As it was an overcast but still very nice day, I decided to do some work in our own garden. I cleared one raised bed ready for growing some plants, but I am delighted with what is growing there already, there are plenty of herbs, such as rosemary, lemon balm, lavender, evening primrose, oca, oregano (two types), and of all things some Jerusalem artichokes have come up too. So I just took out some grass and some other stuff that was smothering those plants. Ian decided to come and work with me, so he cleared the path on his knees with a small little knife, no easy task to be sure. Now and then we took a rest, either for tea or chat, or to admire the creatures flying or crawling around. Meanwhile I took a few shots of them.
These are three wild plants that I am keeping my eye on very closely, number one is a huge thistle, it is almost in flower, I know that the seeds are what the gold finch feed on and that is why I want to keep it, to attract these birds and see how it goes. The second one is our comfrey plant, it’s flourishing and what I am watching is the amount of insects that are using it, most of what I see are the bumblebees and I would love to see some honey bees on the comfrey too, of course. The third plant is two years old, I grew it as a salad plant but it was so beautiful that I did not want to eat it, so I let it grow, and when we returned from Gozo it was so large and I recognised it as a plant you see a lot around here in the wild, a type of sorrel perhaps. These three are on my watch list.
And this is a view of our garden, we have had the pleasure to sit under the hawthorn tree all week for our meals, in the dappled sunlight with the garden scents all around us and the birds singing, what a perfect summer weather, aware that for people in other lands, not as lucky just then because of rains and floods.
Always nice to appreciate what we have in the moment.
A beautiful garden you have and glad to see it florish and attract the gnats, the bees and the birds alike…
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Thank you Sunith, most generous of you.
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oh, how I love hawthorns! we were just hit with a hail storm…twenty minutes of hail the size of ice cubes…the entire yard, trees, gardens were stripped bare…all the iris, poppies, carnations, vinca, daylilies… gone, shredded…I watched it happen with a horrible fascination… it even shredded the cushion on the chaise lounge, and ripped the sun-umbrella…sigh… but I know, as we all know, that the garden and trees will come back with a vengeance…and it will be glorious to see…
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Gosh I am very sorry to hear this, such damage! But like you say, yes nature wil triumph as it always does, and it will be lovely to see it.
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Thank you for a glimpse of your paradise, Agnes. I’m still trying to put things right after our storm.
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Wishing you well with it Mary.
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Thanks, Agnes 🙂
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Much appreciated and many thanks 🙂
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that’s a wonderful post, dear Agnes. Nice to see your garden with the wonderful view and the plants with insects. It’s always good to have plants for insects. Have a nice day, kind regards MItza
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And to you too dear Mitza, and thank you.
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Thank you for sharing this simple and wonderful snap shot of your life, Agnes. Comfrey and Thistle are two of my favorite plants . . . I had forgotten about the relationship between thistle and the goldfinch.
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Yes I only found out last year about the goldfinch and their love for thistle seeds, since then I am determined to leave some growing in the garden just for them 🙂
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They will love you for it!
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They are so very beautiful 🙂
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You had a beautiful garden
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Dank u wel, deze fotos trok ik in ons stadje hier.
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Oh, how gorgeous is that fuzzy bumblebee?! What a beautiful, relaxing garden
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Thank you Lily, so glad you enjoy!
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