OF RAGWORT (AND FRUIT) AND POISON

Just a little shout about glorious ragwort, national flower of Ellan Vannin, the yellow cushag. This much maligned flower is, alas, toxic to animals - but only in large quantities. Wild animals seem to avoid it - its smell and bitter taste a deterrent. It does get eaten if pasture is over grazed and the animals are hungry. Then it is toxic.
However it is not illegal to let it grow in all its glory, covered in small tigers - the caterpillars of the cinnabar moth.
So I will not be pulling it up in the garden but loving it like John Clare - "Ragwort thou humble flower with tattered leaves, I love to see thee come and litter gold."

When we moved the rose bed for our upsizing the remaining subsoil was lightly forked and any old seeds I had scattered there plus some bought escholzias and poppies.
What is surprising is that other things have appeared (apart from the weeds). Ammi, a verbena bonariensis (where did that come from?), calendulas, borage and so on.

The fruit is coming - well some of it, less said about raspberries and gooseberries the better.

Apples to the left, plums to the right.

Greengages to the left and damsons to the right.

One thing that is doing well, or are doing well are the buddleias. They have even self sown into the hoggin path.

This one is the only original from the previous owner Tom J and I have steadfastly refused to prune it back in February. It seems to thrive. Odd branches have snapped off in a gale but it is happy up on the top banking under the old ash tree.

I have given up on the raspberries and removed the old canes already and tied in some of the new ones for next year (unless I dig them all up and burn them). I have removed any dead wood from the transplanted roses and found one or two plants that might be dead and one I thought was dead is sprouting - I hope not from the rootstock.

Found a strange caterpillar and after much searching we decided it was a knot grass moth. Not a great photo but enough  for identification.

Then I was looking at the bushnell camera of the pond and our mallard duck when I saw something swim across the water in the background. Look carefully - it is early on. Is it a water rat? Well, no, I think it is not - rather a common brown rat sadly - but swimming well.

Have done another butterfly count and this included our first Comma this year.

Don't touch!! Just found this pretty flower in the poppy bed. A Datura, Thorn Apple, Jimsonweed, Devil's Snare and poisonous. In fact one of the top ten most poisonous plants and fruits.
Datura belongs to the classic “witches’ weeds”, along with deadly nightshade, henbane, and mandrake. Most parts of the plants contain toxic hallucinogens, and datura has a long history of use for causing delirious states and death.

I think I will wash my hands.