This is the second year of flowering having been left in their pots over winter. Very tall, but easily supported by wigwam of bamboos. Lily beetle irritating but not serious. Adults and larvae are quite easy to see on the very open foliage of thin leaves of regale. I go round once or twice a day squashing the adults, which I see very rarely and are extremely tough. I also squash the larvae, trying to forget what the red-brown goo they cover themselves in is.

See also earlier post.

.c 10 larvae found on Lilium regale in pot 89 at the front, and one adult. Pot 90 at the back was completely clear.

One larva found in pot 93 of lilies from Homebase at the back. Third year of flowering. Nothing on similar pot 94 at the front.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen lily beetle in this garden.

Pink and white lilies bought in flower last year and left over winter in their pots have just finished. Superb display. See 28 Jul 19.

All my lilies do much better in pots. The fresh bulbs and bulbs from my pots that I planted in my beds haven’t been good.

No sign of lily beetle yet.

This has never been very serious. It comes and goes with the seasons and weather. It’s easy to remove by twirling round a stick, but this tends to trap and pull out plants and animals, so I’ve stopped doing it this way. It can be pulled away from plants by hand and dumped in the shallows, where it dries out in dry periods and put on the compost heap (where it doesn’t rot down much, oddly). I haven’t had to add tap water to the pond since it was first filled, and the blanket weed is definitely in decline.

The bed just outside the kitchen window is doing well. The Ox-eye daisies and Monkshood (both from Dyffryn) blew over rather in very high wind, but were easily propped up. The Lysimachia ‘Firecracker’ (also from Dyffryn) is said to be invasive, but should be easy to control. The Ligularia (so good last year) has been badly eaten by snails, although the flowers seem to be fighting back. Hopefully the new frog population will reduce the snail numbers next year. The path is now narrower and windier, but the effect is very attractive, and there’s no difficulty in carrying out astronomical equipment

There is at least one cat round here that gets driven into a frenzy by my catmint (Nepeta × faassenii). It gets rolled on, scratched and worse. The plants don’t seem to be as attractive once they’ve grown a bit. These covers made of chicken wire are showing some promise. I might try Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ which should be more durable.