Garden Diary – Wildlife watching whilst watering

At last, a fresher breeze on Monday morning when I was out watering, I’d almost forgotten what cool felt like! 

I am a bit fed-up spending so much more time watering when I’d rather be gardening, especially at this time of year when there’s so much to do.

There is a benefit though of watering, as it makes me stand still, which gives me time to notice even more wildlife. I’ve had a ‘silver Y’ moth on the scabious every morning, which has encouraged me to keep deadheading.

I always thought of moths as nocturnal but I’ve been surprised how many are around in the daytime. It seems the glut of butterflies has now been followed by many more moths than usual.

When I’m feeling guilty about watering I think of all the food I’m providing for not just ourselves, but the wildlife too.

The Echinops Ritro ‘Globe Thistle’  are where most of the bee population in the garden can be found at the moment, they absolutely love them! Sometimes there’re three or four on the one globe.

It’s sad that the flowers are going over so quickly, but at least at the moment there’re still plenty more replenishing them.

I’m particularly enjoying the pink gladioli in a morning with the low sun lighting them up. I really wasn’t sure about the orange ones, but the pink and purple are lovely.

The orange cosmos on the other hand, that I’ve not grown before are a great success, unlike the pink variety that I’ve grown many times, that haven’t even got a bud on yet!

Unfortunately my red rose that predicted the football goal count for the England game last week, failed to deliver the correct score for this weeks semi-final. Sadly England failed to get through to the World Cup final. I’m no fan myself but I know a lot of people that are.

I remember someone once saying, “you only need one courgette plant to feed a family of four”. Well, it’s true, once the plant starts to fruit it takes some keeping up with. 

And it’s not only the amount of fruit, if you don’t pick them quickly enough, they turn from a courgette into a marrow in what feels like a few hours!

Luckily over the years we’ve come up with quite a few things to do with them, including using them in cake, but probably our favourite is vegetable lasagne. Recipe available on the blog.

I’m growing a new variety of mangetout pea, called ‘Golden sweet’, and as the name suggests they are yellow. This is mainly because the green ones are so hard to spot, but they are a great edition with really thin skins.

By Saturday it had cooled down so much that we had to eat our evening meal indoors, which was astonishing as we’d nearly been cooked alive on the night before as Jools Holland and his rhythm and blues orchestra had come to Wrexham. 

Luckily it was worth it as they were fantastic!

Monday 13th July 2026

The early sun this morning, coming through the very pink gladioli flowers 🌿🩷🌿🩷🌿🩷 #magentamonday #summerblooms #bloomscrolling 

Tuesday 14th July 2026

I’m lucky to have so many bumblebees in the garden, but then I do plant things they like. They absolutely love Echinops Ritro ‘Globe Thistle’ 🌿💙🐝🐝🐝💙🌿 #TuesdayBlue #bees #summerblooms 

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This moth has been on the scabious for the last few mornings as I’ve watered. I think it’s a Silver Y, but would be pleased for confirmation from any experts out there 🦋 #wildlifewednesday #moths

Wednesday 15th July 2026

‘Gabriel oak’ hasn’t stopped blooming since he started 🌿🌸🩷

The roses are smaller & are not lasting with this ongoing hot, hot summer, but still a great addition to any border 💕

#RoseWednesday #summerblooms #bloomscrolling

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The last England game, I posted my red rose bush with 3 roses on & guess what. 3 goals were scored.

They’ve faded & 1 new one has bloomed, so I’m predicting 1-0 to England tonight 🌹⚽️

So, still no football here, but I would love England to win for all you fans #redrose #worldcup

Thursday 16th July 2026

If you’ve got homegrown tomatoes, courgettes & basil, you’ve got a quick, simple, delicious meal. Feta for protein & extra yummyness 😁🍅🥒 #homegrown #homemade #kitchengarden

Friday 17th July 2026

I’ve not grown orange cosmos before, but they’re firmly on my list now. They started flowering weeks ago & give such a pop of colour around the garden 🌿🧡🌿🧡🌿🧡🌿

#flowersonfriday #summerblooms 

Saturday 18th July 2026

Cooler this morning, thank goodness! 

Still plenty of flowers blooming, but sadly they haven’t been lasting with the excessive heat. Talking of heat, we had Jools Holland & co. in #Wrexham last night. They were brilliant, but gosh we all very hot 🥵 🩷🌿🧡🌿🩷🌿🧡

#SixOnSaturday

Sunday 19th July 2026

A new mangetout for me this year ‘Golden sweet’. They look pretty but more importantly they are true to their name, they also have the thinnest skin. Delicious 😋🫛💛🫛💛🫛💛

#kitchengarden #sundayyellow #homegrown #peas

Happy gardening.