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| The conception |
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| The coming-of -age, 4 years later |
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| Sparrowhawk (Not my picture...I wasn't quick enough with the camera.) |
This morning as I pulled back the curtains there was a sight to greet me that I really did not expect.
A young Sparrowhawk was sitting on the pergola!
My 'wild garden' has come of age....
It is wild enough to attract one of the top predators in the suburban garden. Four years...I feel as if the garden has grown-up all of a sudden!
Well, it might be a one-off, or a lost juvenile. The fact remains, there was a sparrowhawk sitting in my garden on that end bar of the pergola until a jackdaw chased it off.
So, although the lawn-mower problem hasn't been resolved yet, I hope it will be this week even if only temporarily...
Although the weather was cool enough this morning for the heating to kick in...
That little bird of prey has made my summer.
And of course the news is not all dismal...it never is.
Even though I think my tomatoes may succumb to mildew - I noticed some yellowing leaves with black spots on the yesterday and removed them at once, threw them right away, in the bin inside nowhere near the garden to lessen the chance of contamination....
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| Slowly ripening |
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| Could ripen if mildew hold off |
They are surviving so far and there could be a bumper crop.
But like chickens...never count them until they are ready. The weather has been so damp and humid.
Other things are doing fine too. I was really thrilled to see that the Chilli is ripening. Can you see the tip turning red?
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| Chilli ripening |
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| Cucumber coming along |
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| Mange-Tout peas |
Well, a garden, wild or not, needs to produce things to eat. I totally agree that beauty is essential too of course.
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| Apples ripening |
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| Old Faithful...I have had this begonia plant for years and years. I do not know what its real 'name' is. |
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| Voodoo Fuchsia |
At this time of year the magenta colours seems to glow. Look at this Gladioli.
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| Gladioli |
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| Raspberry and cream hanging basket |
Pegasus has been out of commission for a few weeks but yesterday D kindly restrung him ready to fly again.
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| The flying horse |
But talking of children...how about this little story. My little granddaughter, Funny-Bunny, who lives in Sweden, took it upon herself to plant pepper seeds - all by herself. Which she did. Nothing too hard about that, you might think, but she is only four and three-quarters. She also labelled her seeds without help from anyone. One side of the label has her name and the other the name of the seeds PAPIGA (or, in other words, paprika)! Brilliant. Another generation of gardeners coming through
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| Her Name |
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| Papiga! |
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| The little plants-girl and her Papa (Thank you A for the photo) |
In the wild I notice the hazel nuts are ripening, and we picked a punnet of ripe blackberries this morning when we walked the dogs. This is the fruitful time of year...if the tomato blight stays away it will be good.
Chat to you again and fingers crossed that sparrowhawk was not just a mere passing chance.
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| Not my photo (I wish...) |
Oh wow! You must've been thrilled! I do hope I'll be able to afford a good number of years in my place - enough to correct the major errors and see it all taking beautiful shape. But tell me - is that a young hawk? Because might it be seeking out a good nesting spot?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if the hawk I saw was a juvenile or a male. As I mentioned, I was not quick enough to take the picture I used, that was from the web. I am sure the bird was not looking for a nesting place. He was hunting sparrows which feed on the bird feeder. My garden is not big enough to support a nesting hawk, no matter how little.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your garden. The best thing is the mistakes are all correctable. Some of them work out better than you had planned anyway.