Gaudy

We've reached the point in the summer when the wild flower patches in the garden are beginning to run to seed, and some of them appear to be seeding Woundwort Shieldbug nymphs. This herb robert is growing through a clump of hedge woundwort, which as their names suggest is a preferred foodplant of this species, but in my experience these little bugs aren't especially fussy, and this one appears to be sucking sap from the seed head on which it's standing.

Today was a dreary, dark and ultimately very wet day, with July apparently determined to go out as it came in. The culprit, apparently, is the jet stream, which has suddenly shifted southwards. High pressure on the south side of this high level air flow is causing the current brutal heatwaves in southern Europe, whereas those of us on the north side are languishing under low pressure, which is sucking in a succession of weather fronts from the Atlantic. The beginning of August isn't forecast to be any better, though there's a rumour that we might have a few calmer days later next month. Oh goody.

Although this scene is a little more chaotic than I like, I've chosen it because its colours were by far the cheeriest thing in the garden today. The extravagant central seed head is also managing to put me quite strongly in mind of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, which is a good thing. It's far too long since I was in Barcelona.

A bonus fun fact if you've stuck with me this far: the seed pods of Geranium robertianum are described by the RHS as explosive. I'm torn between wanting to witness that, and thinking that I'd better warn the shieldbug tomorrow, if it hasn't been washed off the plant by the rain that has now been lashing down for several hours.