Every now and then I get writer’s block because there are too many random thoughts in my head. Sometimes picking inspiration from some weekly meme may help me choose – but other times I get stuck.
I was going to post for Friday My Town Shoot Out on my other blog but then I discovered that I’d been going round with next week’s theme in mind. Which means I had been on the lookout for quite different things than “front gardens or front yards”.
I’m not even sure what makes the difference between a yard and a garden… Where I live there are rather big lawns with various trees and things between the blocks of flats but whether those areas should be considered front or back depends on which building you happen to live in. (My front yard is another building’s back yard and the other way round.)
Anyway the new purple clematis I planted this year on my balcony (at the back of the building) is flowering again.
Yesterday I went to a nearby park looking for butterflies but found none. All I’ve seen this summer in town have been white ones and a few Common Brimstones. None of the colourful Small Tortoiseshells or Red Admirals or Peacocks that I’ve often seen in that park before.
Two years ago, I had the quite unique (and I think unforgettable) experience of seeing at least 70-80 “newborn” Small Tortoiseshells all at the same time in that little park. Last year, however, I fear the Town put too much energy into clearing up a wild area between the park and the railway... The caterpillars of those butterflies live on nettles! Logically, if ambitious humans remove all weeds from the area, the butterflies have nowhere to lay their eggs…
New rusty trellises/archways may give the park an interesting look according to some humans, but probably leave the butterflies unimpressed.
There are still some bumble bees around though.
And various kinds of flowers.
But I do miss the butterflies (▼photo from 2011▼):
(I shall have to check back in the next few weeks though, because many of my butterfly photos, including this one, were taken in early September rather than August.)
13 comments:
to me a garden has edible thing sin it and a yard has flowers. but then there is Selby Gardens so that doesn't work. i think yard is an American word for whatever is out side the house we live in. gorgeous flowers
Love love love that purple clematis...almost looks like velvet.
I hope some butterflies will still put in an appearance for you, even though their habitat has been destroyed.
Oh it makes me so upset when public gardens are sanitised so that insects starve. All that space, and some of it should cater for wildlife. Can you protest to the city hall? maybe they just don't realise.
That clematis is fabulous.
Garden or yard? My thoughts may not match yours. A yard is a big open area, maybe for holding cattle or horses. It is a pen. If it refers to an area around a building then I think it must be open and spacious. A garden is tended lovingly. Vegetable garden. Herb garden. Palm garden. Flower garden.
Your clematis is gorgeous!
I do hope the butterflies come back. Those are so pretty.
My favorite thing here are the shots of your gorgeous intense colored clematis. I believe a yard can be only grass, but a garden has to have flowers or food growing.
Gorgeous flowers around your park/garden!
The pictures are beautiful without butterflies, too, but it's a shame there weren't any around this time.
When I was a child, I used to see many butterflies of many different kinds. Then, for a period of about 20 years, there were fewer and fewer to be seen; the over-use of pesticides and people's fanatic clearing up of overgrown gardens etc. took its toll. Only in the last 10 years or so I have seen more butterflies again, and some of the same kinds I saw as a kid and had not been spotting for many years. I am glad they have come back!
Beautiful pictures, love the clematis with the vibrant colour.
I'm with Jenny on this one to a large extent. The problem is that some noxious weeds (for which in England a person can be prosecuted for not controlling or allowing to creep onto adjoining land) have to be controlled regardless of their value to wildlife. It's always difficult balancing these things. The purple clematis is stunning. I have not seen one that deep before.
Considering you had to scramble to get you entry together this week you did great! Love that clematis!
This topic has got me thinking quite a bit - mainly how on earth am I going to do the spotlights when I still haven't got my head around the topic? I think wherever that clematis is growing deserves to be called a garden. What a beautiful colour! I think my favourite is the bumble bee shot but I'm not sure why.
I think that, at least in English, there is common word usage, word combinations that are usually used together, although in a lot of cases yard and garden can be interchangeable there are some cases when the meaning of what we say can be very different. for example we would say patio garden, or container garden. small areas of flowers, fenced, contained, taking up one corner of the yard, having a path, a bench, a trellis - the garden. so maybe this is about small versus large, city versus suburb, large expanses versus just a little color - and local language. all that to say, I love your flower shots. they are all lovely.
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