I’ve probably seen fewer than 10 bees, and there’s plenty in my garden that would normally be teeming with them. There were several bumblebees about when they first emerged, but just 3-4 each day now. Buddleias are blooming but I’ve seen just one brimstone and one red admiral, there should be dozens of butterflies by now, and many more varieties.
Ladybirds were late but plentiful, there aren’t many now, but what has shocked me is that my 30 year old rose has not had a single greenfly this year, and it’s usually covered in the wretched things as soon as each bud softens. None at all so far.
There are big commercial farms to the south and east of my garden, both growing wheat in the closest fields, and a small family farm beyond the wood, growing rape. I suppose the lack of insects is due to something they’ve sprayed, or could it really just be the weather?
I sowed 16 packets of seeds this spring. Sweetcorn, sweet peas and sunflowers started indoors in loo roll tubes, then direct sowing of cosmos and calendula, wild flower mixes, limanthes, leeks, carrots, kale, spring onions, parsnips, carrots and French beans. Of all those, 16 packets, unbelievably just FOUR calendula have grown, and 15 out of 50 beans from a desperate second sowing. I’ve never NOT had sunflowers and sweetcorn, though sweet peas don’t do well for me. Yet calendula in a different bed that self seeded from last year are thriving, also self seeded borage and aquilegia. Hardly any poppies, and there were few forget me nots. I planted 30 alliums, seven have grown and just two of those have flowered. The unkempt strawberry patch is producing well though raspberries look dismal, and I don’t think there will be many apples or plums. Potatoes need a few more weeks.
Slugs are terrible but I left it too late to use nematodes, though the failure of so very many seeds to appear can’t all have been slug-related. Weird, sad, and frustrating.
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