Summer Has Arrived in February!

Love your Heucheras (so does the ladybird!).
Yes, beautiful day here too . . . I even sat on a bench in the garden, and did some thinking. :))

Sunny & warm in Kent too. I was out in just a t-shirt.
Plants look great BA, good purchase off ebay, looks very healthy.

Lovely photographs Bornagain. Great day here too, I dug an area 8' x 5' outside my summerhouse so that I can put some pebbles there. Also watched about 15 frogs having a splash about in my little pond. Feels like spring.

Lovely plants and bugs :o)))

Nice blog BA

lots of ladybirds here too!

Love the ladybirds, I`ve noticed more of these than usual. Wasn`t it a gorgeous day, sat outside to eat my lunch. whoopee.

bit of a shame the lily beetle has already appeared!! :-(

Nice to know you had some sunshine, and warmth. We've had a foggy day here in south west Wales, but at least it isn't cold :o)

I decided work had to be done....so I put on my raincoat and hat to tidy some borders and........I was too hot!!!!!
I love the ladybirds too!.

It was really warm here and I spent a couple of hours tidying up in the borders, I saw lots of ladybirds and had to be careful when removing the debris, lovely pics Ba, hope it stays for a few days, I still haven`t cleared my bottom pond of leaves..

Lovely to see those ladybirds,Ba..but not that lily beetle ! That is early,isn't it ? your Rhodi is very pretty..a good buy there..lovely here too..I repotted all my cuttings in fresh compost,and some in bigger pots..very satisfying..:o)

17.5 deg and sunny here in leicerstershire today!!!!!!

Isn't it amazing we all had a lovely day....well...sorry Hywel , but I think you escaped the snow?...thanks for all your comments. I bought quite a lot of crocosmias from a specialist nursery late last year and potted them on ready for spring. Unfortunately I think some of the pots have got too wet, my fault. I've tested one and the corms are a white mush:-( Hope the others are ok, I've put them in the porch. I lost all my tulips in pots last year for the same reason...you'd think I'd have learnt. I did put the tulip pots in the porch so they're ok, but didn't think about doing the same for crocosmia. I think the snow did a lot of harm:-( The lily beetle had a little accident... fell under my foot:-( I've never had any problem with lily beetle 'til last year...loads of them:-( I see some of you have been very industrious in the sun...well done, I must make a proper start. Still trying to fathom wisteria pruning:-) I haven't seen any frogs yet except one a few days ago which I accidently fished one out on some blanket weed which seemed to have trapped a gold fish. Never had blanket weed before either, I'll have to get something to clear it and turn my water clear that's harmless to life. Anyone know of anything? :-)

I put those straw blocks into the pond last year which seemed to have some effect on the blanketweed - but then the duckweed appeared.

Beautiful pics :)

Lovely pictures Ba,also a beautiful day here, I got quite a lot done as well before I had to go food shopping :-(, hundreds of ladybirds here too, and had 2 robins following me looking for worms, must have been a pair as one had the nerve to steal the others worm and no fighting :-)

Love to see the ladybirds, so early for lily beetle though, liked the look of your Rhodo looks to be a well grown plant, ebay seller ? care to recommend?

Dotty, this is the first time I've used this particular seller...The plant was well packed, not one bud broken, and must be 4 years old. It was £14.99 which I think was very reasonable. The problem is the postage which was £7.99. On ebay it's gardenexpert3uv2 Their web thing? is http://www.camelliasonline.co.uk they are Imberhome Lane Nursery in West Sussex. Gosh, remember when companies had one name and address..phew. In a recent warm spell (think January) I saw 3 lily beetles...met the same fate as this one:-)
I did put barley straw in my pond last year Ginelli...no effect. I'm not too bothered about green water although it would be nice to see the fish, but this blanket weed #*@#*! Is duckweed that little tiny leaf floating plant? If so, I think they arrive on water plants bought from garden centres. I managed to fish all mine out last year...I think lol. Is your pond big?
Thanks Pixi:-)
Simbad, I'm hoping today's as good as I couldn't get any gardening done yesterday. Hundreds of ladybirds?....you wouldn't like to catch a few and post them would you? :-)

I'll see what I can do Ba ;-), seems I have more than my fair share, trying to cut things back but they're hiding among the dead stems of everything, did find a couple of those foreign ones too black with the red spots,remember seeing an article about them in the paper the other week, not so good for our native ladybird.

They say that ladybirds bring lots of good luck - so keep smiling Bornagain :)

lovely here to BA, i will be on the look out for the red devils now haha

Simbad, on GQT today it said the best way to tell if it is a harlequin ladybird is they have brown legs and our natives have black legs. They can look very similar and spots vary on natives too. Apparently harlequins eat lacewings, moths, butterflies and our natives as well as pests. They have probably come over from France where they were used as biological pest control as in other parts of Europe. They also said to look out for the Asian Hornet EEEK!! I'm going to google them to give me nightmares:-)
Lol Terry, I don't think the above list found the harlequins lucky;-))

I was just dishing up the tea tonight when a ladybird nearly dropped in it. Its lovely to see them and its not even March yet! I'm amazed that lily beetles are out and about so early as well. I'll have to keep my eye out. I hope this mild weather is here to stay.

Right I'll be checking the legs from now on Ba ;-), remember reading that they bite although probably not as bad as the Asian Hornet OMG don't want to meet one of them, insect repellant long sleeves and helmet in the garden from now on,lol, (off to google it now)

I did have a look at the asian hornet and it said they're spreading through France and they kill BEES! :-( We are to report any we find...can't remember who to though lol:-)

Love your ladybird pictures - yes it is that time of year again and a little bit of sunshine brings out the gardener in us - have a good week - Marigold

Thanks Marigold:-)

Thanks for the info BA, use ebay a lot for plants, but postage can be very expensive, I usually buy several plants and get them to combine postage before I pay!! I have not used this nursery though.