Fornicating Couples in MY GARDEN

I've been out in the garden today - yep, there were several hours of uninterrupted sunshine. Well, cloudy grey bits with no rain anyway. And then it rained.

But I digress.

I have several pots full of lovely lilies. A few days ago I noticed three fornicating pairs of lily beetles ON MY LILIES.

And this is what your lilies will look like when they've finished:



So it was obvious that coitus interruptus was called for, without their knowledge or consent (though it did occur to me that this might have been the 'first time' for all of them, and that they'd think that this always happened). Then followed the tedious task of seeking out their disgusting larvae (the little grubs cover themselves with their own excrement to protect them from marauding birds. Not surprisingly, it works well). And their eggs, which being bright orange stand out quite well against the green foliage. They're nothing like as large as hens' eggs, though, so you have to look quite hard. As somebody who enjoys an occasional bit of 'seek and destroy' as an afternoon's entertainment, I did find it quite therapeutic.

In the meantime, interesting developments have been afoot in the back garden - but I'll leave those for another day ...