A mixed week weatherwise this week, lots of sunshine but also lots of rain, when it rains it really rains! All this has made everything grow and look very happy. So far this morning it is sunny with light clouds but I think we might have some rain later. I have been cutting back and raking up more leaves that I have found from last winter, in between bits of weeding and taking photos for today, so lets get on with it….
Holly Blue butterfly
I found a Holly Blue butterfly resting on the gravel drive the other day, at least I think it is a Holly Blue. There were five altogether, two lots of two circling madly, I think they would be males and one on its own, a female maybe?
Eventually it opened its wings and I could get a better view of it.
Bumble bee with Epimedium
A bumble bee was having a wonderful time on my Epimedium Amber Queen, it had hundreds of flowers to choose from.
Epimedium Amber Queen is now about 4ft across with hundreds of flowers, no wonder the bumble bee was so happy!
Berberis dawinii.
Berberis dawinii is flowering by the garage, a very common shrub but the bees don’t care, they love it! It is full of flower at the moment and the whole bush buzzes!
Prunus glandulosa rosea plena.
My little pink cherry, Prunus glandulosa rosea plena is looking lovely at the moment on the rockery. I showed you the white variety last week and am glad that the rain on Tuesday and Wednesday didn’t flatten this one.
Peony mlokosewitschii.
It’s time to watch Peony mlokosewitschii slowly unfurl in the front border. I know she is so fleeting but well worth the wait.
Yesterday she was in tight bud but now open in spite of the rain last night, the bluebells put themselves behind her! My other peonies are still in very tight bud.
Hosta Sagae.
Hostas are now unfurling and so far are hole free, but for how long?! This is Hosta Sagae which I bought after staying at Lac Sagay in Canada many years ago, wonderful holiday and its a wonderful hosta!
Those are my six for this week, it was hard to decide what to leave out! Thanks go to Jim who is carrying on in spite of giving us all the sad news about Sue, we will all be thinking of them both.
Gosh your epimedium certainly has a lot of flowers. I have two, one which produces lots of new leaves, but neither of them have a lot of flowers.
I think I’ve been lucky with this one Jude, I did plant another in the woodland and it promptly died, maybe in too much shade. The only special treatment it gets is a mulch of leaf mould each year.
The butterfly is darling, and such a nice color. Nice to see a bumblebee too! I saw my first one of the spring recently.
The Holly blue is only tiny Elizabeth, much smaller than most of our butterflies. I have seen a few other varieties but wasn’t quick enough with the camera!
Well done on getting a a few photos of the Holly Blue butterfly. I’ve seen one flitting about in the garden but never been quick enough to grab my camera before it’s flown off!
I was lucky in that I had the camera ready for photographing the flowers Graeme, but saw a couple of Brimstone the other day,but like you , didn’t have my camera with me!
With its wings open, the butterfly’s beautiful colour is best appreciated! Not easy to spot. And perhaps it’s not warm enough here yet to see any.
It is such a lovely colour Fred and I have lots of Holly and Ivy, its other food plant, so there is always something for it to feed on or lay its eggs.
I love holly blue butterflies, but rarely see them, so your pics are a real treat for me – thank you!
The one good thing Helen, about having lots of Ivy and Holly is that it attracts the Holly Blue butterfly! Hope you see some soon.
Funny, my gardener friend recommended Epimedium to me this week. Seeing your lovely one, I may need to get some!
So wonderful to see the pollinators out and about at this time of year. I haven’t seen a holly blue in our garden yet, but a comma and a peacock.
I can certainly recommend the Epimedium that I have Kathrin, it has grown so well and is obviously happy where I have put it. I don’t have any commas yet or peacocks but they will come, I’m sure.
A perfect little butterfly, and that Epimedium. I’ve never seen one so large. Please send rain.
Thank you Susie, the epimedium is certainly happy, maybe all the rain it has had!
Oh, the butterfly and bee photos are stunning! Your other flower photos are lovely, too. Our Epimediums and Peonies are just getting ready to bloom–maybe next week! Enjoy!
Glad you like the bee and butterfly photos Beth, I enjoyed watching them.Yes, lots more flowers about to open, its non stop at the moment.
Yes, your epimedium clump is amazing! Do you cut your leaves back? I was confused recently reading something that suggests not all epimedium should be cut back, and I need to go back and check it out as I have never heard that before. I too saw a holly blue this week, the first butterfly of the year, but had no chance of a picture!
I didn’t cut that one back Cathy, I forgot one year and found the flowers stalks grew above all the leaves so it didn’t seem necessary, usually it just gets a gentle tidy up.