Bumbles, Masons and Miners

10 Sunday May 2015

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, bumblebees, Little Orme, Local Nature Reserves, Nature of Wales, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

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buff-tailed bumblebee, common carder bee, early mining bee, mason bees, mining bees, red mason bee, red-tailed bumblebee, tawny mining bee, tree bumblebee

Early spring is a good time to look out for some of the different species of bees found locally, catching them before they settle in to producing the next generation. On recent outings Bryn Euryn was particularly well blessed with bumblebees and some other interesting species and the Little Orme brought an unexpected treat so I thought I’d put them all together.

The Buff-tailed bumblebee- Bombus terrestris is the largest of our native bumblebees. Queens, workers and males have a dirty golden yellow collar near the head and one on the abdomen.

Bryn Euryn – Buff-tailed bumblebee queen

The queen’s tail is an off white/buff colour which can sometimes appear orange. The queens are busy establishing new colonies and may be seen collecting pollen to stock it and crawling around on the ground where they nest in burrows underground.

Bryn Euryn-Buff-tailed bumblebee queen on the ground

I didn’t spot any workers or males on the days I was out and about, if I had these would both be smaller than the queens and look slightly different as workers have a white tail and that of the males is white ringed with a buff line.

Red-tailed Bumblebee- Bombus lapidarius queens are also establishing new colonies and can be seen feeding and collecting pollen from flowers and also crawling around on the ground as they too nest underground.

Red-tailed bumblebee queen with full pollen baskets

Queens are distinctive with their black bodies and red tails and are large, between 20 -22mm long which is a similar length to that of the Buff-tailed bumblebee queens, but the red-tailed is less bulky.

Bryn-Euryn -Red-tailed Bumblebee queen emerging from a patch of ivy-leaved speedwell

There are Red-tailed bumblebee workers about too. They have the same colouring as the queens but are smaller, varying in size from 1-16mm in length, with some early workers being no bigger than a house fly.

They have comparatively short tongues and favour flowers that provide them with a landing platform such as dandelions and daisies and later on, thistles and ragwort. In gardens they like chive flowers and lavender.

24/4/15-Red-tailed worker bee on dandelion

24/4/15-Bryn Euryn-Red-tailed worker bee on dandelion

To make things confusing there is a cuckoo-bee that closely resembles the Red-tailed bumblebee. The main differences are that the cuckoo bee has black wings and the back legs are hairy and without the shiny hairless patch, the pollen basket, of the true bee.

There were a very few Common Carder bees Bombus pascuorum about and I only managed one quick shot of one visiting a dog violet flower. There will be many more later on.

Bryn Euryn – Common Carder Bee

An exciting new recording for me here was of the Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum, that’s is not to say they weren’t here before, just that I had never seen one. I was lucky to spot two that were taking nectar from the Green Alkanet flowers which grow in a big patch next to the car-park gate.

21/4/15 – Bryn Euryn-Tree bumblebee-Bombus hypnorum

Tree bumblebees are fairly new arrivals to the UK, first found in 2001 in Wiltshire. Since then they have spread across most of England and Wales and made it to Southern Scotland in 2013. Queens, workers and males all have a similar colour pattern; the thorax is tawny to reddish-brown, the abdomen is black and the tail is white.

Tree bumblebee burdened with mites

Queens vary significantly in size and can reach up to 18mm in length. Males are quite chunky and can be as much as 16mm in length; fresh males have a patch of yellowish facial hair which eventually wears off. Workers, which is what I believe I photographed range from 11-16mm in length; they move around rapidly and are effective pollinators.

Basking on the leaves of the butterbur plant that also grows near the gate at the bottom end of of the car park was another little bee. I’m not positive about its identification but based on the colour of the hairs on its thorax I think it may be an Early Mining Bee – Andrena haemorrhoa.

Bryn Euryn-Early Mining Bee-Andrena haemorrhoa

A couple of days later I was walking on the Little Orme and came across another species of mining bee that cannot be mistaken for anything else, the Tawny Mining Bee-Andrena fulva.

There were two individuals attempting to nectar on Alexander’s while a particularly strong wind was bending and tossing the flower around. It was tricky trying to get focussed images.

28/4/15- Tawny Mining Bee on Alexanders -Little Orme

28/4/15- Little Orme-Tawny Mining Bee on Alexanders

Males are 10 to 12 mm and the females 8 to 10 mm long. The females are covered with fox red hair on their backs and black on the underside, whilst the males are more slender and yellower in appearance.

Little Orme-Tawny Mining Bee

One of the two managed to hold on and kept searching over the florets, but the other gave up and dropped to the ground.

Tawny Mining Bee on the ground

The bees mate in spring, after which the male dies and the female starts to build a nest. Sometimes more than a hundred females build nests in a few square metres but the Tawny Mining Bee normally does not create a colony: each female has her own nest.

Finally I’d like to mention another little bee found locally, the Red Mason Bee Osmia rufa, also most likely to be spotted around this time of year.

Fairy Glen-Red Mason Bee

The males are smaller than the females at 6 -11 mm. Both sexes are covered in dense gingery hairs, the male with white tufts on the head while the female’s head is black.

Red Mason Bee (m)

It is a solitary bee, each nest being the work of a single female bee working alone. They nest in pre-existing cavities such as hollow plant stems, old garden canes, air bricks, and even old nail holes in fence posts, lining the inside of the cavity with mud.

Dare we cast a clout now May is out?

09 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Wildflowers of Wales

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Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, buff-tailed bumblebee, germander speedwell, grey-green lichen hanging from tree, hairy rock cress, hawthorn in flower, may blossom, salad burnet, wildflowers of Bryn Euryn

The last day of May was overcast and cool but I wanted to go back to the Bryn to photograph a plant I had spotted there on the rocky cliffs amongst the rockroses but forgot about until I got home. I took a different route up to the top today, passing through the grassy meadow area to see what I could find there.

Cow parsley -Anthriscus sylvestris

A first bloom of Common Vetch-Vicia sativa

There’s a lot of Ribwort Plantain, whose flowerheads I find fascinating, every one seems slightly different to the other.

Ribwort Plantain flowerhead

The star of the flower show today was definitely the May, the blossom of the Hawthorn. Perhaps we can all ‘cast a clout’, now that May is out, both the blossom and the month.

A beautiful spray of May blossom, or Hawthorn, looks like a bridal bouquet

Close to where I stopped to photograph the May blossom I noticed the more unusual Salad Burnet plant. This is one of those plants that is very easy to overlook as it seems to really blend in to its surroundings, but once you have it in your mind’s eye you then notice them in other places.

Salad Burnet-Sanguisorba minor

The leaves are very pretty, and as the plant’s name suggests, are edible.

Salad Burnet has very pretty, pinnate leaves

The Oak trees are fresh-coloured and in just about full leaf now.

Oak tree

Fresh new oak leaves

On a rocky outcrop there were low-growing common rockroses, bird’s foot trefoil, kidney vetch, almost over but attracting the attention of a number of little ginger-headed bumblebees, small patches of wild thyme and taller-growing hawksbit flowers.

Wild Thyme growing with Common Rockrose

I wasn’t able to get a particularly good photograph of a bee, but I liked the lichen-covered rock in this one.

A small ginger bumblebee on Kidney Vetch

The patch of bird’s-foot trefoil had obligingly placed itself near the edge of a rock, so taking an eye-level picture was a nice option. I didn’t notice the ‘Cuckoo-spit’ until I looked at the photograph. I’d forgotten about Cuckoo-spit. I must remind myself what generates it, some kind of thrip, I think.

Bird’s-foot Trefoil with Cuckoo Spit

Hawksbit against limestone rock

There seem to be masses of the beautiful blue Germander Speedwell here this year, I don’t remember it being this prolific before.

Germander Speedwell-Veronica chamaedrys

I finally got up and around to where the plant I had come to find was located; probably not as exciting as you’d expected, but I was pleased to find it. The plant is Hairy Rock Cress, an under-stated little plant with tiny white flowers like most members of the cress family, not at all showy like its golden-bloomed neighbours, but none the less interesting. Even though it’s flower’s are almost over and it’s going to seed.

Hairy Rock Cress. Also in picture are kidney vetch, salad burnet & rockrose

The scientific name for Rockrose, helianthemum, means sun-flower. They don’t bother to open up on dull or damp days, particularly the little blooms of the Hoary Rockrose.

Flowers of Hoary Rockrose close on dull, sunless days

It was getting quite late on now, but there was one more distraction to waylay me before heading back down the hill. A Mistle Thrush was out hunting on the path around the edge of the rocks, which I had to stay and watch as I’d not seen one here before. When it flew off with its gatherings I took a photograph of the top of a lovely Ash tree which has houses of Rhos-on-Sea below and peeking through its leaves.

Ash tree on Bryn Euryn, Rhos-on-Sea behind

On the way down through the woods I spotted some very pretty Oak Moss lichen hanging from some twiggy branches; I don’t know why I’ve not noticed it before, there’s quite a lot of it.

Oak Moss lichen- Usnea florida

Almost at the bottom of the hill, I couldn’t resist taking a final picture of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee that was either excavating a hole or looking for an existing one to spend the night in.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee making or seeking a hole

A hill not too far – part 1

15 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Pydew, fungi, hoverflies, Nature, nature of woodlands, nature photography, woodlands

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buff-tailed bumblebee, common darter, common green grasshopper, eristalis, hoverflies, inula conyza, leucozona lucorum, ploughman's spikenard, tar spot fungus, traveller's joy

The first day of September was gloriously sunny and warm in the way that only our late summer days can be. In preparation for just such a day I had done a bit of research into other nature reserves that may be nearby and was surprised to discover there is indeed such a one, almost on our doorstep on another landmark hill just beyond Bryn Euryn, called Bryn Pydew. The land is leased and managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT), and just had to be explored not only because of its proximity, but also because it has within in it an area of Limestone Pavement that I have been keen to add to my round of habitats to visit.

To quote the Bryn Pydw entry on the First Nature website:

Bryn Pydew SSSI; RIGS site : “This reserve lies on carboniferous limestone and has woodland, grassland, limestone pavement and two disused quarries providing a wide variety of habitats.”

I could hardly believe it was so close by and I had never heard of it, but when I set off to find it, following the directions on the website, I did have some problems finding the ‘entrance’ to the reserve. (I must get myself an ordnance survey map and re-learn to use grid references !) I knew I was on the Bryn, it’s huge, so hard to miss, and drove up, down around and along a few lanes in the indicated direction, then through the village of Bryn Pydew and back again, finally stopping to ask for directions from a lady carrying a basket heading for the village hall. She didn’t really know either, but suggested it might be the “flat bit further on where they have been digging”. It was clear that there was little room for parking on the lane, so I asked if I should park outside the hall and walk, she said “Oh no, please don’t, we have a fun Dog Show here this afternoon, so we need all the parking space we have for that.” Not wishing to upset anyone or their dog, I drove a bit further and duly came to said ‘flat bit’ at the side of the lane, pulled onto it and got out of the car.

Woodland edge

It seemed likely that the reserve was in the general area as I was now looking at woodland to one side on the lower slope of the hill, then across the lane, a grassy slope with some scrubby vegetation leading to the summit of the Bryn. Next to where I had parked there was a mound of earth and stones, becoming vegetated with grass, with the addition of clumps of vervain, verbascum and other wild plants, which made me think this may have been a bit of a dumping ground for the village gardeners. Behind this ‘tump’ there was a ‘path’ cobbled with small pieces of limestone between it and the woodland edge, bordered on either side with wildflowers, predominantly ragwort, but also marsh hemp, cat’s ear, traveller’s joy (wild clematis), hogweed etc.

A beautiful fresh ‘Sun Fly’, also known as ‘The Footballer’ – Helophilus pendulus

The sheltered spot was buzzing with hoverflies, bees and bumblebees and even a few butterflies. Most of the hoverflies were of the larger eristalis species, some of which I have already featured photographs of in recent posts, but there were others too.

Eristalis interruptus on ragwort

Eristalis on Hemp Agrimony

The most familiar of hoverflies, the exquisite little Marmalade Fly – Episyrphus balteatus

I was also an attractive hoverfly, Leucozona lucorum, which is a new one for my collection of photographs.

Leucozona lucorum. There is a similar-looking insect – Volucella pellucens which is much shinier and does not have the orange-yellow scutellum (the triangular patch at the base of the thorax)

Buff-tailed Bumblebee- Bombus terrestris on Traveller’s Joy-Clematis vitalba

Welsh Poppy with small flies

I was really pleased to find Ploughman’s Spikenard growing here. It is a plant quite unprepossessing in its appearance, looking a bit like a giant groundsel or ragwort that is going to seed, so may be easily overlooked, but it is another of my favourite type of plant, one with a history of traditional use as a medicinal herb and that has some great alternative common names; Cinnamon-root, Great Fleabane, Horseheal and Lady’s-gloves.

Ploughman’s Spikenard – Inula Conyza (the seeds on the leaves are from nearby thistles)

Honeybee on Ploughman’s Spikenard

It was really peaceful here, so I sat down on the ground for a while to enjoy the sunshine and properly take notice of what was around me. I love to do that sometimes, to just sit still and lose myself in the moment, and feel connected to the real world. Stillness often brings other rewards too, things I may have missed if I’d been standing and wandering around. A dragonfly came to settle close by on the warm stones, as did a grasshopper and there were birds about too, a Robin came out of the woods to hop around close by and so did a Dunnock.

Common Darter Dragonfly- Sympetrum striolatum (immature male)

Common Green Grasshopper-Omocestus viridulus

A fresh-plumaged Dunnock spied through tall grass

Into the woods

Still not sure of where I was I decided to walk towards the woods to see if there may be a track I could walk on. Lo and behold as I walked towards the trees, set just inside the edge of the woodland was the information board for the reserve. It looks quite faded so has clearly been there for some years, so maybe it was originally more visible from the lane?

Information board about the Bryn Pydew Reserve- click to enlarge

There is a track, way-marked with red marks on some of the tree trunks.

Woodland trail, Bryn Pydew

The trees, mostly silver birch, as, some oak, sycamore and unusually a good many yew grow closely together, so it was quite dark and shady in there with occasional shafts of sunlight breaking through the leaf canopy. Most of the sycamore leaves I could see were sprinkled wit large black spots, the result of an infection of Tar Spot fungus.

Tar spot is a fungal disease characterised by raised, black spots on leaves, caused by the fungus Rhytisma acerinum. The tar-like spot is a fruiting structure of the fungus that survives the winter on fallen leaves. In the spring mature spores of the fungus, which have a sticky coating, are released and blown by wind to newly emerging leaves.

The undersides of the leaves appear cupped directly beneath the tar spots. This is a much-enlarged image of a tiny snail and another minute insect.

In a clearing in the woodland where there was a little more light I photographed Hart’s Tongue fern growing amongst ivy on an old stone wall and Lady Fern.

Hart’s Tongue Fern and ivy on an old stone wall

Lady Fern

On the other side of the wall where shrubby plants have colonised the clearing I watched five Speckled Wood butterflies chase one another around in the sun-dapples space. These are very territorial little butterflies that will tackle anything that tries to invade its territory; today each time one settled on a leaf to bask it was dive-bombed by another, so it took a while to get an image. It was good watching them though, this is the most I have seen together in one place for a long while and judging by their fresh appearance, I would say they were newly-emerged.

A pristine Speckled Wood-Pararge aegeria

Bumblebee in red clover

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by theresagreen in bumblebees, flower folklore, Nature, nature photography, Old Colwyn, Wildflowers of Wales

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bombus terrestris, buff-tailed bumblebee, meadow flowers, medicinal plants, red clover, trifolium pratense, wayside flowers

There is a beautiful patch of red clover growing alongside the road leaving Old Colwyn and I just had to stop and have a closer look on my way home on Friday before it is past its best.

Red Clover- Trifolium pratense

Red Clover –Trifolium pratense is a species of clover that is native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa, but widely planted and naturalised in many other regions.

Red clover is said to be the national flower of Denmark, although apparently not officially designated . It is however the state flower of Vermont. “No. 159 of the Acts of 1894, effective February 1, 1895, designated the Red Clover as the official State Flower. Both an integral part of many a cultivated hay field and a common sight along numerous Vermont roadsides, the Red Clover is symbolic of Vermont’s scenic countryside generally and of its dairy farms in particular. Oddly enough, however, Trifolium pratense is not a native of Vermont but was “naturalized” from Europe”. http://www.50states.com

The dark pink/purple flowers are held in dense rounded heads and have two leaves just below the top of the peduncle

An herbaceous, short-lived perennial plant, with hairy erect stems; variable in height, growing to 20–80 cm tall. The leaves are alternate, trifoliate (with three leaflets), each leaflet 15–30 mm long and 8–15 mm broad, green with a characteristic pale crescent in the outer half of the leaf; the petiole is 1–4 cm long, with two basal stipules.

The plant was named Trifolium pratense by Carolus Linnaeus in 1753. Trifolium simply means ‘three-leaves’ and Pratense is the Latin for “of meadows”.

Agricultural uses

High in vegetable protein, red clover is widely grown as a forage crop and is also valued for its nitrogen fixation, which increases soil fertility and is used as a green manure crop. It has become naturalised in many temperate areas, including the Americas and Australasia as an escape from cultivation.

Medicinal uses

Red clover has been reported to be used for a variety of medicinal purposes, such as the treatment of bronchitis, burns, cancers, ulcers, sedation, asthma, and syphilis. These days its use may be recommended to alleviate symptoms of menopause; red clover contains isoflavones (oestrogen-like compounds) which may relieve the discomfort of ‘hot flushes’.

Folklore

Clover was an ancient protective herb. The Druids considered the trefoils, symbolic of the eternal verities of Earth, Sea and Sky. The Celts saw the clover as a sacred, magical plant. A 4-leafed clover is a sign of good luck and is a charm against snakes, witches, the devil and other dangerous creatures. It is also said to give the gift of second sight, enabling one to see fairies. In the language of flowers clover means “think of me” or “be mine”.

Pollinator plant

Buff-tailed Bumblebee – Bombus terrestris

Buff-tailed Bumblebee-Bombus terrestris on red clover

Catching up on the gardening

13 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by theresagreen in garden wildlife, Insects, Nature

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bird's foot trefoil seedpods, brimstone moth, buff-tailed bumblebee, garden snail blowing bubbles, gatekeeper butterfly, orange and brown butterfly

This month’s weather has been variable and time spent sorting out the garden has been sporadic, but when I have had the opportunity I have been clearing some overgrown borders and have seen or disturbed some interesting things in the process.

Part of next door’s apple tree overhangs the hedge; the tree is laden with rosy apples and many of the smaller fruit have begun to drop to the ground. The windfalls have been providing a regular treat for the Blackbirds.

22/8/11-Blackbird enjoying a windfall apple

I disturbed the lovely little Brimstone Moth in the following photograph when I was pulling out overgrown ivy.

22/8/11-Brimstone Moth-Opisthograptis luteolata

I found a garden snail close by the spot the moth flew out from. There is nothing it can do much damage to in that particular area, so I replaced it under the hedge, where to my surprise it began producing a mass of foamy bubbles. I’ve been trying to discover why it would have been doing that but haven’t come across an explanation I’m happy with yet.

22/8/11-A garden snail blowing bubbles

The sunshine brought out a few butterflies including Large White, Holly Blue and a couple of Gatekeepers that were beginning to look a little faded.

22/8/11-Gatekeeper butterfly

22/8/11-Buff-tailed bumblebee covered with pollen

There are several species of wildflowers that I leave to grow in the garden, one is the pretty yellow Bird’s foot trefoil, which also currently has seed-pods, the form of which give the plant its name.

22/8/11-Bird's-foot trefoil-Lotus cornicularis

Bird’s-foot Trefoil – Lotus corniculatus is a common flowering perennial plant native to grassland temperate Eurasia and North Africa that flowers from June until September. . The flowers develop into small pea-like pods or legumes; the name ‘bird’s foot’ refers to the appearance of the seed pods on their stalk.

The height of the plant is variable, from 5-20 cm, occasionally more where supported by other plants; the stems can reach up to 50 cm long. It can survive fairly close grazing, trampling and mowing and is a very important plant in the life-cycle of many butterflies and moths. It is most often found growing in light sandy soils.

The plant has had many common English names in Britain, which are now mostly out of use. These names were often connected with the yellow and orange colour of the flowers, e.g. ‘butter and eggs’. One name that I knew it by as a child that is still used is ‘Eggs and Bacon‘.

22/8/11-Bird'sfoot trefoil seedpods. The form and claw-like arrangement of the pods is from where the common name derives

Another of my favourite wildflowers also largely left alone, is the Blue bugle, Ajuga reptans. It has always seemed strange to me that it is often treated as a ‘weed’ in gardens where it occurs in its natural form but that larger-flowered cultivated versions of similar species are purchased and planted.

22/8/11-Blue bugle -Ajuga reptans

North Wales to middle England via a few gardens

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by theresagreen in Nature, wasps

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buff-tailed bumblebee, bumblebee, calystegia sepium, greater bindweed, grey heron in a tree, leicester botanical gardens, potter wasp, sculptures of flowers and leaves

When I was last in Rhos-on-Sea birds were just getting going with raising this year’s families; arriving back at the beginning of July, I was pleased to see that all seems to have gone well and the numbers of House Sparrows and Starlings in particular have swelled considerably. The House Sparrows were still sticking together in a large flock of adults and young and although I did see the Starling family together, the juveniles from around the whole area also gathered together into sizable flocks in the evenings.

: An adult Starling with three young ones

As a very novice gardener, my daughter was thrilled at the appearance of the lovely white flowers of bindweed clambering through the hedge, blissfully unaware that most people spend hours trying to eradicate this invasive plant from their territory.( I always left a patch in the wilder part of my garden in South Wales too, as bumblebees love them, so she probably just assumed they were ‘proper’ flowers.) Happily, bumblebees find them very attractive here too, so I won’t be hacking the plants down till they’ve finished flowering either.

: Garden Bumblebee- Bombus hortorum, heading into the depths of a beautiful bindweed flower.

Calystegia sepium (formerly Convolvulus sepium) –Larger Bindweed, Hedge Bindweed, or Rutland beauty is a species of bindweed, with a subcosmopolitan distribution throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, northwestern Africa, and North America, and in the temperate Southern Hemisphere inAustralia, and Argentina in South America.

It is a herbaceous perennial that twines around other plants, in a counter-clockwise direction, to a height of up to 2-4 m, rarely 5 m. The leaves are arranged spirally, simple, pointed at the tip and arrowhead shaped, 5-10 cm long and 3-7 cm broad.

The showy flowers are produced from late spring to the end of summer. In the bud, they are covered by large bracts which remain and continue to cover sepals. The open flowers are trumpet-shaped, 3-7 cm diameter, white, or pale pink with white stripes. After flowering the fruit develops as an almost spherical capsule 1 cm diameter containing two to four large, black seeds that are shaped like quartered oranges. The seeds disperse and thrive in fields, borders, roadsides and open woods.

Despite the beauty of its flowers, the quick growth and clinging vines of the plant can overwhelm and pull down cultivated plants including shrubs and small trees. Its aggressive self-seeding (seeds can remain viable as long as 30 years) and the success of its creeping roots (they can be as long as 3-4 m) cause it to be a persistent weed and have led to its classification as a noxious weed. The suggested method of eradicating Calystegia sepiumis is by vigilant hand weeding.

___________________________________________________

Privet blossom is also out and providing nectar for bees and hoverflies. There are two or three species of bumblebee around, small red-tailed ones are the most numerous and larger white-tailed ones slightly less so. As I have said before, I am very fond of bumblebees and during this trip I will be working on my bumblebee identification skills, so there may be quite a few mentions of these lovely little insects in the weeks to come, and hopefully I will be adding to my id guide.

I’ve been using the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s excellent website for information and identification http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk

: Buff-tailed Bumblebee-Bombus terrestris on privet flower

There are a few different species of wasps and hoverflies around too, including the one below, a Potter Wasp – Ancistrocerus parietum

: A wasp hunting on bindweed leaves

There were no butterflies on the wing here – I didn’t see a single one.

Botanical Garden, Leicester

The University of Leicester Harold Martin Botanic Garden is a botanic garden close to the halls of residence for the University of Leicester in Oadby, Leicestershire, England. Founded in 1921, the garden was established on the present 16-acre (65,000 m²) site in 1947. The garden is used for research purposes by the university’s Biology Department and features events such as sculpture and art exhibitions, music performances and plant sales. It is open to the public.

: My dad and one side of the glorious herbaceous border

The gardens have been a favourite place of mine since I was a teenager when a friend working there introduced me to them. My dad then moved to within walking distance of them and it has become one of his favourite places too, although he doesn’t get around as well as he used to and hadn’t been for a good while.

: Garden Bumblebee- Bombus hortorum

A sunny Sunday afternoon presented a perfect opportunity to persuade him to take a leisurely stroll around the lovely landscaped grounds. Always immaculately kept, all parts of the garden are lovely, but presently the herb gardens and long herbaceous borders are glorious and buzzing with more bumblebees than I can ever remember seeing in one place. We were also fascinated to watch a little brown mouse climbing through plant stems to reach ripe seeds in the flower border.

There has been a sculpture exhibition in the gardens each summer for around a decade now, I believe this year’s may be the tenth, which added another dimension to the visit – here are a couple of appropriate ones that caught my eye:

: A flower sculpted in oxidised metal

: A beautifully shaped sculpture of a gingko leaf

: Gingko leaf – I would love to have this in my garden

The mature gardens and large trees are a haven for all kinds of wildlife, but we were quite surprised to watch a Grey Heron fly in and land quite high up in a pine tree. It clearly had its sights set on the inhabitants of the large fishpond that we were also admiring at the time.