Primed

After finishing my planting in the front garden yesterday, I started to mulch the long border with a commercial rotted bark mulch, but quickly ran out. So this morning R and I went back to the garden centre and bought three more bags, and this afternoon I used two and a half of these to finish the job. I'm not thrilled with it, to be honest, because it's cut in quite large pieces, which I don't think is as attractive as a smaller, neater cut, but it was the only type available. For the past few years I've been using our own rotted chippings, left for me by the tree surgeon whenever he's been to trim or take down a tree, but sadly we've now run out, which is why I've had to resort to buying some. We're going to need a dead cherry tree taking down in the wild garden soon though, and once again I'll ask for it to be chipped and left in a pile to rot down.

Because I was busy for much of the day, my bug hunting efforts were rather cursory, but I did manage to catch up with a male Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes) - the second miner of the season. However, a tiny, rather scrawny mining bee is absolutely no match for a gorgeous fresh Hairy-footed Flower bee - especially when the Plumpie hovers so obligingly, with his magnificent proboscis extended, as he contemplates which pulmonaria flower to dip next. Should you be bored with the Hairies though (what is wrong with you??), I've added a shot of the Gorse Shieldbug, which was out sunning itself on the honeysuckle today. It's interesting to see that  even though it's only the second shieldbug to show its face in the garden this year, it has already changed from winter camouflage into its spring colours, ready to breed.