Well it is midsummer now, there has been a stillness in the air all day, now as the sun slowly disappears behind Mount Gabriel, the swifts are making merry above the houses here, probably the coolness of the evening has allowed the insects to dans around making easy prey for those happily swooping birds.
It is wind still.
How nice after the emotional and exciting last two days after voting results came out, Brexit is out….. will chaos follow, or not!
I was out in the garden today, looking at what is growing, and was pleasantly surprised with the flowers and the herbs, there is not much else growing as I did not plant any vegetables, but there are quite a few wild edible plants which I am using. I did not sow nor did I plant this year because this coming autumn we are going away again, but more about that another time. There are some berries growing and producing, strawberries, red currants, raspberries, are all doing really well. The herbs too have never grown better, makes me very happy.
Though I am leaving every single flower wild or not, I am disappointed with the lack of bees and other insects, despite there being a beehive just in next door’s garden! I still have to see my first butterfly too this summer, even though I spent days in the midst of nature last week. I hope that will change soon.
agoyvaerts 
Beautiful photos. I, too, have not spotted a butterfly this year and more worryingly there are no caterpillars on my cabbages. Perhaps this explains why robins are still following us about inthe garden , hoping we will dig and uncover dinner for them
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Yes, sad to have to notice this, I so miss the insects, it does not spell well for us all unfortunately. Thanks for your comment Maria.
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A nice visit to your garden, Agnes.
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You are very welcome Mary, call you get the scent of the lavender 🙂
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Looking good!
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Thank you 🙂
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I’m reading a book called Bringing Nature Home. The primary thesis is that native plants are essential for maintaining a vibrant insect population, as well as birds, butterflies, moths etc. Urbanization, lawns, and exotic/non-native plants work against the abundant habit needed by insects to flourish. Not sure if any of this applies in your neighborhood/community Agnes, but it sure does here in the Ozarks.
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It does not apply to a great extend yet here Jan, we live in a small town, on the outskirts of it, there are quite a few gardens around here that still lie unattended, there is only a limited amount of urbanisation, all around is country side. This year my garden has abundant wild flowers and grasses to feed insects, it’s actually interesting to see what comes up if left alone. Thanks Jan.
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How fortunate, Agnes, for you, your town and the world that this treasured stretch of naturalness still exists!
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Long may it last Jan, we hold our breath as we see sign of land for sale…
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That seems to be the way of the world, which makes our cherishing of small plots of beauty that much more important and powerful.
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Lovely shots
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Thank you Derrick.
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Many thanks, much appreciated 🙂
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Thanks a lot for sharing your wonderful garden and thoughts with us, dear Agnes. You are right, I am missing butterflies this year. Saw a very few cabbage white butterflies, brimstone butterflies and some peacock butterflies but nothing more, except one orange tip. We had such heavy rains in the last days, that my strawberries are all rotten. Kind regards Mitza
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You seems to be getting rotten weather lately Mitza, also in Belgium they are having lots of rain, and here for once it’s been fairly dry!
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good for you, dear Agnes 🙂
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after our devastating hail storm two weeks ago, things have come back with a vengeance…day lillies blooming (no leaves, just long stems defying the gods; daisies pushing through the shredded soil and strawberries spreading like mad…so glad to see…and I’ve seen big, yellow butterflies of late…each like a party floating across the yard
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It’s lovely when the earth does that isn’t it, in all its glory pushing forth with great abundance, enjoy dear Roxy.
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Looking good! My strawberries aren’t anywhere near as advanced as yours! I love your photos!
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Thank you, the ironic fact is that we have had a few ripe once but all half eaten by small slugs 🙂 but that’s fine too as long as they leave some for us.
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ah, my young robins steal the strawberries before I”m up each morning
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That’s nice. For some strange reason which I do not understand, all the small birds have disappeared from our garden, it is so quiet, only the rooks and jackdaws are there everyday 😦
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I don’t generally notice cabbage white butterflies till about August. I have found a few pupae in the soil, back and front of the house, though I don’t know which kind of butterfly (or moth for that matter) they belong to.
Bumblebees are in abundance, which I’m so pleased to see. There are also a few honey bees about and I’ve noticed hover flies as well as ladybirds.
I have no explanation for why your way seems to be missing insects. Perhaps there are too many predators about?
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Not sure either so far Helen, I am keeping my eye on it. Today I saw two butterflies, tortoise shell.
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Well, great you saw the butterflies 😊.
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You have a very interesting garden with flowers and fruits.
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Thank you, I am happy that you enjoy it.
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