Our Gardens

I've just been mooching about in the garden, thinking there's so much needs doing. I looked at my fuchsia, thinking it looks a bit bare & sad in some places, as I was scanning over it I noticed the culprits 5x elephant hawk moth caterpillars!

I managed to get 3 of them in this photo..
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Expect the fuchsia will be bare by the end of the day! :(
 
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Well the fuchsia does look a bit worse for wear, but holding out better than I thought :D

Don't be sad @Betsy & @piggieminder, the fuchsia has probably been harvested by others previous years & grows back every spring/summer. I'm rather chuffed to find them to be honest :clap:

The caterpillars do look rather weird but there's something rather impressive about them too, partly due to their size & camouflage/decoy eye spots I guess.
The moth is rather distinctive in brown/pink when it's in its adult state, I've seen them a few times at home too :)

Here's a full frontal close up, it did squish its head in tight to its body on predator alert when it seen me coming with the camera!

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GPTV said:
I've just been mooching about in the garden, thinking there's so much needs doing. I looked at my fuchsia, thinking it looks a bit bare & sad in some places, as I was scanning over it I noticed the culprits 5x elephant hawk moth caterpillars!

I managed to get 3 of them in this photo..
View attachment 121848

Expect the fuchsia will be bare by the end of the day! :(
Click to expand...
Wow, we saw a light green hawk moth on a coastal path the other day but didn’t have anything on us to take a photo of it. They are fantastic, as big as a finger!
 
I just missed putting my hand down in a hedgehog poo earlier in the garden, I seen 1 on the back garden & 2 out the front on the same evening (hedgehogs not poos! Lol!) about 2-3wks ago, so I'm glad they've found their way back into my garden.

I purposely left a couple of 5inch gaps in the bottom of the fence to let them roam, I've also left a few fallen rotten apples in the borders for the slugs, snails & wiglets to feast on. I occasionally see a thrush, so guess it makes use of them for a meal too :nod:
 
We leave fallen pears and apples too, we are always happy to share with the wildlife, we rarely see thrush in Cornwall, use to see lots in our North Yorkshire garden? the blackbirds love the fallen fruit though. Our neighbour has a baby hedgehog regularly visiting his garden, we have lent him our camera today so we can hopefully get some photos of him, we are on holiday for 4 days tomorrow Yippee!
 
GPTV said:
I've just been mooching about in the garden, thinking there's so much needs doing. I looked at my fuchsia, thinking it looks a bit bare & sad in some places, as I was scanning over it I noticed the culprits 5x elephant hawk moth caterpillars!

I managed to get 3 of them in this photo..
View attachment 121848

Expect the fuchsia will be bare by the end of the day! :(
Click to expand...
My fuchsia bush that I thought had died last summer and pruned down to the soil then tried and failed to dig out looks very perky right now! I would happily swap it for those gorgeous caterpillars though, but I do have a very impressive lady orb weaver spider who I hope will make a massive egg case full of next year's spiders before the frost sets in!
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I tend to cut back my fuchsias about 2” from the ground in November and they shoot back into life in spring, they are a very hardy shrub for such beautiful flowers, those caterpillars are amazing!
 
Betsy said:
Anybody know what this is? Found it on the patio at my ex rental while clearing it of about 4" of pine needles.
View attachment 122556
Click to expand...
That is a beautiful elephant hawkmoth caterpillar! He'll be looking for somewhere to burrow and pupate, pop him in a flowerbed with some leaf litter on top to keep him warm and next spring he'll be a lovely giant moth!
 
GPTV said:
I've just been mooching about in the garden, thinking there's so much needs doing. I looked at my fuchsia, thinking it looks a bit bare & sad in some places, as I was scanning over it I noticed the culprits 5x elephant hawk moth caterpillars!

I managed to get 3 of them in this photo..
View attachment 121848

Expect the fuchsia will be bare by the end of the day! :(
Click to expand...
GPTV said:
Well the fuchsia does look a bit worse for wear, but holding out better than I thought :D

Don't be sad @Betsy & @piggieminder, the fuchsia has probably been harvested by others previous years & grows back every spring/summer. I'm rather chuffed to find them to be honest :clap:

The caterpillars do look rather weird but there's something rather impressive about them too, partly due to their size & camouflage/decoy eye spots I guess.
The moth is rather distinctive in brown/pink when it's in its adult state, I've seen them a few times at home too :)

Here's a full frontal close up, it did squish its head in tight to its body on predator alert when it seen me coming with the camera!

View attachment 121879
Click to expand...

@Betsy (expand the quotes&click on attachments) same as these :) must be a good year for them! X
 
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Well I decided to prune back the lilac Bush in the garden, when I was tidying up I found this little poppet, a little green cricket

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The next day this little grasshopper sat next to me on the lawn, it bobbled off when I had finished taking a few photos
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But I did manage to get this close up before he finally hopped away :)
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Took a close up of a dandelion head while I was sitting on the lawn too!
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I popped him over the wall into the bushes and my husband then covered him up with grass clippings. There are loads of pine trees so he will be snuggled up in a nice cosy bed for the winter.
 
Took a photograph this afternoon of my garden in the autumn sun. We might not have another such a beautiful sunny day before the flowers die - or possibly even before we move!
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For those who like to grow things to feed the birds, may I recommend Pyracantha - not only does it produce tons of berries reliably, it also has lovely colour of flowers in spring and the berries in autumn/winter.

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This one is on the north wall of our house, so it ripens a bit later than the others that get more sun, but it's a lovely orange colour.
 
Beware of the Pyracantha! It has thorns that like to attack your fingers, arms, legs and any bit of exposed skin that is close enough!
 
Beware of the Jabberwock my friend!
Yes, I am well acquainted with the Pyracantha thorns, it always lives up to its name unless I wear long sleeves. But the birds love the berries, my bushes are always stripped bare by the end of December 🐦🍒
 
it is a lovely shrub, the berries are wonderful and add a bit of colour in the winter, those thorns are not to be meddled with!
 
Your garden is looking lovely @Qualcast&Flymo mine is looking very tatty and overgrown now. The weather has been so bad lately I've not been able to get outside to tidy up for winter. I did manage a little bit today once I found out the parcel I was staying in for wasn't coming.
 
My garden is very waterlogged at the moment.
 
I love autumn!
This is my garden with my acer taking centre stage!
 

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