Bumbles and Bugs
Bumble Bees
Started off in the garden with the best of intentions - to clear the Hump Garden's main path. Things always get a little crowded here in summer. Had to stop work because of the bumble bees.
The plan...
The plan was to start at the rose archway (underneath the climbers Crimson Cascade and Autumn Sunset) and join up with the other end, which I'd cleared a couple of days ago. Like a railway tunneling operation. I had bamboo stakes ready to restrain anything floppy. Like the Dahlias, which are much better appreciated and enjoyed if they are upright.
But the bumble bees were out and about in force. Some were still snoozing in flowers, others were just zooming around being busy (much busier than I was). They kept flying into my body and legs. Oops. The Dahlias were alive with buzzing bumble bees.
Filled the wheelbarrow once, but decided to stop dead-heading, and abandoned the idea of staking. It is their garden as well as mine.
A Miscanthus fence?
Had a good thought - the Miscanthus Zebrinus now almost completely blocks the path, and this handsome striped ornamental grass cannot be trimmed. I could build a small fence with bamboo stakes and chicken netting to prop it up. Why not?
Saturday 27th January
The wind woke me up roaring, well before dawn. Put light on, got my book, then saw a chunky brown bug (half the size of my thumb) staring at me from the bedside table. Eek! One's emotions are somewhat amplified in the middle of the night, so a chunky brown bug is pretty scary. Removed it.
Flowers in the Hump Garden
In the rational light of day worked out that it was a chorus Cicada. Phew. They are singing in the Birch trees outside the cottage at the moment. I much prefer the bumble bees...