Redwings enjoying the remainders of the bramley apples.

Here are the little stacking sieves I use the clean our home-grown seeds. This essential kit was originally for grading flour.

Very cold this morning but we finally got the polytunnel cleaning finished. All the flood benches have been scrubbed and are ready for next years stick #plantsforpollinators

End of season plant sale. Last chance to buy this year. Rosybee.com

Insect populations drop even without direct human interference, a new study finds Research published this month found that even in pristine, untouched areas, insect populations are still on the decline. Climate change is a likely culprit.

www.npr.org/2025/09/12/n...

Shield bug on rudbeckia (about the best colour left in our parched garden)

The buzziest plant in the garden this morning is origanum compacta. Impervious to drought apparently! 4 butterflies and 3 bumblebees in a 30cm circle.

Bumblebees on purple loosestrife overnight

I’ve been focusing on garden plants rather than wild and herbaceous perennials not shrubs, so different data sets.

The eryngium giganteums have done well this year and look fab with the echinacea. As self-seeders this is their composition.

The soldier beetles seem to love the eryngium plenum this year.

We have a stall at Whichford pottery in the north Cotswolds tomorrow supporting a talk by Kate Bradbury.
Come and say ‘hi’ if you are in the area.

www.whichfordpottery

Lavender‘eidelweis’ busy with buff-tails this afternoon. Our longest-flowering lavender

Tiny bee on thrift (lasioglossum on Armenia maratima)

Helianthus 'lemon queen' — rosybee - plants for bees Tray of 3 (they get big) This is a perannial sunflower that grows in clumps in to 2m (6ft) tall. If you want some height and drama at the back of a sunny border, this is the plant. Flowers in August...

www.rosybee.com/plants/helia.... New to our range. Tall perennial sunflower.

This is what happens when non-native managed pollinators share resources with our wild native pollinators. I’m fed up with those that are #BeeWashing

Common names are great if you are only studying wild flowers. But they are lack accuracy and are not the names on the plants in the garden centres.

Nope. It’s definitely verbascum nigrum album. I grew it myself from seed.

I hadn’t noticed before that verbascum nigrum has bright orange pollen. These plants only have nectar first thing in the morning but they were busy this morning.

Green-veined white on geranium

Hoverfly on campanula glomerata

Lots of six-spot burnet moths in the meadow yesterday

Some ideas on what flowers to grow to help bees cope with hot weather from @The_Buzz_Club "Bees & Heatwaves" citizen science project, download report from link below:
www.thebuzzclub.uk/bees-heatwaves
@yanetsepulveda

This is how we have our tea-breaks at Rosybee

The long-horn bees are back in our meadow. Hurrah! I was really worried that last years wet spring might have scuppered their mating chances but all is well. Birdsfoot trefoil- so valuable.

time to repost this!

First ‘cuckoo’ bumblebee I’ve seen this year.

Borage (annual) — rosybee - plants for bees Tray of 6+ plants Annual. An old herb garden plant and you can add it to cocktails! One of the best nectar sources from June as the flowers refill every 30 minutes. 70cm high, blue flowers. Let the f...

www.rosybee.com/plants/borage reduced before they get too big - £7 for 6

The hawthorn in our Monnow Valley is magnificent this year.

Our comfrey is this beautiful purple colour. Possibly Russian comfrey. Does anyone know? Anyway, buzzing away today.