Sunday 27 June 2010

Around the Garden - Part 85

I decided today that I would take a trip around the garden to see what I could show you.  I am more than a little worried that the weather forecast is threatening us with violent storms and hail tomorrow.  These pictures may well not be possible afterwards.  I will take what precautions I can, but it is impossible to protect the whole garden.  The plums, apples and the hazel nuts are looking fantastic, I hate to think what heavy hail may do to them. See last years storm HERE.  Thankfully the roof has now been completely redone, so I hope that problem has been solved.
Only after I got back into the house and loaded the pictures on to the computer did I notice a well disguised spider sitting on this Granny Smith apple.
My artichokes are quite small this year and a bit disappointing.
Green beans (haricot) climbing the bamboo, cucumber plants in the foreground and potatoes in the background.
Swiss Chard with a potato flower hiding behind.
Very hot chillie plant in flower. The green peppers are at the same stage.
In France these are called courgettes as are most of the squash family.
I have a fridge full of lettuce.  The heat of the last few days has pushed them all to the limit at the same time!
My first digging of potatoes.
The tomatoes are still green.
I am not sure what this shrub is, but it looks beautiful at the moment. As the flowers fall, so it will turn red with berries that the birds just love.  Susan has kindly told me this is Cetonia Sp.
It seems before the birds get to the berries, these quite large beetles (about 20 to 25mm long) are enjoying the flowers. There are many all over the whole shrub. I have done a search, and I suspect this may be Liocola marmorata, but I would be happy if someone can give me a confirmed identification.   Joan says:- That is one of the Fruit Chafer Beetles belonging to the Scarabaeidae family.

34 comments:

  1. You are so lucky to have a garden like that. You have to be spending a lot of time out there! It reminds me of my father-in-laws garden up in Michigan. He grows a lot of the same things, and a few different things like you. It's beautiful, again...thanks for sharing!

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  2. Hi Lyndsey. Yes it all takes time and effort but the results usually are good so it never worries me. I am just praying that the hail, if the forecast is correct, is minimal. Diane

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  3. What a wonderful garden. I do hope the weather will be gentle.

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  4. I have just discovered you and am enjoying your blogs immensely.
    Great garden photos.......I admire you....one tomato plant is my limit these days.

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  5. That spider was well hidden. It took me a couple of minutes to find it. Your garden look wonderful!

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  6. Susan you have no idea how much I am wishing the same thing. Last year was a disaster, I could not go through that again...... Diane

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  7. Lois, glad you have found me. One tomato plant is better than no tomato plant..... Hope to see you back. Diane

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  8. Hi Linda, I certainly did not notice the spider when I took the photo. I would have tried to get a closer shot if I had. Thanks for the comments, Diane

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  9. Hi Diane...

    I just ADORE photos from your garden and esp the little garden bugs.. I don't konw the latin name but it looks like it could be a relative of a june bug-
    Have a GREAT week!!!

    Leesa

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  10. I was looking at the spider, all of a sudden, something pop in your bar side that scared me a little hahaha!
    Anyways, I love all your own fresh vegetables. My dream is to have a nice big yard so I could plant herbs and vegetables.
    Have a nice week ahead!

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  11. lani, the other day a lizard ran over my hand when I was not expecting it. I love lizards, but because I was not expecting it I had visions of a large spider - heart attack material!!! Hope you get your vegetable garden.Have a good day. Diane

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  12. Hi Leesa, the garden is looking good at the moment, but I am watching these grey clouds over head and hoping if there is hail as expected it will bypass us! Diane

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  13. Your garden looks lush and inviting to the insects you captured. Sure hope you don't get hail and ruin the harvest.

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  14. Absolutely wonderful!! What a great garden you have Diane.

    That is one of the Fruit Chafer Beetles belonging to the Scarabaeidae family.

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  15. Gaelyn, I am also hoping we don't get hail but the forecast for this afternoon sound horrible!!!! Diane

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  16. Thanks Joan for the identification. Just going out but will make a note on the post (if no lightning around) when I get back. Diane

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  17. Really nice shots. Hope the weather holds out so that you don't have to be posting shots of destruction. I'm sure you'll protect what you can.

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  18. Dx -You have no idea how much I hope the same thing. The forecast has changed from early this morning, until later this afternoon, but they still say violent storms and hail!!! Diane

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  19. Your garden is coming along nicely. You've really done a great job with it. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  20. As usual I am always interested to see how your garden is doing in comparison to ours:)

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  21. Diane, what a fantastic garden! I've never seen artichokes growing in the garden and that is a great photo of it as well as the other things.

    We too have had many storms lately but no hail like has been around us, thankfully as it has in areas nearby! We're on to milder dry weather now for the next week it sounds like.

    You do a fine job of capturing those insects in your photos also! That spider blends right in!

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  22. Hi Mary, so long as the hail stays away hopefully all will be well. It was supposed to be last night, but now they are saying tonight. The forecast is so often up the creek! Have a good day. Diane

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  23. Hi Lindy and how is your garden doing compared with mine? I think sadly that there will be no quince jelly this year, the quince tree appears to have blight and is looking very unhappy. The nursery says it is because of all the rain, and then the sudden heat over the past week. I have sprayed it as best I can, but it is huge. I have also watered 'stuff' into the ground which the roots should pick up. As long as the tree survives though that is the main thing. Diane

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  24. Pam a couple of years ago from two plants I had over 60 quite large artichokes, they just kept appearing from late spring onwards. This year they are not very big and at this stage not many in sight but....

    As I say I did not even see the spider till I downloaded the photo! Diane

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  25. Well I reckon we are a good four weeks behind what we would normally expect and like you we have actually lost something due to the strange weather. In our case our lemon tree :( although it is sprouting from the base, so maybe it will regrow, but it will be a few years before we get the number of lemons it was producing.
    I hope to post My Garden in June later this week.

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  26. I wonder why your garden is so far ahead of mine - I mean, besides the fact that I planted late. Strange, isn't it?

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  27. Your garden looks fantastic! I hope the weather will be kind to you and others.
    I do not think that I have ever seen an artichoke growing before. Incredible! It looks like someone just set it down on the top of the stalk. I would love to grown one of those just to see it.
    Computer is better for longer periods of time, but prognosis is still dire.

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  28. Your veg garden looks great, you're several weeks ahead of us here in wiltshire, but we're having some sun at the moment,so are enjoying a short burst of confidence that we might have a proper summer for once!

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  29. Lindy, I hope your lemon tree makes it. Our quince must be many, many years old and every year produces huge quantities. If that dies it will be a very sad day. I have done all the nursery has told me to do so now I keep fingers crossed. Diane

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  30. Marjie, the weather this year is very odd and the gardens seem to be different all over. LindyLouMac is quite a lot further South than us in Italy, and even her garden is behind mine. It does not make sense! Diane

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  31. Hi Mya, Hope that you soon get the computer sorted out. Nothing is much more frustrating...... We had 24mm (about 1 1/4 Inches) of rain in half an hour last night, but no hail thankfully. There are still storms predicted over the next few days so I will keep hoping they are not too serious. Artichokes are easy to grow. I have both globe and Jerusalem, but the latter need lots of control and are a root vegetable. Diane

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  32. Kathy my father-in-law is in Wiltshire and his garden is way behind mine as well. This has been an odd year for the weather!! Diane

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  33. Thank you Susan, you are an absolute mine of information, Diane

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