school garden

school garden

Saturday 3 September 2016

"The world is a book..

and those who do not travel read only a page"

Anon

Some fine warm nights have enabled us to run the moth trap.  Over the past week ten new species have been put on the ever growing list. Hawk moths have almost finished but migrant moths are always a possibility.  However we did catch one large moth, a Red Underwing.  On arrival at the trap it was resting on the outside and possible a few minutes later in arriving it would have gone.  We have recently been pestered with large numbers of wasps in and around the trap.  They cause no trouble in the early hours of the day and disperse quickly.

Dusky Thorn

The aptly named- Spectacle!

Vapourer- the female is wingless

Bloodvein

Jersey Tiger

Red Underwing
The sunflowers continue to grow and one patch must have flowers well over 12 feet high.  Hopefully the weekend winds will not destroy them so they can be enjoyed next week by the pupils.

The magnificent sunflower bed dwarfing the runner beans

The flower sprouts are doing well and we are hoping for a good crop of this tasty vegetable

The Cannas are thriving and one plant is well over 6 feet tall

The decorative Banana plant grows a new leaf each week

Fennel- a magnet for bees and hoverflies

Papyrus plants enjoying the temporary move to the pond

James Grieve apple tree has plenty of fruit

Salvia involucrata 'Bethellii'

One Red Admiral butterfly took a liking to a T shirt and stayed there for a good five minutes before flying off



A visitor to the moth trap at first light is the Robin.  He is weighing up the chances of a possible easy meal and the trap has be moved about the garden each time to avoid the bird getting into bad habits!

The ever hungry Robin
The garden has been given five beautifully created leaves which the group have now positioned on the fence.  It is intended to label them for the children to become aware of leaf shapes and names of trees. 
Sycamore

Birch
The new school term starts next week and we welcome new pupils to the school and hope that they will soon find their way into the garden and enjoy the last of the summer colour and vegetables and sample some of the wildlife which is always present