It was lovely to have some warm, dry days in July and August. We managed a trip to the seaside and I enjoy sitting outside late at night on balmy evenings hedgehog-watching.
Old Hunstanton beach
High summer in the garden is very different to the lovely, fresh Spring we had when everything was green and lush; juvenile fledglings arrived to munch on the mealworms, frogs appeared in the ponds and hedgehogs came in their droves to feast in their café.
During the hot and dry few days, the fledglings flew the nest and found their own food-sources, the frogs remained in the ponds but were sheltering from the bright sunshine under the pondweed, and the hedgehogs spent as much time drinking as eating.
Now that we are in early autumn, the teasles have gone over with curling brown leaves, and the teasle heads are no longer an attraction for the bees and butterflies. I will have to wait patiently for the finches to arrive and enjoy the seeds.
The bushy and colourful nasturtiums have been eaten in their entirety by cabbage white butterfly caterpillars so that only stalks are left.
Cabbage White caterpillars
I thought this was interesting………
End of the road?
I’m not sure what happened next but I wish that I’d stayed to watch!
Our apple tree is laden with fruit and I am surprised that some of the branches haven’t broken under the weight.
Apples galore!
We also have plenty of fresh raspberries…
Now that most of the bee-friendly perennials are in place I thought it was time for something different. I haven’t tried gardening with succulents before and on researching them I was amazed to find how many colours, shapes and varieties there are. My options are limitless but starting small I went ahead with a selection from the local garden centre.
Bird-bath with a leak-now a planter
No garden of mine is complete without a girlie-man cave and so to rival hubby’s double garage space, I went to town on my new little greenhouse. It cost me less than £20 and was easy to assemble. It has plenty of room for my stuff, and a chair where I can sit and drink my tea in peace. Naturally it had to be decorated, and so I made a long trail of bunting to hang up.
My girlie-garden grotto
One of my favourite areas of the new garden is the pond and bog garden. I am blown away with how well it has grown and settled down.
A perfect frog pad
It was only a few months ago that it looked like this……
This was hard work! But worth it.
It will be interesting to see what autumn brings. Our last pictures of the hedgehogs before they go to sleep for the winter; chaffinches on the teasles and lots and lots of apples to pick and freeze.
It’s our village scarecrow festival at the weekend which is always a great event as long as the weather is kind to us.
Keep your fingers crossed for fine weather 🙂
Poppyposts 
What a joy to see your garden’s progress. It’s beautiful. You’re grotto looks like the perfect place to sit, even in a gentle rain.
Thank you Judy- I am so pleased with it myself 🙂 and yes, it doesn’t look much but my girlie-grotto is my haven! As it is under the apple tree, it doesn’t see much rain even when it’s quite heavy 🙂
Can’t wait for next year when I can add other plants etc. and encourage more butterflies.