ANGLE SHADES - TWO

A while back I posted a photo of a very plump, very green, substantial caterpillar which was climbing the outside of our garden wall. It got to the top, hung around a bit then vanished.

Angle Shades Moth - Phlogophora Meticulosa
May 20th 2013

Now, I can't guarantee that the moth I found today is the same individual as that caterpillar. Indeed, if I understand it properly, there's a question hanging over whether the butterfly or moth which emerges from a chrysalis is the same 'person' as the butterfly which 'went in'. But - if that was an Angle Shades caterpillar  in February (and I think it was) . . . here's what it looks like now it's sprouted wings.

Angle Shades Moth - Phlogophora Meticulosa
CAN YOU SEE ITS EYE?
May 20th 2013

This one arrived on the outside of our kitchen window sill a couple of hours ago and is still there. Maybe it's reminiscing about the woody and herbaceous plants it munched in its youth or the chrysanthemums its offspring might feast on later in the year. (Tough. I have none!)

Now, the question is - do I want it?

One of my favourite wildlife books is 'Garden Pests of Britain and Europe' by Michael Chimery. 'Pests' you note. (One of the sensible things about this book is its 'don't panic, enjoy' approach.) But here is a lovely internet page about Angle Shades Moths which tells you how to attract them to your garden with nectar rich flowers (for the adults) nettles and docks (for the larvae). Two sides of dilemma.

You might like to browse the site. It's about 'The Wildlife Garden Project'. The idea is that if masses of people make small changes to their gardens to make them a bit more 'wildlife friendly' cumulatively and together we can create the UK's largest wildlife reserve. I came across it today and am attracted by its informality and the enthusiasm it emits so I've signed up for its newsletter.

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SOMETHING DISGUSTING IS HAPPENING TO THE APPLE TREE

Help! What is this? Everything about the apple tree appears to be healthy. The blossom is exceptionally late in arriving but that's in synch with other plants this year. Everything's behind. The leaves are healthy. The flower buds are beginning to show some colour. But then there's this.

To get to the apple tree, I have to walk across beds better not stepped on at present so I zoomed in with the camera.

Why is this spur all glossy and sticky looking? (It's the only one.)

Should I cut it off? Will the sticky spread?

Anyone?

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THE WONDERFUL SEEDS OF PETTY SPURGE (Euphorbia peplus)

On my windowsill is a little bay tree in a big pot.

In with it, along with a bit of mould, some grass, a couple of Aquilegeas, a few unknown seedlings, and a Fat Hen (or something like it) are two Petty Spurge plants. One is tall, slightly sprawling with lots of branches and the other small and upright.

The bay tree is only four inches high. One day it may be as tall as our house. At present it's dwarfed by the Fat Hen and Spurge and they are spilling seeds.

The Fat Hen ones (if it isn't Fat Hen, I'll come back another day and put this post right) are dark and round - slightly flattened as if they were once balls but have been pressed down. The Petty Spurge seeds are paler and only about a millimeter long.

When I first noticed them (which I didn't for a while and probably never would have if I hadn't been peering at the Fat Hen ones) I thought they were tiny stripey creatures with white noses. But when their photographs are taken and made large - they turn out to be pitted instead. From some angles, they are like hedgehogs.

From others, like grenades.

Fascinatingly, they have a flat side with a straight groove in. Such variety in an easily un-noticeable seed!

Bet you are now wishing you allowed stray plants to grow in with your intentionally-there ones!

Branch of Petty Spurge - (Euphorbia peplus)
showing its milky sap and unripe seeds

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Thanks to Lucy Corrander and to iSpot for the Euphorbia peplus ID.
The latest post on my other blog, Esther's Boring Garden Blog, is a review of
Bad Mothers United by Kate Long.