Strangers & Favourites

Mizzy BunnyButt.

With seeds germinating (or not) & beds readied, there's nothing to do in the summer propagation department but wait.

So the week's been spent putting up berry supports, assembling raised beds, trying to find the perfect spot for the hammock.

There was some nice corvid vs red kite (as in milvus milvus) action to be seen during the hammock testing.  Job perks.

Nothing new to show this week, but I've got 3 favourites & 3 no-clues.  Except for #3.  It's a kinda-got-a-clue.

Trigger warning => among the latter, there be spiders.







1.  Perfect Polly again.

Last week, you saw my alocasia Polly bloom.  This week, she's unfurling a new leaf & it's stunning.

Like a sea shell.

2.  Shady border.

Those bodacious anemones featured last week.  This week, I love the entire shady bed.  Everything's doing well except for the woodwardia (in the elephant planter) whose new fronds, the birds find delicious.  Woody's got a chicken wire hat in his future.

Look at that gillenia.  O, my heart . . .

The shady border.

3.  The forest.

There are no trees in this garden, except the ones I brought with me.    The absence is palpable, which makes my little potted copse all the more special.

My little forest.

There're no hedges either, but amazingly, there's a ton of bird activity in our garden.  And they're absolutely fearless, from sparrow to corvid.

Still, it's huge, how I miss mature trees.

4.  Stranger #1

I have 5 pots of these, so they aren't volunteers.  Anyone have a clue?  I love the way they look like they're dancing.

Sun or shade?

5.  Stranger #2.

A couple of undesirables from my last garden quietly stowed away via the bottom of pots to yell, 'Surprise!' once we got here.

I'm afeard this might be another one, but it's too young for me to identify.  Anybody have an idea?

Friend or foe?

6.  Stranger(s) #3.

Yesterday, I noticed this gold ball on the patio 2 seater.

Phone charger for scale.

Closer view showed there was a web.

Presumably a spiderweb, but what's the yellow stuff?

Closer still . . .

Gold babies.

This morning, the web's extended across the sofa.  There seem to be fewer of them - what eats spiders?

Off limits, human.

And they're taking refuge in the woven cane.   From my web search (har har har), I guess these are araneus diadematus, the common garden spider.  Cute or creepy?  (Cute.) 

Moving in?

There's my Six.  

For looks into other gardens from all over the world,

drop by our host, Mr P who's not only celebrating
World Naked Gardening Day &
Star Wars day BUT
the 2nd anniversary of the first ever Six on Saturday!

Be sure to check out his comment section for all those SoS links.

Who's next?

Lot 29 has been making the rounds of SoSers, found its way to me, & is now ready to move on.

It's not an easy read.  The author was raised in care during the 1950s & '60s.  While he's not graphic about what happened to him, he's honest.

If you'd like the book passed to you, get in touch here or on Twitter.

Thanks for stopping by!