Packwood

I was passing close to Packwood House and Gardens last Thursday and, as it was sunny and dry, I made a detour to pay the gardens a brief visit. Famous for the colourful herbaceous borders and yew garden with "Sermon on the Mount", the gardens are really lovely.

One of several sundials at Packwood







The East Court marks today's entrance to the house.






A Small Tortoiseshell - for once a butterfly that was happy to pose for a photo!






The Carolean Garden
which contains herbaceous borders, rose beds and the sunken garden.

First, the sunken garden















The Yellow Border











Roses are planted in bays
















Unfortunately, as I was about to enter the raised terrace walk (my favourite part of the garden) and yew garden I was confronted by this sign. EEK!



Sadly, no photos of the raised terrace just a couple from the "outside".







Onwards to the Lakeside Meadow





A few photos of the Yew Garden again from the "outside"





There are some beautiful trees within the grounds - here an oak.



If you click on this picture and enlarge it you can just make out on the right Packwood's version of an open air sitting room



Views of the lake from the causeway





Not many birds around today - just a few mallard on the lake and a dunnock in the gardens

Another butterfly happy to pose - this time a brimstone





As I sat down on a bench in a quiet corner of the grounds (Packwood was packed today as usual) a dragonfly landed on the back of the seat. I thought initially it was a small red damselfly (must admit I am not very knowledgeable on dragon/damselflies) but looking at a field guide when I got home I think it is more likely to be a ruddy or common darter.










Plunge Pool built in 1680



This sundial is dated 1667 and is situated in the West Court - the original main entrance to the house









Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit the interior of the house. Hopefully, some photos from inside the property next time I go.

I must admit I love this area of Warwickshire and it always reminds me of the "Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" and I always think of Edith Holden cycling around the lanes and painting her lovely pictures.

Chiffchaffs Visit Garden

I have kept a close watch on the garden over the last few weeks as we often get migrant birds passing through at this time of year. I noticed an unusual bird foraging amongst the shrubs this morning and grabbed the binoculars. I was pleased to see not just one but two chiffchaffs in the garden. They foraged for over 15 minutes and I was able to get into the garden and get good views of them.

I spent about twenty minutes this afternoon trying to get some photos of hoverflies and a speckled wood in the garden. Eventually, the speckled wood stopped still for long enough for me to get a couple of photos.

Something Different!

Just a brief interlude from my usual blog postings......

I went with my son last night to see "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Birmingham Rep. I really enjoyed the brilliant production of this science-fiction spoof musical. Fabulous set, great music (the actors play all the instruments), singing and dancing. Sometimes dark and menacing, often funny with excellent acting. The play is on until 18th September and its well worth a visit if you live in the Midlands. There was a clever moment right at the very end of the play but I won't spoil the surprise in case anyone reading this blog is planning to go.

A publicity photo for the show taken from the Birmingham Rep's website.

Moths and Garden Update

My last moth trapping session resulted in the highest catch of the year so far mainly due to the high number of large yellow underwings in the trap. Flounced rustic and yellow shell were new species for the year. I was lucky to trap not one but two yellow shell as apparently they are rarely attracted to light but they do like feeding on buddleia and we still have several in flower in the garden. Rosy rustic and Dark Sword-grass, the latter a migrant moth, were new species for the garden. 4 rustic moth species and 3 yellow underwing moths were far too worn to identify and I eventually gave up on these. There were two sexton beetles in the trap again but luckily I haven't caught any wasps or hornets yet!!

Yellow Shell (quite a worn specimen but a very pretty moth)



Rosy Rustic - quite distinctive for a rustic! but there is a moth species called Butterbur (how I love these moth names) that is quite similar.



Dark Sword-grass



As always if I have got any of the identifications wrong please let me know.

Summary

Saturday, 28th August

8.00 - Dawn Minimum Temperature 11.2 degrees centigrade

Actinic 15w Skinner Trap

19 x Yellow Underwing
2 x Lesser Yellow Underwing
3 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
6 x Copper Underwing
3 x Marbled Beauty
2 x Willow Beauty
8 x Flounced Rustic New for Year
2 x Common Rustic
1 x Small Square-spot
2 x Yellow Shell New For Year
1 x Dark Sword-grass New for Garden
2 x Rosy Rustic New for Garden
1 x Straw Underwing

plus 7 too worn to identify

Total number of species trapped in garden 92
Total number of species trapped in 2010 76
Total number of moths trapped in 2010 452


Garden Update

A pair of jays visited the garden last weekend - we only ever see this species a couple of times a year. The female sparrowhawk spent about fifteen minutes on Saturday perched motionless in the eucalyptus tree. According to my husband several birds were almost mobbing her. The mixed flock of blue, great, long-tailed and coal tits are still visiting the feeders daily and both male and female great spotted woodpecker are also feeding. They are very aggressive towards other birds that try and land on the feeders when they are feeding. Butterfly numbers are decreasing - have only seen a large white and a speckled wood this week. Lots of berries are ripening in the garden now - virbunum, rowan, pyracantha, whitebeam, blackberries, haws and rosehips and blackbirds are already tucking into the rowan berries.

I will leave you with a few photos taken in the garden a couple of days ago.