A quick trip to the allotment this afternoon to drop some stuff off. The site was looking rather melancholy and was quiet. A couple of other plot holders were at work but other than that the place was deserted. Whilst there I noticed this wee beastie on a cosmos flower that is now going over. I read Ryan's post at Ryan's Garden earlier this week and wondered whether the invasion has spread to the north west. Could this be a harlequin ladybird ? I am hoping not. There are certainly numerous aphids about for ladybirds nice or nasty to feast upon. Himself took the car through a car wash a couple of days ago and was not a happy bunny to find the car covered with aphids this morning. After the curses out came the bucket and soapy water. The car has now been parked in a different spot so it will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.
Now a couple of of plants ids. The first is a lovely day lily which I have been lucky enough to have been given a division of by a dear gardening friend. She swears that the squirrels steal her plant labels and the one that identified this plant has gone missing ~
Finally a tree growing in a Liverpool park, photographed in June this year and then September ~
From my experience of IDing an is it, isn't it a harlequin ladybird so far is size is important. Their markings are so variable, but harlequins are much bigger. Have you sent off your photo for identification?
ReplyDeleteI've no idea re the daylily as they're not really my cup of tea. I think your tree's Cornus kousa though - the fruit's edible apparently! We were admiring them at Westonbirt a couple of weeks ago.
Have a great weekend :)
yes, with VP, kornus cousa and no idea about the ladybird!
ReplyDeleteNext time I see a Ladybird I'm going to get a ruler and measure it! I find identification very difficult as they are so variable.
ReplyDeleteCornus kousa, yes, and a nice one with those large fruits. The harlequin bugs we had were more yellow and black, and much larger. Very bad buggers, they ate many of our plants this summer, if it is the same thing as a harlequin ladybird beetle.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Do you carve turnips for Hallowe'en? :-0
F
Should have visited the links before commenting. This is not the same insect that ate our dahlias. But might be the asian ladybug that invaded the US in 1988. I remember it well, they were coming in the heat and air vents by the thousands. And they bite. We vacumned them up from inside the house, truly scary, they flew around at night, sort of buzzing humming, and landing on us and biting. Yikes! Lock your doors and windows!
ReplyDeleteFrances
Love the cornus - I've always had a fascination for them, they are so amazing. There are quite a few different cornus at Thorp Perrow Arboretum, especially along the White Walk, and I used to linger for ages gazing at them.
ReplyDeleteHi Anna~~ I'll offer my two bits, for what it's worth. What is interesting to me is that the Cosmos flower has no bug bites on it--no chewed holes or the appearance of any damage other than the wilting petal edges. If other flowers in this area look damaged then it's probably a plant eating bug but if there isn't any signs of damage it's probably a variant of the ladybug.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question about the purple plant, I think it's Euphorbia x martinii 'Red Martin' but it and similar ones tend to reseed so it could be one of those seedlings. 'Red Martin' does look similar to this... you think I would keep better track....
My parents have a fairly large Kousa in their yard covered in those pretty fruits. They look pretty in bloom and in "fruit" :)
ReplyDeleteThe cornus is lovely, though I wouldn't have known what it was without others' IDs. I'm pretty sure the middle photo of the white-flowered vine is autumn clematis.
ReplyDeleteI am no good on ladybird ID but we do get loads winter in the bathroom window frame and then emerge in the bathroom where I catch them and take them to the greenhouse to feed off greenfly.
ReplyDeleteI am nursing a sick Cornus Kousa I do hope it establishes itself they are lovely trees.