The last time I saw one of these in the garden was in 1998: poplar hawk moth / ospesvermer. Today, one turned up in my light trap, and I’m sure anyone passing would have heard a loud WOW coming from the woods! More information and a picture of the 1998 moth here.
It was reluctant to take to the wing and needed some encouragement as can be seen in the videos and you can pick it out flying off through the woods…
I love when my gardening activities attract wildlife and contributes to the biodiversity of this wonderful place!
I’m once again growing wapato (Sagittaria latifolia) in addition to Chinese arrowhead (probably Sagittaria trifolia) in large containers (sorry for the plastic!). I can see these containers from my sitting place in the garden behind the Amelanchier hedge and in the heat wave and drought we’ve been experiencing with record high May temperatures (over 30C not far from here), I’ve seen several bird species drinking. Today, I found a batman hoverfly (dødningehodeblomsterflue; Myathropa florea) in one of the buckets:
Fantastic day at Ringve Botaniske Hagen’s 50th anniversary garden party for the city. The theme for the day was Biodiversity and Sustainability! KVANN had a stand with a focus on perennial food plants that double as ornamental plants, insect-friendly or bird-friendly. We brought with us a number of such edi-ento-mentals and edi-avi-mentals (insect- or bird-friendly, edible ornamental plants) and many toom home plants or seeds! Eventually, all the flowers attracted biodiversity in the form of two admirals and a number of hoverflies!
Thanks to all KVANN members and others who visited and helped us, and especially Jurgen Wegter who helped and brought flower meadow seeds from Fagerli Naturgård!
Thanks also to Vibekke Vange and my colleagues at Ringve!
Pictures by Jurgen Wegter, Stephen Barstow and Meg Anderson!
