Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Dustyevsky

Thank you claire07; we are indeed all 'lovely' here

Another famous leaf-chomper is, of course, the vine weevil. They are very disorganised and messy, so their work is easily distinguished from that of leaf cutting bees:

Later on, I'll show you folks another bit of leaf damage; remember those Solomon's Seal?

YoungBlueEyes

Ooh that's very different to mine. Thank gawd. I don't want vine weevils!

Yes I remember those Soloman's Seal.... please don't say vine weevils gorr'em

twopenny

Lot my post twice! 
So I'll cut it short till later. 
Lambs Ears Bluey. I have them loved them since I was a kid. Can go manky after a few years but easy to regenerate.

Clare, great story. I didn't know that about lc bees. I'd like to see them flying with leaf.

Dustyevsky

Yes I remember those Soloman's Seal.... please don't say vine weevils gorr'em

No, sawfly larvae......

Happens most years. All part of nature's rich tapestry.....and the hens' diet!

-taff

twopenny said:
Lambs Ears Bluey. I have them loved them since I was a kid. Can go manky after a few years but easy to regenerate

How do you do that? I've had mine for a few years and they are looking a bit straggly. I'm great with veg, but flowers n stuff, not so much so any tips gratefully received

YoungBlueEyes

I only bought mine this year but I'll always take tips. You know, in case it just decides to die on me for absolutely no bladdy reason! 

Jeez Dusty, they've barely left you anything Will it survive? 

Farway

Welcome Clare07, beat me to it, identifying the LC bees. I have the vine weevil teeth marks, but luckily my sawfly seems to have been scoffed by the birds, found a few nibbled goosegog leaves as evidence, but no bodies

My Goldcrest must have a nest near, one of the babies was on my bedroom window sill this morning, so I could have a good look at him / her / they / it. Very tiny & cute. They eat small insects it seems, suits me

Another lambs Ears lover, we have the in the volunteer border, and they seem to spread a bit, not invasive, more gentle amble around. They must just self seed is my guess. Not tried, but they look like you could split and divide them to get more

It's well over 90F in my conservatory right now with the doors & window open. Luckily, I completed my watering & feeding the pots early on, so will not melt doing that.

Found my nice neighbour has mowed my grass for me, never saw him doing it, but glad he has. Karma? I saw him struggling cutting back a multi stem tree trunk during the week, so offered him my bow saw. I've always thought no good deed ever goes amiss

Spotted a ripe enough strawberry while watering, so scoffed it PDQ. My white currants are laden, obviously it's because I couldn't care less about them, thus they are neglected & productive. Not enough to make crumble / jam etc. I may try & freeze them, so I can bung them in a fruit crumble later in the year, once the blackberries ripen

Here's my posh dahlia, this is the parent plant, I have two cutting surviving but not yet at flowering stage

The other pic is one of my Regale lily heads

ArbitraryRandom

YBE - I'm reasonably sure that's not a caterpillar, it's a ladybug cocoon. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it looks like a seven spot...?

twopenny

Lambs ears develope long arms when young, woody at the base. Look for roots on those or try and root from them.
Trouble is we think we have time when they are thriving and then suddenly........

Mines in a pot with a japonica. Come autumn if it doesn't buck up with some rain I may try to hoik it out, plant in the garden with some stem under the ground and see if it rejunivates. Then back in the pot.

Farway, that's 2 treats this morning. Will there be a third?
I wish my young neighbour, instead of buying me presents in exchange for a trip out would mow my little front lawn.

Eenymeeny

Sorry about the Solomon's Seal Dusty. I've had the same problem. The first time I saw it, I was so horrified that I cut it all back and sent it to the council tip, complete with sawfly! I hope that I'm not tempting fate but this year I've been spraying it with garlic spray since they first appeared. (I do the same with hostas with good results, about once a fortnight)
 Now I'm scared to go and look at mine in case I've broken the spell...