Saturday 4 May 2019

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!

14 comments:

  1. A garden without a single tree is lacking somewhat (says the person who has thus far chopped down about six, leaving but four remaining). I am worried about one of the survivors; if it doesn't have an overdose of wind scorch it's dying. Still ... Don't worry about the spiderlings. They apparently have a lower survival rate than tadpoles. Some will just snuff it, others will be lunch for birds, yet others will be lunch for other spiders. So it goes. Maybe 2 or 3 will make it to the web-across-the-path stage. I can but add that stranger 1 looks friendly and 2 very much like something I'm forever pulling up here. It also looks like something good. It's in a pot so you can safely leave it a bit. I'm so knowledgeable, see?

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    1. You are. I bow before your superior knowledge of Strangers. Sorry to hear about your ailing tree, tho. Hopefully it's wind scorch. As to spiders, I'm not at all worried about them - either being here or their safety. Spiders are always protected in our house.

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  2. Look at one of my latest tweets, I took pictures of the same baby spiders :https://twitter.com/frdvil/status/1124230904027725824?s=20
    I give you the name of the mum, you'll have to google to see how many you'll get in your patio...

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    Replies
    1. I actually saw this photo when you posted it but saw bees! Obviously didn't read the Tweet. Glad to see you agree w/my amateur ID as well. I was hoping it wasn't something scary & exotic. John K says most of them will got the way of bird gullets, but doesn't matter. I really like spiders in the garden. They do their job well.

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  3. I am always looking for new plants for shade and your shady border looks lovely. Is that a Brunnera you have at the front?

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  4. Brunnera macrophylia Jack Frost. The leaves get larger & brighten up a shady spot really well. S&S like to taste it, but don't seem to like it that much. Other'n that, pretty low maintenance.

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  5. Stranger 1 is a stranger to me. 2 could be a rowan seedling, or Sorbaria or Sanguisorba or various other things. Doesn't register as a threat on my antennae.

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    Replies
    1. Those all sound rather nice. As to stranger #1, if it's a stranger to you, then that's pretty interesting. Shall keep an eye on them both. Thanks as always, Jim!

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  6. That Polly leaf almost looks like glazed porcelain. We usually get an outbreak of newly hatched baby spiders in the downstairs loo around now. I spend ages collecting them all and setting them free outside.

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    Replies
    1. How do you do that? It'd be like herding cats. Any jiggle on the web & they scatter. You've got to video that one. It'd be worth paying to see, I'd think.

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  7. I didn't see your six until today, and I must say, wonderful for leaving the spiders! I had a cellar spider sac that I left too long inside, and it hatched into what looked like millions! The mother kept guard on it. It was like a ball. My house now has screens, so no indoor spiders.
    It's kind of creepy, but beautiful too! Garden spiders are great. I leave spiders alone, except black widows. I might move them though.

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    Replies
    1. They've all gone on their merry travels around the garden, into the shed, under the plant table, etc. I see them everywhere but the 2 seater has been returned to us.

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