Morning Light: The Fetchland Gardening Wire

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jacdaw Jun 2023 8:13am, 28 Jun 2023 3,952 posts	0 jacdaw We had a lot of orange tips earlier in the year. Not much since. The odd Peacock and Red Admiral. A few Meadow Browns at the moment, and a single Hummingbird Hawkmoth last week. Very few whites. Plenty of Ermine caterpillars stripping the bird cherry. I should run my moth trap to see how the nocturnal moths are doing.
Cheeky’s Dad Jun 2023 8:31am, 28 Jun 2023 3,526 posts	0 Cheeky’s Dad Entirely anecdotal but it does feel like butterflies are very down this year but driving home late from a barbecue on Saturday there were loads of moths. (North East wales)
jacdaw Jun 2023 8:45am, 28 Jun 2023 3,953 posts	0 jacdaw Even things like hoverflies seem a bit thin on the ground this year. My gut feeling is that it might be the result of the very hot weather last summer, and / or a winter with several very cold snaps and mild interludes, and / or a spring that took forever to warm up. The good news is that there are lots of midges in my garden, and a decent number of horse flies.
Curly45 Jun 2023 8:46am, 28 Jun 2023 4,469 posts	0 Curly45 We had the bat monitor out the other night, must be a lot of moths as there are lots of big bats 🦇🦇
Hanneke Jun 2023 9:39am, 28 Jun 2023 105,481 posts	0 Hanneke I have an extraordinary amount of bees, especially bumbles, for a few years. They build nests in my garden too. Butterflies are reasonably prolific but not as good as previous years. More variety though! Hard to gauge if there is a "cloud" if fewer different ones are out, often at different times too. I put this down to the fact that I haven't gardened this year, so a different habitat: EVERYTHING is now "wildflower meadow" AND it is less grassy, more flowery.
Fragile Do Not Bend Jun 2023 3:48pm, 28 Jun 2023 11,273 posts	0 Fragile Do Not Bend After posting the above, I looked out of the window and saw the first white butterfly I’ve seen in the garden this year
Columba Jun 2023 9:39pm, 28 Jun 2023 22,241 posts	0 Columba It's true, I haven't seen any whites. But quite a few others, and in particular moths.
Columba Jun 2023 9:41pm, 28 Jun 2023 22,242 posts	0 Columba You can keep your midges and horse flies, Jacdaw. A friend of mine was complaining about horsefly bites. Maybe it's a good year for them.
Hanneke Jun 2023 11:39pm, 28 Jun 2023 105,501 posts	0 Hanneke I have, with the help 9f my friend today, made good inroads into backlog gardening. The fruit tunnel cleared! Transpired the netting we wanted to cover it with was so destroyed by squirrels and rats, I ordered a new one. Picked about a kilo of overripe strawberries, loads of honey berries on the ground, missed half the harvest. Blueberries ripening! Need to get the net on quick!
Dvorak Jun 2023 6:04am, 29 Jun 2023 27,050 posts	0 Dvorak Honey berries? I saw a plant for them recently in a garden centre, what are they like? Picked the first three raspberries here. Strawberries look overwhelmed by weeds, gooseberries: some fine, some fruit gone grey, currants probably disappointing again.