I have spent much of the afternoon in the shade of the arbour, reading. When I looked up, this was my view, Sweet Peas and Sweet Corn in the raised beds against a backdrop of a cerulean sky The tassels on the corn are turning brown so we should be able to harvest them quite soon.
When it was a little cooler, we went down to the allotment to water the cucumbers, courgettes and squash. While the lovely Mr S was doing that I was taking photos of bees on a neighbour’s very dark bronze sunflowers.
We are loving our white irises.
When the petals have all fallen off the poppy, this remarkable little beauty is left.
The following photo and info came to me today.
“There is a bee appearing at the moment – it’s bright iridescent blue – details below! Please please DON’T KILL HER !!!
It is indeed a bee that is present in the gardens at the moment. It is called the Xylocope bee. It is the largest bee in Europe (2.5 to 3 cm). It does not sting (if we do not chase it of course). The Xylocope is a so-called “solitary” bee. But it can live in colonies, that is to say side by side. Black with bluish wings … she is very beautiful but can be scary, her flight is fast and very noisy, but she is not aggressive and rarely stings. It is to be protected because it is rare and very useful …. some people confuse it with the Asian hornet !!!
Thank you for circulating …. 
Source: Bruno Deleuze”
Our hedgerows have changed colour from blue to mostly pink and yellow with some white. The Foxgloves are gorgeous and the bees love them. We heard a cuckoo on our walk around this morning. As I write I can hear two owls calling to each other. .
Looking over the hills from the Great Flat Lode across to the sea where a navy frigate is coasting up and down. It is here because of the G7 taking place in St Ives this coming weekend. There’s a missile launcher at Godrevy!
Last night’s sunset was spectacular and the colour was caught in the windows across the road from us. My Dear SIL, with whom I share a love of special words (like petrichor and serendipity) sent me a beautiful new word a few weeks ago and today I can use it to describe that lovely colour caught in the windows – enrosadira. It is used in the Dolomites where at sunrise and sunset, the rocky cliffs take on hues that vary from light yellow to bright red, to different shades of pink and violet, until the mountains disappear in the dark of night. Enrosadira is a ladin term literally meaning “turning pink” (Ladin is the ancient language of the inhabitants of the Dolomites). We get the same beautiful effect here in Cornwall!
What beautiful colouring on this bee and how glorious he looks as he searches for nectar in the Eryngium flower.
As the New Year started, work began on our local Fish’n’chip shop, just around the corner. Everything stopped during lockdown, building continued recently and today they opened so that was tea sorted! As an English teacher, the sign pleased me with its apostrophe, a little fish, in the right place!
We had lunch in the garden today and were so aware of the continuous buzzing all over the garden so I set out with my camera to attempt, on a very windy day, to capture the bees on various wind-blown plants. Some of the photos, plants and/or bees, are a bit fuzzy. It is very heartening to find our plantings attracting so many pollinators.
On the French Lavender
Dozens on the Crinodendron
On the Lamb’s Ears
On the Cotoneaster
On the Mexican Fleabane
On the Thyme
On the Rosemary
On the Raspberries.
On the Broad Beans
I would love to be able to identify each of these bees, especially after hearing on the radio this morning that we have at least 150 different kinds of bees in the UK! I shall make a start….. Try here if you want to play along https://friendsoftheearth.uk/bee-count/great-british-bee-count-bee-identification-guide
The next photo is of a creature I do not know but which is very beautiful. The last time I posted a photo of a beautiful creature, a bright red one, I was very quickly told that it was a Lily Beetle and I should ‘dispose’ of it asap! I’m hoping this is a friendly and beneficial little critter.
Beautiful creature on the Mexican Fleabane
If you would like to take part in Six on Saturday, pop over to The Propagator’s blog where, in the comments, you can follow gardeners and their blogs from all over the world
PS I have discovered from the above mentioned site that the creature on the Rosemary isn’t a bee – it’s a Hoverfly.
The scent of the Heliotrope is just wonderful, not for nothing is its nickname Cherry Pie. The bees love it too.
Heliotrope with Bee
They also love the Cosmos.
Cosmos
I saw this pretty
Petunia
Petunia at the garden centre and want to grow it ourselves next year.
The sun came out today! We sat out and read our books, had lunch outside and soaked up the glorious warmth. We saw fleeting butterflies, heard bees in the flowers and watched a Bumble bee collecting nectar.
Yesterday’s raindrops were still clinging to the purple Tibuchine Urvilleana in my Suffragette garden.
left behind raindrops
Our Dracaena Palm in the front garden is in blossom again.
Dracaena palm
It is good to see bees busy on these Summer days.
Bee collecting nectar
I love the peachiness and furriness of these Verbascum flowers.
Verbascum
What a feast for supper tonight! Our lovely neighbour came in to share our roast chicken and brought with her a cornucopia of fresh produce from her allotment – new potatoes (which I cooked with mint and butter), broad beans (for which I made a creamy white sauce), a courgette (which I fried in butter with lemon zest) and White Strawberries for our dessert. I think they are lovely with their tiny red seeds and they certainly taste good! The birds don’t recognise them as ripe so they survive!
White Strawberries from Sue’s allotment
We have lots of Cornflowers in bloom. I caught one with an unusual Bee on it. This afternoon I went to visit Sue at her allotment. Her Sunflowers are very lovely and this evening we walked to Wheal Coates watching the activity in the sky, hang gliders and Kestrels! Click on any photo in the gallery for more detail. The feathers on the Kestrels are just amazing!
Our hedgerows are just glorious at this time of year – filled with Bluebells, Pink campions, Cow parsley, Dandelions and Buttercups but all rather hard to catch from a moving car.
Lane near Kehelland
Happily, we are seeing lots of bees around. This one was flitting around the Libertia Grandiflora in the front garden.
Bee
A lovely friend brought me some beautiful deep red Sweet Williams the other day. Sadly, the camera seems unable to catch the depth of colour properly but here is a hint of how lovely they are. Thank you L.
Sweet Williams
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