I haven’t done much gardening this week, despite having had some lovely sunny days. There are still a few jobs to do, but there’s no sense of urgency now that the bulbs have all been planted, and I haven’t felt the urge to prune anything! I have been out taking photos though, and teaching myself a bit more about that. I may be getting a tripod for Christmas, and a book about digital photography, that might help.
Here are my Six on Saturday featuring wildlife, exotic and native, and a few plants of course. Join the tribe over at The Propagator’s blog to take part or just have a look.
1 Ring-necked Parakeets. Our exotic visitors are back. I have mixed feelings. They definitely add a splash of colour. However, they tend to hog the feeders, so that the little birds that come – tits, sparrows, finches, the robin – have to wait until they’ve gone. They are also very noisy and hang around in groups. Most importantly, they are a threat to indigenous birds, because they take over nesting and resting places. Back in 2014, there were 12,000 in Brussels. I imagine there are a lot more today. I will have to shoo them off.
2 Smaller native birds. This is more like it. Lots of blue tits and coal tits around, eating from the feeders and also nibbling some berries in the Viburnum bush. The bird bath is at their disposal in the glade, which is actually looking relatively pretty at this time of year.
3 Fern and Heuchera. Onto some plants. Most of the colour is fading out of the garden, but I quite like this toned-down combination of dying Ostrich fern leaf and resting Heuchera ‘Indian Summer Cranberry’. Both cope admirably with the dry conditions caused by the roots of the big trees nearby. I have another Heuchera, ‘Caramel’, in a pot, which would be nice planted out here.
4 Hakonechloa ‘All Gold’. I can never remember the name of this little tussocky grass, I had to look it up again. How on earth to pronounce it? It’s looking scruffy right now but I like the warm yellow colour and can’t get enough of it in my east-facing border, it brightens it up after the sun has gone. I want it to grow fast so I can divide it and add more in.
5 Miscanthus sinensis ‘Malepartus’. Still my favourite grass, with the seed heads now looking very fluffy. I only have one in a pot, I think I’ll have to divide this one too.
6 Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’. We haven’t had any proper frosts yet, but this Fatsia is nonetheless sporting a dapper ‘frosted look’. It’s in one of the Italian pots on the decking/terrace.
That’s it for this week, I hope we will all continue to find inspiration in our gardens and around us in nature to carry on blogging (or just carry on!). I intend to head out to the lakes at the edge of the forest with my camera to see what I can do.
The Nostalgic Gardener 
Though a nuisance, the parakeets are very colourful. They haven’t reached Ireland, certainly not our corner of the country, and I think I’d prefer they didn’t. Sometimes, the exotic is better staying exotic!
I love the Hakonechloa and it gets better as it increased in size, a beautiful plant. One of the very few grasses we grow in the garden.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perhaps, though we do enjoy our exotic plants, including the Hakonechloa – it must like the wet in Ireland.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it thrives here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hopefully you haven’t got to fend all 12,000 plus parakeets off your garden! Everything looking lovely! We are currently trying to find space for a bird feeder (we have a cat and don’t want deaths!) – they give such joy, don’t they? That Fatsia looks terrific in your wonderful pot –
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Cathy, sounds like one of the plagues of Egypt, 12,000 parakeets 😆Hope you find a safe spot for the feeder, high up off the ground or in a tree maybe? We have an indoor cat and an outdoor one, the latter worries me a bit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We are so high up above the garden that our view outside is really from the living room balcony and that would be the obvious place. Unfortunately Ella uses it to exit the house! However, strangely, I’ve seen a lot more bird activity on the balcony this year than in the past, and we are starting to wonder if in fact we could create a ‘safe’ raised feeder out there that we could view from the living room.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds lovely. Give it a try. And maybe a bell on Ella’s collar if she wears one 😉
LikeLike
The ring-necked Parakeets are certainly exotic! I saw some in London earlier in the year – although I heard them first!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed the photos of the blue-tits. They are my favourite birds – so colourful. It’s squirrels that hog the bird feeders here. I’m going to have to try moving them, as it seems pointless putting out food that the birds don’t get to eat. I once got to watch a squirrel removing all the bread from the bird table and burying it. It’s a very pretty photo of the bird bath too with the fushia behind it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. I love the blue tits too, so sweet. We also have squirrels but red ones, they are a lot less bold than the greys and leave the feeders alone. I have been putting out some hazelnuts for them but perhaps the parakeets got to them first. Tricky!
LikeLike
PS squirrels burying bread, oh dear, that’s not going to a nice snack come spring!
LikeLike
Nice bird photos !
Hakonechloa is in my wish list for 2021 ( variety ‘Albo Aurea’): how does yours survive winters?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ask me in spring. 😉 my garden is sheltered so I hope they will be fine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤞 for you!…
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have some lovely grasses, and I love the fatsia – nice form and colour. Lovely bird photos too. Enjoy your week 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, the good thing about parakeets is they are quite still, easier to photograph! I’ll be popping over to your blog soon to have a look at what you’ve been up to 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You did a great job with the photography. A tripod is a great bit of kit and my photos are better when I use it. I’m just a bit lazy and don’t always get it out. Noelle has also posted a Fatsia spiders web. I’ve never seen one before and now we’ve had 2 in one week. Fabulous.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😊 am really learning as I go with the photography. The idea is that the tripod can sit by the living room window which looks onto the garden. That way I may be able to catch one of our red squirrels in action. They are so quick!
LikeLike
Red Squirrels! Wow – I’ve only ever seen one, when I was walking in the Lake District. It was a happy day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely post! Such beautiful birds and their amazing color!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Robert!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gosh parakeets! How did they get to Brussels? Like your Fatsia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Apparently they were released from an animal park in the 70’s. Unlike the ones in London who are descendants of Jimi Hendrix‘s pets (so the legend goes). 😂
LikeLike
We had parakeets as pets when I was a kid. Much smaller than these. It’s hard to picture them as bullies. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think these ones are probably descendants of someone’s pets or released from a zoo. In Jordan we had budgies that kept escaping but weren’t as tough as the parakeets who after all come from the Himalayas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes I used to hear them while in India doing a slot with iyanger in puna. They were in a lush garden that I could see from my balcony they always cheered me. Love the photos.
LikeLiked by 1 person