You have a very biodiverse garden, Alia! It gladdens the heart. I loved the photos and the line drawing. You are very good with a pencil!
We were amazed at the proliferation in insect life in our garden when we went organic about 20 years ago, then gradually stopped spraying altogether, about 15 years ago. The next big boost after that was becoming lazy gardeners: allowing veggies and herbs to go to seed, leaving rocks and branches and other things for critters to shelter in and under. We have a garden full of frogs, lizards, bees and various pollinators, usually ringtail and brushtail possums in residence or passing through. We also have two tall Warré beehives, with yes, probably about 80k bees apiece. Perhaps because we are beekeepers, we're not particularly sentimental about the honeybee, though we respect and like them. They're an invasive exotic here after all, taking over precious nest hollows.
The blue-banded bees in our garden seem partial to the hibertia and to tomatoes. With their high-pitched buzz they sound very like a European bee on the warpath, so they often give me a bit of a start.
Thank you, Steve. Your garden sounds lovely. I'd describe us as lazy gardeners, too; partly intentional, partly because in recent years we don't have the hours we once had to spend in the garden. Our main focus is keeping grassed areas cut so we can see the snakes :)
We are lucky to have great biodiversity here, which is why it 'bugged' me so much that we didn't have blue banded bees (until now!). The owners from a decade ago used to spray weeds, which we, like you, stopped, and we converted much of the yard to garden beds with plenty of flowering plants. I suspect the blue bandeds are here to stay. Good to know they like hibertia. I might add some of that to the mix.
Regarding the drawings, thank you, although I'm often quite embarrassed to post them. I'm lucky to get 20 minutes to pull something together, which means I only get one crack at it. If it doesn't work, I've just got to run with it. So they're all pretty rough and raw. Having said that, I still prefer them to stock photos or AI, so I keep at it.
Thank you Rose (and Michael!) It's soul filling to take these little moments when we can. I have to consciously make time for them otherwise I'll get caught up ticking off the never ending to-do list.
I loved reading about & catching a glimpse of the tiny creatures in your garden Alia! Beautifully done, you have brought a ray of sunshine from Victoria to grey UK. Thank you for the mention too!
You have a very biodiverse garden, Alia! It gladdens the heart. I loved the photos and the line drawing. You are very good with a pencil!
We were amazed at the proliferation in insect life in our garden when we went organic about 20 years ago, then gradually stopped spraying altogether, about 15 years ago. The next big boost after that was becoming lazy gardeners: allowing veggies and herbs to go to seed, leaving rocks and branches and other things for critters to shelter in and under. We have a garden full of frogs, lizards, bees and various pollinators, usually ringtail and brushtail possums in residence or passing through. We also have two tall Warré beehives, with yes, probably about 80k bees apiece. Perhaps because we are beekeepers, we're not particularly sentimental about the honeybee, though we respect and like them. They're an invasive exotic here after all, taking over precious nest hollows.
The blue-banded bees in our garden seem partial to the hibertia and to tomatoes. With their high-pitched buzz they sound very like a European bee on the warpath, so they often give me a bit of a start.
Thank you, Steve. Your garden sounds lovely. I'd describe us as lazy gardeners, too; partly intentional, partly because in recent years we don't have the hours we once had to spend in the garden. Our main focus is keeping grassed areas cut so we can see the snakes :)
We are lucky to have great biodiversity here, which is why it 'bugged' me so much that we didn't have blue banded bees (until now!). The owners from a decade ago used to spray weeds, which we, like you, stopped, and we converted much of the yard to garden beds with plenty of flowering plants. I suspect the blue bandeds are here to stay. Good to know they like hibertia. I might add some of that to the mix.
Regarding the drawings, thank you, although I'm often quite embarrassed to post them. I'm lucky to get 20 minutes to pull something together, which means I only get one crack at it. If it doesn't work, I've just got to run with it. So they're all pretty rough and raw. Having said that, I still prefer them to stock photos or AI, so I keep at it.
Not to mention what tiny things are crawling over our body… It’s turtles (or at least microbiomes) all the way down
Eeeeek. Yes, that's true. Thankfully my camera lens isn't that good, haha.
Such scrumptious attention to detail! I really loved this. (With thanks to Michael Young of Life Crumbs for recommending it.)
Thank you Rose (and Michael!) It's soul filling to take these little moments when we can. I have to consciously make time for them otherwise I'll get caught up ticking off the never ending to-do list.
Lovely post, Alia! Love to see a bee getting a mention. And thank you for the shout out as well!
Thanks Michael. I got such a good laugh from the play on words in your cartoon. Just awesome!
I loved reading about & catching a glimpse of the tiny creatures in your garden Alia! Beautifully done, you have brought a ray of sunshine from Victoria to grey UK. Thank you for the mention too!
You're most welcome. Your essay was wonderful. I knew nothing about Leslie Stephen, so I drank it in.