My Wild-life Garden Chapter 15: September 10th

Yesterday we had a magnificent wild-life garden event. One of the things that has turned up in the hedge has been oak-apples. I germinated the oak about twenty-five years ago from an acorn picked up in York. Well, ten days ago my five-year-old grandson asked if he could take one home in a jam-jar and see the bug when it came out. I had no idea how long he would have to wait,and if it would work. Then, yesterday afternoon, the phone rang. “Grandpa, grandpa. The bug's come out of my oak-apple!”. I had time, on the bus, to read a little. Apparently it was as likely to be a parasite as the gall-maker that emerged. But no. sitting safe in the jar was what we could see was Andricus kollari. It already seemed a bit big for the exit hole in the gall. I suppose it squeezed out soft-bodied and then body and wings became more rigid. It crawled out onto my grandson's hand, sat for a while so that we could get a good view, did a practice buzz to test its wings, and then soared away into Roseburn. What a treat.

Oak-apples

There has been a definite overall drop in temperature, but last Monday was really hot. To my astonishment I heard some robust croaking. Tiptoeing up to the pond – a good twenty-five yards away – I confirmed that it was indeed two frogs calling each other across the water. I wonder what the point was? It cannot, surely, be to do with breeding as autumn starts.

Red Admiral on Hemp Agrimony

On the same day I at last saw brightly coloured butterfly – Vanessa atalanta, Red Admiral. The Eupatorium cannabinum, Hemp agrimony, has sometimes been really good for butterflies. This year they have been scarce, so it is nice to see one. I hope it finds somewhere safe to hibernate, ready for spring.

Ground elder

One of the most striking plants by the pond just now is Aegopodium podagra, Ground elder. I see my flower book says of it “a pestilential weed... all too often in gardens”, so be careful. What the book does not say is that it is a particularly good insect nectar plant for early autumn. So far I seem to manage to pull out unwanted plants, but I guess it could spread wildly.

I have mentioned before that one does not need to be too austere about providing native plants. We have two magnificent bushes of Fuschia magellanica, Fuschia, planted by some predecessor. They look magnificent for several weeks, are loved by bees, and provide a pretty good thicket for birds to shelter in.

Fuschia

Sometimes I have recommended a book at this point. This week I recommend a TV programme. “Gardeners' Word” has become a splendid advocate for wild-life gardening. Monty Don's wild pond and his pollinators are given plenty of air-time – and far superior photography to mine. There is more to gardening than growing the biggest leek or a prize dahlia.