Garden Diary – Giant Bees & Moths amongst the Agapanthus

The Agapanthus have come out fully this week, no doubt encouraged by the high temperatures. Coming from South Africa it’s not surprising that they’re happy.

I remember an episode on Gardeners World about 10 years ago, when one of the presenters visited South Africa and showed us agapanthus growing wild on masse, what a treat to see!

Anyway my bumblebees think they’re having a treat, in and out of the trumpet-shaped flowers. Some of the bumblebees on them have been the largest I’ve ever seen, I honestly don’t know how they fly!

I had another exciting, large flying visitor this week, a Humming-bird Hawk-moth ‘Graeham Mounteney’. It first caught my eye on the lavender but I hadn’t got my camera.

A couple of days later it came into the house when the electrician was here and quickly disappeared, we assumed it had gone out, but it reappeared when we turned the light on, making a right mess on the ceiling.

Luckily we were able to catch it and release it into the night, sadly without getting a photograph as it was so stressed.

The following day I found it on one of my five phlox plants and managed to get a slightly blurry photo, but enough to get an identification.

It obviously loves the phlox as the next day I found it on a different one and managed to get a video, what a joy to watch!

I’m hoping it sticks around long enough for my final Phlox to flower, the palest one, phlox paniculata ‘bright eyes’.

The greenhouse is looking very colourful with chillies and peppers ripening to red, purple and yellow. The little Biquinho Red peppers are ripe and perfect for adding to all sorts of dishes.

They look like chillies and you’d swear they were going to be hot, but they have no heat at all. I love their name in Portuguese too, it’s little beak, and that’s just what they look like.

What’s made the trug really heavy though this week is the big tomato haul. So many ripened within a few days, so the freezer is already getting replenished with tomato sauce for later in the year. And some friends got some giveaways.

A few potatoes were ready to be harvested, they hadn’t done as well as normal, but then potatoes do like a lot of water, and we haven’t had much of that!

We awoke on Sunday to the sight of raindrops, and the garden immediately looked fresher, unfortunately though it didn’t come to much and by the end of the day it was as dry as ever. Oh well, back to the rain dance!

Monday 20th July 2026

I have 5 colours of Phlox paniculata, & they all flower at slightly different times. Unfortunately the early ones didn’t look good for 5 minutes with the extreme heat, these later ones are looking better though 😊🌿🩷🌿🩷🌿 #magentamonday #summerblooms

These Biquinho Red peppers have the most fabulous habanero chilli flavour, but no heat! It’s weird, as your brain is waiting for the burn, that doesn’t come. Great even added to a salad 🌶️

The name is Portuguese, & translates as ‘little beak’ 😊🌶️🌿 #chilli #pepper #Homegrown #kitchengarden

Tuesday 21st July 2026

It’s Agapanthus time 🌿💙💙💙🌿

And, originating from South Africa 🇿🇦 they can’t get enough sunshine, ☀️☀️☀️ lapping up our recent heatwave 💛

#TuesdayBlue #summerblooms

A nice tomato haul tonight after finishing the watering 💦

This will make some delicious tomato sauce for the freezer 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅 #TomatoTuesday #homegrown #tomatoes

Wednesday 22nd July 2026

I’ve finally captured my Humming-bird Hawk-moth ‘Graeham Mounteney’. Not the best photo, so I’ve used 2 off the Butterfly Conservation website. Not sure if I have 1 or multiple, but it’s even been in the house! 🦋 #wildlifewednesday @savebutterflies

Thursday 23rd July 2026

Not only do these purple potatoes look gorgeous, they taste like proper old fashioned potatoes that my dad grew. Scrumptious! 🌿💜🥔💜🌿 #kitchengarden #homegrown #potatoes #patchpotatoes

My bumblebee population is still happily buzzing around the different flowers in the garden, but I’ve had some humongous bees on the agapanthus. Got to be nearly 4cm 💙🐝💙

#bumblebee #insectthursday #agapanthus

Friday 24th July 2026

I first grew Echinacea from seed about 15 yrs ago, it was really easy. As it’s a shorter lived perennial, it’s a much cheaper way of replacing plants 🌿💛🩷💛🌿 #FlowersOnFriday #Echinacea #summerblooms