The butterfly ball, the slug crawl and the ants nest. Certainly, butterflies are having a ball this summer and it's great to see them out and about, enjoying the sun and the good weather, which we too, are enjoying.
On Buddleia, Mallow, lavender and the garden vegetable patch, the insect is making its presence felt and some are more pest than friend - the Cabbage White, for instance. the Large White or the Small White, also known as the Cabbage White. I'm not yet quite certain which one is presently attacking my new cabbage plants and, although I managed to catch one in my hand last Tuesday, I did not accurately look at its markings. A surprising encounter for both of us, pest and me and, of course, I let it go, as it would not have been possible to destroy the little beastie. I have, however, found a drowned insect in the water bowl put out on the garden path for Alice, so accidental death affects them too.
I thought their life span was of short duration, followed by death but, perhaps not for all, as some butterflies migrate long distances, so perhaps it is that their life-cycle is made of distinct stages, each one lasting for a set period.
The cabbage whites are certainly filling the garden with their fluttering presence just now and of which I'm very conscious of them, having just planted my first ever crop of cabbages, cauliflowers, Rainbow Chard and peas.
One such insect became caught in the mesh of my new netting yesterday and, fascinated by its struggle to extricate itself, watched the process for a few minutes, thinking it would escape by folding its wings and easing out through an opening. However, it was apparently floundering, so I opened the netting and encouraged it to remove itself.
The crawling slug has mostly only been seen on our doggie walks with Alice at Daeda's Wood, where whole tribes of then have made themselves noticeable during our early morning forays across dew-damp grass, their little black bodies gleaming in the morning sunshine. In the garden, we have disturbed several while digging the vegetable patch and removing stone slabs, under which we have even come across two very fat, white slugs. I have to admit to hating the slug and seeing it as the original snake in the grass. Yesterday, I actually found one lurking against the stone slab where a netting stick was situated, which I was working on, in the build of my netting cage; I quickly reached for the slug pellets, and also put more out in the evening. It is a horrible thing to do, and I refuse to put salt on them now, which I have done in other gardens, for that is a truly awful death, but they are a great nuisance to the gardener.
The little slugs are a problem but much less than the huge ones we found in the garden as children, which must have measured several inches long, fat and leaving hateful slimy trails everywhere.
And ants which, so far, have not made too great a nuisance of themselves in my garden. As children, watching the red ant crawl out of a crack between the concrete hard standing and the step down from the dining room door, their presence was both fascinating and frightening. The grown-ups produced kettles of boiling water to kill and destroy, but there were always more of them, too many to get rid of entirely.
Every living organism has its place and purpose, so we learn to live alongside them, or not, as best befits ourselves and our environment and they do say, the insect will outlive mankind some day.
We shall see?
Margaret
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