OneGuyFromBarlick

Nice of you to care about it Cathy, good luck!

The frogs are back and active in our pond, three of them so far!
It reminds me of this ditty which Mrs Tiz's parents used to sing, I think a result of them having spent some years in the US.

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz.
I wonder where dem birdies is.
They say the birdies on the wing, but that's absurd.
I always thought the wing was on the bird.

I've heard that as well Peter. I had to look it up! I found a doubtful attribution to Ogden Nash but wasn't convinced......

The first curlews arrived today and the frogs have popped up in the pond!

I hope the frogs reappearing are a true harbinger of better weather and don't get caught by a late cold spell!
I love Curlews Wendy. Their song reminds me of Australian Magpies.....

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Lovely Cathy. Reminds me of when I first saw them on Rottnest Island off Fremantle....

One for Cathy I think. I have just heard a recording of Australian Banjo Frogs.... Quite amazing!

Never heard of the Banjo Frog , Stanley. Bonk, bonk, bonk, very strange noise. And poisonous.

They do sound like a banjo don't they!

First swallows arriving this afternoon. They don't nest in our barn anymore, but plenty at the farm next door. It's such a joy to see them....
All the way from Africa.

That's really good news Wendy..... Perhaps we have wintered successfully again!

This dandelion is growing out of a crack between two flagstones in my back yard. I don't think I have ever seen such a vigorous plant. It has eight flower buds on it so far and I have a feeling more may be coming.
No, I will not be spraying it with weed killer. It deserves a chance!

My dandelion is no match for yours - but I'd say the wild garlic is impressive.

It is David. What a nice thing to have in the garden.... There's a lot of it in the woods just behind Gisburn to the North and I always enjoyed going up that road to Paythorne as it smelt so good especially early in the morning!

The eventual score was ten flowering heads out of a crack in the pavement. Many others have matched this performance locally when I have a look....

The pic reminds me of the saying ‘Never give up’.

Quite Cathy, I agree. That's why I have left it alone and made sure I didn't tread on it.... You have to admire persistence on that level!

Trying to rescue a White Tailed Bumblebee that was struggling in the yard. I think he's a male according to his markings so no stinger. I mixed up some sugar water a dosed the centre and petals of a nice big purple flower in the back yard pretty much stripped of pollen. It's head was upturned so made a nice bowl to hold him although slightly shaded. He has rested for a couple of hours but has now woken and is lot more active. He seems to have been feeding on the sucrose offered so maybe he will have enough energy to get back to the nest. Bumble bees nest in holes or in crevices in soil, unlike honey bees each colony will only be 20 to 200 bees. I hope he makes it.

A warning. Since I wrote this Mrs Tiz pointed out that the Salvia variety I refer to will probably be classed as too tender for growing in the Pennines. But there are hardy varieties available.
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Bumble bees like Salvia flowers and we have a very large Salvia in our back garden. It's about 8 years old and was tiny when we bought it. They need good drainage and plenty of sun so we planted it in a gap on the top of a low wall. Regardless of its tiny niche it grew like Topsy and is now a couple of feet tall and about 5 foot spread! The bumble bees love its big, dark-red flowers but unfortunately parts of it are dying off now and it also blocks part of our path.

We're usually good at propagating plants from cuttings (or Mrs Tiz is good and I'm an apprentice!) but we've had no luck with this Salvia. We decided to find a new one to replace it but that's not as easy as we expected it to be. There are plenty of red Salvias, even dark red ones, but nothing in the local garden centres that have such a deep colour. We couldn't find the original label so couldn't search for it online. I resorted to searching through online images of dark red Salvias until eventually found what I believe to be the same as ours. It's a variety called Salvia `Royal Velour' and I found it available on Etsy from Varney's Plants. It's run by a lady who grows plug plants and it was £9.95 for 3 plugs. I placed an order and they arrived in a couple of days, well-packaged in poly bags in a cardboard box. The plugs are about an inch in diameter and I potted them in 3-inch pots with potting compost. Sat the three pots in a base from a plastic box and poured in some water so it soaked up from the base of the pots. Left them like that for a couple of days until the water had dried up and now I just water them the normal way.

A week has passed and they've doubled in size. One of the little stems has what might just be flower buds forming at the end. Tension mounts! The photo is from Ms Varney's Etsy site and show what I hope to soon see...

Good luck with it Peter! My front garden is a rampant jungle of vegetation and it's full of insects....

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2 Galah’s and a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo looking for something tasty, in a light rain shower.

Proper wildlife Cathy.... We can't compete in Barlick.