My wild garden

Hedgehogs are often attacked by foxes. My friend was the 'hedgehog lady' where I lived in the UK, and she was constantly caring for hedgehogs which had lost one or two hindleg to foxy.

Mating hedgehogs are very noisy! Non of this whispered'je t'aime stuff'

Oh dear, I hope it wasn't being attacked by a badger!

We had a screaming hedgehog at 10 o'clock last night. Not sure what the problem was. Very loud. Telling another hh off I expect.

There are quite a few speedwell varieties, Mishap, not all have bright blue flowers. Or it could be the blue version of the scarlet pimpernel?

There are quite a few speedwells. What about field forgetmenots? Very tiny flowers.

How tall the little blueys grow?

I don't think it is speedwell - the flower is a pale dusty blue.

Taken it four years, I meant to say.

I guess it depends on where they spill their seed and on the soil. I have twenty-seven ox-eye heads this year. It has taken the one plant I rescued from a place that was going to be dug up and built on to establish itself and flower its head off, so to speak. We have acidic soil but they do well in the roadside verges. Hoping for more next year

Sounds like it! I've got a few oxeyes, had masses last year, don't know why only a few this year, do you?

Could it be speedwell in your lawn, mishap? How lovely about the ox-eye daisies

As we live in the country and our garden merges imperceptibly into the landscape, we keep our garden fairly wild - it would look very odd to have a formal garden here. And we are neither of us very fit, so we need low-maintenance.

This year nature has decided to bless us with millions of oxe-eye daisies that have never been here before - they look fabulous, especially in amongst the few roses that we have.

And our lawn is more blue than green in the summer - it is apparently some sort of herb - which is quite indestructible (even if I might wish to destroy it, which I don't) and pops merrily up again after each mowing. I love it - I call it my camomile lawn, even though I have no idea what it really is. It is spreading rapidly and I imagine the whole lawn will be blue by next year! - with the occasional buttercup/dandelion/clover/daisy etc. I have no truck with perfect green lawns - might as well roll out a plastic one as far as I am concerned.

Couldn't begin to count - but yes, mainly natives and perenials, quite a few brought over from our garden in the UK. We have a couple of fields around the house, the only ones in the area that have never been 'improved' (should be able to sue on description for that term) and full to the brim with wild flowers at the moment. One of the farmers put her horses there- but we keep one large area ungrazed, so the flowers can reproduce and provide food for bees.

Plus of course many nettles for the butterflies. A bat expert is coming tonight to see if we have bats in the barn roof - will be interesting. It is a haven for swallows and house-martins up there - there is a small windon which we open for them in late Spring, only about 40x40cm - and it is wonderful to watch them dart in and out at the rate of knots. Love it.