Gardens and wildlife

[Lovelyness]

Aww I used to go sailing on the Norfolk Broads every May half term…it was prime time for seeing all the ducklings/goslings/cygnets. Your photo reminds me of those times I don’t think I have ever seen baby Egyptian geese tho!

 

[Maz]

Your garden looks wonderful Lovelyness. I am looking forward to catching up with spring when our weather permits! Some lovely photos and plants there.

Coco - the baby goslings are so cute! I think I've only ever seen white geese before!

 

[elusive]

Your garden’s looking great Lovliness, I really like the epimediums, I have lots of those too, it must be really nice sat out there with your cup of tea.

Lovely to see the goslings Coco, they are so sweet!

I did just venture out into the garden to top up some bird food, it’s very much a hood up, head down & wellies on day here yet again, still a few bees in the flowering currant in spite of the weather though!

 

[Lovelyness]

Your garden’s looking great Lovliness, I really like the epimediums, I have lots of those too, it must be really nice sat out there with your cup of tea.

Lovely to see the goslings Coco, they are so sweet!

I did just venture out into the garden to top up some bird food, it’s very much a hood up, head down & wellies on day here yet again, still a few bees in the flowering currant in spite of the weather though!

It’s very windy here this weekend, but quite mild. That corner of the garden is pretty sheltered so perfect for a cup of tea ️

 

[Maz]

It's not quite warm enough here to sit outside unfortunately? It's also very windy - very loud rattling gales last night! And pretty noisy now. But not a bad noise and it is quite sunny and lots of white fluffy clouds.

 

[Maz]

The front garden daffodils are finally out! All but one of them. I wonder how long they will last as the ones on grass verges in the area have been out for 2 to 3 weeks already and will probably be finishing soon. They are being blown a lot as it’s very wet and windy today hence a not very good snapshot from a distance.

 

[Lovelyness]

Are the other plants in the photo your bluebells?

 

[Maz]

Yes they are There are more and more every year as they spread. They're not like the usual wild bluebells though, they look different and I identified them as spanish bluebells.

 

[Maz]

They used to be in a rockery at one side, before some building work took place at the side of the house and the rockery had to be taken apart and the garden redone a different shape, so the bluebell bulbs were taken up and replanted before we moved here - in a rather regimented line along the front of the house. But over the past few years they have spread their way across the garden - which is better - they looked silly lined up against the wall

Hence no mowing till late May now!

 

[Coco61]

Maz, am I right in thinking that the Spanish bluebell variety has a striped flower? If so, we have them in the front garden flower bed although we didn’t plant them. I read a long time ago that as they are not a native species, they are larger and more robust and so have succeeded in elbowing the native bluebell to one side a bit. Rather like grey and red squirrels.

 

[Maz]

They look like this (photo from last year). I suppose they do have a sort of stripe but I hadn't thought of them as striped. Apparently if you have both traditional wild bluebells, as well as spanish bluebells, the spanish ones do tend to take over. I believe they became popular in the past. I like both types. They look very pretty in a garden but definitely different to the look of wild bluebells in woodland areas.

 

[Maz]

Apparently they were brought to the Uk in Victorian times as garden plants but "escaped" out of gardens and spread and are a bit of a threat to native bluebells, if growing in the same area. Round here though, I've only ever seen native bluebells in woodlands etc.

It says that today, spanish bluebells can be found alongside native bluebells in woodlands and road sides as well as in gardens. Ours have been in this garden for at least 70 years, maybe longer or from earlier generations who lived here.

And apparently yes the native bluebell is under threat and a lot of them are now hybrids of the two - except in very rural areas. Ours have never ventured out of the garden! But it's clear how quickly they can spread in a few years as there are many more in our lawn now than 7 years ago.

Spanish or native bluebell | The Wildlife Trusts

Spring is the best time to see woodland floors carpeted with beautiful bluebells, but are they native bluebells or not? Find out how to tell the difference between native and Spanish bluebells.

www.wildlifetrusts.org

 

[Maz]

According to that article it would be better if I dug all ours up and disposed of them and replaced them with native bluebells! I think I'll leave them as they are. Looks like the native ones have a bit of a stripe too maybe.

 

[Maz]

However, according to this, new research says "New research indicates the genetic threat to native plants from ‘Spanish’ bluebells is relatively minor"
And also says that spanish bluebells aren't actually spanish at all but are hybrids from portugal! Anyway the fact they've discovered it's less of a threat probably explains why I've only ever seen native bluebells in all our woodland areas, and ours are confined to the garden.

Sex in the country is better for British bluebells

www.rbge.org.uk

 

[elusive]

Great to see the daffodils finally flowered, it’s quite nice to have an extended season like that.

I have spanish bluebells in my garden, they are very robust & spread like mad, I only had a few that were growing in the grass when I moved here but as soon as I dug that area up to make a flower bed they took over! They are totally indestructible digging them up just seems to spread the little bulbils that are barely visible & apparently they are even immune to weed killer not that I use it.
I’m more inclined to believe they are a threat to our native ones tbh, they hybridise with the native ones too.

 

[Maz]

I shall make sure ours don't leave the garden then If any appear the other side of the wall I shall stop them!

 

[elusive]

I have this image in my head now of you standing in the garden telling the bluebells off for trying to escape!

 

[Maz]

I sort of had that image myself I don't think they spread that far/easily or in 7 years the entire garden would be covered probably. Maybe the wall helps stop them spreading. To be honest I'm amazed anything grows in that front garden. It was just lawn when we came here and I quickly found, when digging the corner bed, that a good chunk of the garden only has about 6" of soil! There is an old road under it.

That first corner bed with the berberis in, I dug during heavy snowfall the winter after we moved here, after our first hamster died. Only to find I couldn't dig deep enough and had to start all over again in the back garden.

 

[Maz]

I went to get a closer shot of the front garden daffodils. The poor things have been blown and battered ever since they came out! It's been quite wet and windy recently and very windy today. It was hard to get a picture without them moving.

I planted that clump from a pot years ago and didn't realise they were a variety with orange middle parts, but it makes a change as everywhere else, they're all yellow. Another daffodil appeared in the lawn nearby a couple of years ago which I assumed had spread out from that clump, but it's a different variety.

The wild primrose plant I put in the lawn last autumn has flowered and the one in the front flower bed is still there. Fingers crossed rabbits don't get them!

Not much else to see in the garden right now - it'll be late May probably before things look more colourful. The primroses are actually pale yellow but they've come out a bit white on the photo - maybe the way the light is on them.

 

[elusive]

Everything is pretty battered here too! The yellow daffs always look good on darker rainy days though & I like the ones with the orange centres.
Hope the rabbits stay clear of the primrose, such lovely little flowers, mine have been blooming for a really long time this year.

I have some lovely red tulips that are standing up well to the weather & the first flowers have appeared on Zak’s heuchera too, it’s just way too wet to take my phone out!