Wednesday 16 May 2012

orange tip butterflies

We've had a few of these bouncing around the garden :) This one stopped off to feed on one of the red campion flowers on one of the rare days when the sun shone.
When I started this blog the idea was to keep a record of the goings-on at the allotment, mainly because I am hopeless at remembering where I planted things and what varieties I planted, how well they did and so on.  Needless to say, this has yet to happen!  I vaguely recall planting charlotte potatoes this year, and carouby de mausanne (may have spelt this incorrectly...) peas.  Everything else was just what was to hand and deeply disorganised!
On the plus side I am as committed as ever to organic gardening principles and having read several articles on the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on bees that have been published of late, I am determined to continue and ramp it up a notch by trying to find an alternative flea treament for the cat...
Anyway, my point is butterfly numbers, bee numbers, all kinds of animal numbers are falling at an alarming rate and it is a relief to see a small population of orange tips keeping a toehold in the neighbourhood.  I will be putting in some lady's smock in the garden to help them along a bit more!

We also have a new frog who has taken up residence in the old belfast sink we made into a dragonfly pond last year - just need to sort out the pondweed!

2 comments:

  1. Kudos on your organic choices! Not enough people care about bees, and I hope you still feel the same way today. :)

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    1. Definitely! We now have a hedgehog house and the front garden has been given over to nectar plants, still organic!

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