After a warm May, June has started rather colder and with much less rain. The lush new green growth isn’t quite so vibrant now, and there are some changes in the flowers around the banks. This Spring has been exceptionally favourable for foxgloves, and the pond has it’s own colourful display which look very pretty.
At first glance the surface of the pond looks a bit muddy and dull, but if you stop and look closer you will see it is alive with insect life. There are pond skaters all over the surface, and there are flying insects filling the air above them. No wonder the swallows do a low-level fly-by over ponds, they must fill their beaks very quickly.
There is one flower which although it is rather pretty, we really don’t want to see. Himalayan Balsam is an invasive species and it is spreading rapidly. It’s a tall, vigurous plant and it takes over areas of damp ground at the expense of our local flowers, which can’t compete. It has a long flowering season which benefits bees towards the end of summer, but that is only a small advantage. When we have access to the pond for maintenance again, we will be attempting to clear Himalayan Balsam as best we can.
Hopefully we will get a bit more rain to keep the spring flowing and the pond full for the summer.
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