Yesterday I spotted this wee beastie lurking in one of our flower beds, our biological snail control:

Mr Frog eyeing up his lunch.

We garden organically, and so the hedgehogs and frogs and toads are such welcome guests, not only because they are beautiful creatures, but also because they munch the slugs and snails. We’re trying to become more environmentally-minded in our garden, encouraging our native wild flowers from which the bees like to feed, and giving up trying to grow plants that the slugs find tasty and strip back to stems. So no more hostas for us.

The scarlet tiger moths (Callimorpha dominula) have been about for about the last fortnight. Chap found this newly-emerged specimen on our path.

Newly-emerged scarlet tiger moth.

We put him up out of the way on the honeysuckle, which is in full glorious bloom right now. The scent is intoxicating.

The roses are also looking and smelling fabulous right now. This one is a David Austen rose, Rosa ‘Heritage’.

Rosa ‘Heritage’.

The heavy blooms droop slightly. Pick them up to smell the flower and in our garden you are greeted with these little fellows, flea beetles:

Flea beetle central on Rosa ‘Heritage’.