Swift Half update - 2nd June 2011

• I've not given a garden update for some time and a lot is happening at present so here goes...
• Firstly - the edlerflowers are well past their peak - by the first day of JUNE! Something amiss there!
• Secondly -last year as I've already mentioned before about three weeks ago - the first honeysuckle flower appeared on the 1st June - this year (on the first June) the honeysuckle wass probably past its peak - certainly in full bloom and spreading that sickly sweet smell all over the patio.  Summer has come particularly early this year.
• The bramble flowers are all out - and are covered with all manner of bees - in particular, loads of tree bumblebees - which must be nesting in  a tree or bird box round 'ere somewhere, but I've not found out exactly where just yet. (Tree bumblebees in case you've forgotten are relatively new to the UK - and are the only bumblebees to nest up trees or in bird boxes up trees. They're very easy to identify - quite large, with a ginger thorax and a white tail).
• All the flowers and herbs that Anna bought me for my fortieth are doing very well - the flowering sage is rampant (and the bees love that too) as is the lavender. The chives (which we've had for two years now) are doing well - loads of flowers (again, past their peak) and the evening primrose and white valerian are doing very well also (no flowers on the evening primrose yet though).
• My sunflowers are doing ok as well - though they don't look as "strong" as last year. Time will tell...
• I saw my first hawker dragonfly over the garden this afternoon, chased by a sparrow - but it managed to gerraway I'm glad to say.
• We've had our first beautiful demoiselle (damselfly) of the year and the jewel wasp has been back on our south-facing wall a few times.
• Malu and Yala have enjoyed eating my moffs when I've had time to put the moff trap out - last night I did manage to catch a lovely yellow male lackey moth and two light emeralds - very nice to see.
• I hear the elephant hawk-moths are out also now, so I don't suppose it'll be too long before I catch one or two.
• Plenty of birds in the garden also (though I only feed the tits and woodpeckers now, you might remember). I expect the fledgling woodpeckers to make an appearance in the garden any day now.
• No fox in the garden at present, or heron - but my eagle eyes (and ears!) are ever alert to the possiblity...
• Since our petrol hedge trimmer has blown up, I've not done much clearing of the garden -so all is very green and overgrown (apart from the lawn of course - which has still hardly had any rain since late February).
• All this sun and warmth has certainly been incredible for the flowers, blossom and therefore the start of the fruit (pears and damsons) crop. BUT - in order for all these laden boughs (and they really are laden with small pears and damsons) to really come into their own, we desperately need some rain to swell up the fruit.
• I hear that June is meant to be pretty-well bone dry in the south of England. That combined with a bone dry March, April and May means I rather think that although the possibility of tons of fruit exists, a lot of it may wither away in flaming june. We'll see...
• I had a wee poke around the jungle this afternoon -looking for caterpillars and damselflies. Hardly any to be seen to be fair (although most insects  - certainly larval insects) like conditions to be far more damp than they have been in the last few months. We have loads of huge harlequin ladybird larva, loads of dock bugs - but thats about all for now.