Yes, they are just starting to arrive in the garden.
See the little fly on the primrose, I watched as it laid its eggs on a nearby pansy. Now non-organic gardeners would probably have squashed the eggs, and maybe even swatted the fly as well. But you see, this little fly is a hoverfly, I recognised it by the way it hovered as it flew around. I bet that's how it got its name, you know.
Hoverflies are the good guys in the garden. They pollinate our flowers, and their youngsters eat aphids, bucketloads of them, well they eat a lot anyway. So if you are contemplating turning your garden into an organic haven, it's very important to be able to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
And it's not always easy. Sometimes the good guys can turn bad, like wasps that eat aphids in spring, but by late summer are damaging our fruit, and disrupting our picnics. And then there are the bad guys that are actually good. Did you know that there is a type of slug that only eats other slugs ?
So let's here it for the hoverflies, often overlooked in favour of the bees and butterflies, but just as important. They look very similar to bees and wasps, but their flight gives them away.
And now for an important announcement, this will be the last blog post on Gardening With Nature UK. No, wait a minute, don't delete me from your favourites, I'm only changing the blog title. You see, I've discovered that there is another, more established, blog with a similar title. So to avoid any confusion, and whilst this blog is still in its infancy, I've decided to change the blog title to Yorkshire Buddings.
If you search for that on Google, you get yorkshire puddings, which really taste quite nice, my grandma used to make lovely ones, but I digress. So Yorkshire Buddings it will be. I do realise, of course, that if I ever get onto anyone's alphabetical blog roll, I'll be at the bottom of their list. But I know my place.
I hope I am still able to get your posts after the name change. Last year was a good one for hoverflies - just hope they have all survived the winter.
ReplyDeleteOoh, you've got me scared about the name change now, but I'm still going to give it a try, and then publish a post to make sure I've not lost anybody.
DeleteAn aphid devouring fly would be most welcome in my garden too.
ReplyDeleteYour new name is easy to remember, so it's a good idea. I don't think I've had Yorkshire Pudding, so will have to check for a recipe.
Yorkshire pudding is a savoury dish. You have to get the consistency just right, to make it rise in the oven. These days, after a few failed attempts, most people buy ready made ones.
DeleteI always worry I'm going to kill a good guy, so usually I let everything in my garden live. So far, this has only been bad for me once. I will try to remember that the hoverfly is a good guy.
ReplyDeleteTrouble is, some of them look so similar to wasps, except they don't sting.
DeleteGood post. I have loads of hoverflies in the Summer, however, I seem to have much more greenfly. I need my hover flies to increase their productivity!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe last year's bad winter had something to do with it. Should be interesting to see what this summer brings.
DeleteI used to think gardening was about flowers and color combinations. Learning about the insects that visit and why is also quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteI was never really interested in the insects, apart from butterflies, until I started gardening organically. And now I still find it amazing how everything in the garden has its place, me included.
DeleteMusza być wszystkie owady, żeby równowaga w przyrodzie nie została zachwiana. Nie martw się, że możesz stracić łączność ze swoimi obserwatorami. Ja też zmieniałam nazwę bloga i nic takiego się nie stało. Pozdrawiam.*** Must be all the insects that the balance in nature was not disturbed. Do not worry that you may lose connectivity with their observers. I also changed my blog name and nothing has happened. Yours.
ReplyDeleteThanks Giga, I don't think I've lost anybody, yet, I hope.
DeleteI love hoverflies, they are such useful little creatures to have in the garden and it is such a nice Summery sight to see them hovering above flowers on a lazy, warm day in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI like the new name. A clever use of words :-) I keep wondering about changing part of my blog name. When i originally named it I had never heard of Twitter and have never used it so am not too keen on what might be a perceived connection.
Glad you like the new name, was a bit wary about changing it, but it doesn't seem to have caused any problems, hopefully.
DeleteLove your new name! And I love Yorkshire puddings too, after 13 years here in Britain I have come to like many of the typical British dishes, but Yorkshire puddings are probably number one of my 'English food list'. Clever play on words, hope the transition goes pain free :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you like our local delicacy, but have you tried a 'made in Yorkshire' yorkshire pudding ?
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