Well now it's blooming.
I've never really taken much notice of this ivy, mainly because it's right at the bottom of the garden, and was originally planted as ground cover on a dry bank in deep shade. In the last few years, it has climbed up a wire fence, and started to flower just a few years ago. But as it blooms in late autumn, and it is at the bottom of the garden, I must admit to having ignored it. Excuses !
However, as I'm joining in the BTO's berry survey this winter, I shall be observing the ivy more closely. Hopefully, it will produce berries this year.
I've been wondering why the bird seed seems to be disappearing quickly at the moment. Think I've found the answer:
We have a charm of goldfinches and a flock of greenfinches visiting about three times a day. And they're very hungry. I imagine that the cost of bird seed will increase soon because of the summer weather producing a poor harvest. And seed in the wild will be in short supply too.
On the subject of food, I went to see if any strawberries had ripened and found this:
If you look closely, you can see a spider on top of the strawberry. I hope it moves on when the strawberry ripens. The strawberries are growing in wall planters. Unfortunately, at this time of year, we get a lot of spiders on the planters. Probably because the wall is warmer than the rest of the garden. In fact, anywhere is warmer than the garden today. It's felt really cold, despite the sun shining. Well, it is autumn after all.
Ciekawe, czy mój bluszcz kiedyś zakwitnie. Mam go od bardzo dawna . Ptaszki faktycznie są chyba głodne i jest ich spor, ale widok ich uroczy. Pozdrawiam.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if someday my ivy bloom. I've had it for a very long time. Birds are probably really hungry and there are sports, but the sight of cute. Yours.
The ivy takes many years to mature and bloom. Mine took decades, but it was in deep shade, so it took it a long time to reach for the daylight.
DeleteHi Crystal,
ReplyDeleteWe have an Icy creeping in from nextdoor and I think it might also be the type to bloom... I'm half looking forward to it as the birds and insects do love Ivy so much, but also concerned about it taking over and struggling to keep it under control. So I'm not yet decided whether I'll allow it in the garden - but it'll do a great job of hiding our hideous red stained back fence!
Our birds are already costing far too much; they've flocked to the garden earlier this year and I can't keep filling the feeders daily.
Are you a member of the Sheffield birding group? Might be something you're interested in. They have a website where you can record sightings too.
I keep the ivy at the bottom of the garden and don't allow it to move any further.
DeleteI'll have a look at that website.
It is charming to see birds in the garden and placing seeds out is a good way to entice them. However, these birds are taking the easy way out and I wonder whether they would slowly lose the living skills to forage for food. I've seen them getting lazy in my dad's garden.
ReplyDeleteI attract the birds into the garden to control pests. Whilst their waiting to get onto the feeders, they eat lots of greenflies. Watching them is an added bonus.
DeleteI've never seen ivy blooming! It must be very happy. I think the spider is guarding "his" strawberry! :)
ReplyDeleteDo you know, I thought that about the spider after I'd published the post.
DeleteI saw the spider. They are an interesting creature. Lots of them here along the shores of Lake MIchigan. A while back I did a posting with a number of them. Some here look rather scary to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind spiders in the garden, but I'm not so keen when they come into the house.
DeleteSeed does get expensive after a while. I haven't filled my feeders in a while since I have seed heads available to the birds. I didn't know ivy bloomed! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI only recently discovered that ivy bloomed. I really hope it produces berries too.
Delete