.. you can see the fantastic change in colour by comparing with this photo I took when I prepared it!

This should mean that all the goodness and healing properties from the flowers have now transferred themselves into the oil.












Once I've strained the plant material out, I will be keeping some oil to use as it is (for burns, including sunburn) and thickening a little of it to make into a salve for knife wounds .. I am accident-prone with the kitchen knife when I've not had enough sleep, so this is another helpful standby in our house!

Sunshine

This post is part of the UK Herbarium July blog party hosted this month by Debs Cook at Herbaholics Herbarium

I'm a Leo, this is my time of the year! And I love hot sunshine colours.. they warm and uplift. Bright splashes of bold oranges and yellows about the place declare that it IS summer, whatever the weather has decided to the contary. So I have a sunshine insurance policy .. each year, very very early in the year, I sow my annual seeds. I sow sunflowers, marigolds and nasturtiums.

And then I can settle back and enjoy the unfolding of spring with lush green foliage, beautiful purple and pink and white flowers.. safe in the knowledge that I'll have my hit of sunshine colour, too. Once we get to the lavender and strawberries and last of the roses, then we're getting warmer.. the St John's Wort at midsummer heralds the start of the bright yellow sunshine colours in my herb garden, which I feel is so appropriate for this celebration of the sun. And then more and more yellows seem to start popping out all over.

But I'm a big cheater! I sow dwarf sunflowers stupidly early, in February, so that they are flowering in May, usually. I harden them off in my little growhouse (you know, the sort which is basically a small shelf unit with a sort of pac-a-mac over the top!) and then I've got instant sunshine to pop into the garden. This year, I had a good little display which flowered on an indoors windowsill.. and if I'm not getting to see those outdoors, I have no compunction about cutting them for a jug on the kitchen table.

I got into dwarf sunflowers when I lived in Tottenham and had my roof garden - there was no way I could grow tall ones up there! Bad weather then meant not visiting or seeing the garden at all, as I had to climb a ladder through a hatch up onto the roof which kind of let the water in! That was when I got into the habit of taking a camera with me and snapping the plants on my brief forays to see what was happening up there.. a habit I still have. The best thing about where we live now is that I can see the garden from our living room anytime I want.. I love to stand at the door looking out watching it all in the rain from the comfort of a nice dry house!

Now marigolds I originially sowed to companion plant with tomatoes, and still do. But I just put them everywhere I can find space now, as they are just such a useful plant and such a hit of hot colour. And the more you pick the heads to use them, the more flowers you are rewarded with, it seems. Last year I grew 'Indian Prince' and was deeply satisfied with the really zingy bright orange ... they flowered into November last year, cheering up the onset of autumn and winter, and a pot of last years marigolds which I took out from the tomato planters once they were over gave me amazing huge almost fluorescent orange flowers from April this year.. WOW! Needless to say I put the pot right by the door so's I could see them from indoors.

I've grown nasturtiums the last couple of years, since we were given some seed for one of the marbled leaf varieties and just loved them. Nasturtiums, too, will also go really late into the year. This year I have hanging baskets about the place with a mix of marbled leaf/yellow flowers and dark foliage with deep red flowers. I had known this was an edible plant, but was delighted last year to find I could make a great vinegar with them (thank you, James Wong). I made it really as a catarrh remedy, but it tastes wonderful on salads.

The greatest thing about planting these annuals is sharing the whole growing process with the little'un who, at 3 this year, has had his own garden for the first time. He planted his own marigold and sunflower seeds in February and was able to plant them out into his own little plot and water them and watch them grow and flower. The sunflower and marigold photographs I've used above actually show his plants. And here he is, carefully picking the petals off some marigolds of his own that he grew and contributing them for making infused oil.

St John's Wort

I couldn't let midsummer pass by without any mention of Saint John's Wort, one of my favourite herbs. Favourite because it has so many useful applications as a medicinal herb, it is beautiful in the herb garden and I love how it marks the high point of the year.

Well, this year the two St John's Wort plants I planted carefully in my herb bed are much reduced from last year.. completely because other earlier larger pushier herbs have really taken off all around. I thought I had lost one or both completely, but no, they are still poking their heads up .. only they are late flowering. You will remember from a previous post how I have always been impressed that this plant always flowers within a day to two either side of St John's Day on June 25th (one day after old midsummer on 24th). Not this year, sadly.

This is the stronger of the two plants on June 30th

By the by, if you click and enlarge this photo you can really see the little perforations on the leaves, which give it one of its names.

I was a bit glum because it is my favourite infused oil to make - I love the way the bright yellow flowers create a bright red oil and I was looking forward to making it with the little'un so he could watch it turn to pink and then scarlet and tell me when it was ready. But I also smiled because nature has gifted me two little baby plants, one self-seeded between paving slabs and another in the veg bed. So fingers crosseed I will have four plants to bring on for next summer.

... and that's where this post would have ended, except for **STOP PRESS**! One of those wonderful happenings that renews your faith in life, the universe and everything!

We went to a very special place in Arlesford, close to where we live, on Sunday for a summer morning's ramble and explore.. I'll tell you more about it and show you some pictures soon. The ruined medieval church of St Peter there is in a quiet, peaceful location away from everywhere and nature has been allowed to take over within the roofless walls. And, for the first time, I found St John's Wort growing wild .. and it was everywhere. Actually growing along the walls inside the church, but also as part of an area of long grass and wildflowers left uncut in the graveyard beyond.

A young plant on a west facing wall, in bud but about the same stage as mine (on a west facing fence) at home.

Amongst grass in the meadow immediately north of the church.

But look at this in full sun on the south-facing inner wall of the nave! There was a whole bed of it, in flower.

Its hard to put into words how special it was to step into this deserted peaceful space, all alone and to see it alive with herbs .. there were tansy, plantain and mullein growing out of the tops of the walls! I wasn't greedy .. I took enough flowering tops for a very small jar, but mainly just drank it all in. You can't predict or plan an experience like that.




Update (4th July):

Just goes to show how observant I am (!).... my main Saint John's Wort is still there, tangled amongst the feverfew, ladies mantle and escapee valerian, but I didn't spot it till today when the glorious yellow flowers finally opened. Ta Da!

Midsummer

Just a little trip about the garden at the very end of June ..

strawberries ripening in jam jars to protect them from our birdy friends,

valerian towering high above the fence and everything else,

feverfew in full flower now

and lavender just starting to pop.














Just been looking up 'cuckoo spit' .. you can see some on the lavender in the photo above, but we also have a little on the elder. Will have to look out for the adult froghoppers.. I like learning something new, and I like to have an answer ready when the little'un asks me something!

There's so much doing at this time of year and its such a joy to be out in the fresh air working with the plants and enjoying the sunshine. You can really 'feel' the wheel of the year turning over Midsummer as all the burgeoning and freshness and growing gives way to fullness, culmination, maturity. It happens imperceptibly and overnight, it seems and suddenly its time to be harvesting.

Rose Oil

I tried last summer for the first time to make a rose oil. I knew it would be very small, as I didn't have many fragrant roses to use.. I had two stupendously large and fragrant and velvety blooms from my Etoile de Holland, which had only been a cutting six months earlier and I had the flowers from my wild rose - it would put one out for me every couple of days, but it was still getting its feet in, having been transplanted to the new garden fairly recently too.

Well, this year I have an abundance of roses, hurrah! You know, though, I couldn't pick the Etoile de Holland blooms, about 10 this year. It flowered early while we were enjoying warm weather (seems like a while ago now, huh?) and I enjoyed seeing it from the house so much and smelling its fragrance filling the warm still air out in the garden that I couldn't do it. Mum-in-law tells me that I may be able to get it to do a second flowering later in the year .. I shall feed it and talk to it and see.

However, my old friend the wild rose is now a veritable bush .. this summer it is just flowering and flowering and there are always more buds coming, it seems. And the flowers are sweetly fragrant. The only problem with picking them is that they always have a bee or hoverfly inside... and I should point out here that I always leave plenty of flowers for the bees when I gather them to use.

So how do you make rose oil.. well you just stick the (dry) petals in a little jar, cover them with oil and sit the jar in the sun. I use sunflower oil, as it doesn't have much smell and the rose fragrance can be easily overpowered by stronger smelling oils. Put your jar on some kitchen roll because it will ooze however careful you are. The idea is that you leave the petals in the oil to infuse in the sun. When all the colour has gone from the petals you can carefully strain the oil, ringing all the oil from the spent petals using a muslin or coffee filter paper, then return to the jar with new petals. I just keep adding petals to the jar each day till its full then wait. The main problem is getting enough sunshine! I have a very sunny southfacing windowsill (which happily grows tomatoes and sunflowers) so I am hoping for the best, but the weather will have to start playing ball at some point if it is to work! It will take months and months, but I think it will be worth it.

Last year I only achieved a very slightly scented oil, due to a lack of sufficient roses over the whole season. I made it into little pots of rose lipbalm, and the rose fragrance was so ephemeral as to barely be there .. sometimes I thought I was just remembering it or smelling it with the 'nose of faith'! But it so much better than using essential oil, which is desperately expensive in any case. Will let you know how this year's turns out.

I have read about making rose oil in a number of different places, all outlining the same basic method, but it is included in 'Herbal Remedies: A practical beginner's guide fo making effective remedies in the kitchen' by Christopher Hedley and Non Shaw, which I can't recommend highly enough if you want a good guide to making infused oils and salves at home. Its what I used when I started on my herbal adventures and has good clear instructions with plenty of photos.

Or, if you love all things historical, like me, you might like to read the Anglo-Saxon version, (translated) from the Lacnunga manuscript dating to around 1000AD:

'For rose oil, make it thus: one pound of oil, one ounce of mature rose flower; mix together in a glass jar under gypsum and hang in the sun for 40 days so its power may be styptic and cooling; use it for many illnesses, mostly for pain in the head ... that is emigraneum'

This is taken from 'Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plantlore and Healing' by Stephen Pollington, which I was thumbing through researching for something else entirely when this rose oil entry jumped out and took me by surprise. Imagine my delight (especially as a migraine sufferer!)

April Blooms

Everything's flowering! Really feels like Eastertime .. went for a little nature ramble today, just a little footpath near our house. Am slowly learning. Love the process of finding out! Interesting to see the difference in the plants growing in full sun and on the other side of the footpath in full shade.

Examined the blackthorn closely .. pure white buds opening directly onto dark twigs, no greenery or leaf in sight. And those really are big old thorns! See how it gets its name.

On the other side, in the sunshine, a full hedge with leaves unfurling too, much further ahead. (Those are the boys, hand-in-hand in the sunshine!)

No, darling, that's not buttercups, its ... aconite? no, celandine! Leaves look wrong, the dark heart-shaped leaves must have been buried low down with just the flowers peeping through.

Got this one right... love speedwell, its so tiny that I'd have missed it if I hadn't been walking with purpose and looking. Could really imagine fairies living in speedwell (and, as a rule, I'm not one for fairies!)

Also seen today white deadnettle, though not much, not enough to collect. And masses of nettles, of course, though all in the dog-pee zone either side of the path, so not gathered. Ladybirds everywhere.

Seeing the baby leaves bursting out on all the brambles helped show me that they are members of the rose family (which I have been reading about here) because they look a lot like new strawberry leaves. When everything is new and fresh things are somehow easier to see.

Lots and lots of vibrant highly scented something we hadn't come across before (no photo, sorry folks!).. very distinctive, looked it up when we got back and delighted to find that its Alexanders:

widespread and locally common near coasts.. yellowish flowers seen March to June

[Collins Complete Guide to British Wildlife]

Masses of it and its in its prime now, so shall look into uses.. please share your knowledge and recipes here, if you know Alexanders?

Update:

OK, great starting place here

Blackberries

What a wonderful morning! We went blackberrying in the sunshine yesterday and came home stained but happy.

Combined with some aged eating apples in a crumble, and have three bags stashed away in the freezer for future puddings and smoothies.

Also made a blackberry oxymel - this is a new thing for me, its from the 'A Year with James Wong' book. Have put the blackberries in a jam jar and covered with cider vinegar and in ten days' time I have to strain it and then it should keep in the fridge. Plan is to dilute it in hot water with honey for a vitamin C drink for the little'un in cold and flu season (and me too, come to that!).

Indian Summer

Glorious sunshine, not a cloud in the sky! A good chance to have a look at what's happening in the garden.

Most of the vegetable patch is long over, but it is still home to a bumper patch of rainbow chard and a thriving row of chives. I planted calendula and nasturtium seeds in the little strip of soil between the veg bed and the path and have been pleased with the colourful display.

I have had masses and masses of calendula flowers for making oils, salves and tincture and drying for teas and the more you cut it the more it comes again (everything in my part of the garden has to be useful as well as beautiful and beautiful as well as useful, if you see what I mean!)