Orchids at home and fresh oothecas found!

I bought some goodies for my little friends in the garden - a butterfly house which is a place for them to shelter when the weather is bad - all you do is add some twigs for them to perch on and put it somewhere sheltered, not in full sun. I'm going to put it up on our shed near the pool. The other is as it says on the label. It comes with pebbles which you put in the bowl then partially fill with water so bees and butterflies can land on the pebbles and have a drink. The reason for the garish yellow colour is because insects are attracted to this colour apparently. I'm going to put it in the nectar bar.

The first wave of orchids has been incredible! I got out and marked every one that I could see before Keith did the first mow of the year in mid March. It looks a bit odd with dozens of yellow labels, but they do the trick! It does take him a lot longer to mow now though. One day the postman came to the door with a parcel and asked what they were for! 😁

Whilst I was outside with my phone I took a few pics of the view - here looking towards the Montagne Noir on the left and the local Malepere hills on the right. Now (a month later) there is yellow here and there from the rape fields.

Moving to the right we are looking in the direction of the Corbieres hills which is the direction of the coast.

By the end of March the first wave of Ophrys sp. orchids had been flowering for a while, but the next wave of orchids' leaves were up, so many of my labels have moved to those ones. The Magnolia had started flowering as well but has many more flowers on now.

Bertie.*** Of course, when I called him gently to get him to look at me, he started walking towards me. 😀

Above and below are Early Spider Ochids (Ophrys sphegodes), which the vast majority in the lawn are.

And this is a Sombre (or Dingy) Spider Orchid (Ophrys fusca).

Last week I noticed a Yellow Bee Orchid (Ophrys lutea) up on a high bank beside one of our neighbour's properties, so I couldn't get a very good photo. We had quite a few in the garden last year, so I kept checking. A few days ago I suddenly found 25 of them in our front lawn!

Just up the road on the banks and verges the Lady Orchids (Orchis purpurea) have started flowering. We don't have any in our garden, so I am willing them to move in our direction!

I noticed some also in a neighbour's front garden, which had been recently mown. These orchids are smaller, so have managed to cope with being mown but still managing to flower! 

I counted about 50 here! This is just a part of their front garden - it's rather large. The brother in law of the owners who lives next door mows it with a proper tractor.

Now onto the Praying Mantises. An exciting find - live oothecas! K discovered them, three, attached to the underside of the drain cover beside the pool patio! Now, there is a possibility that some or even all have been parasitised, but I will keep an eye out and hope for the best. They are supposed to hatch in the spring when the temperature is at least 17C.

Different shapes - some longer than others.

Everything changes so quickly in spring, doesn't it? It's hard to be up to date with spring posts!


*** I never told you about Hallie. In October she succumbed to the kidney disease that I mentioned last summer and we had to have her put to sleep. I didn't feel like saying anything at the time, and it's never felt the right time in any other post really. But I'm mentioning it now just because I've posted pics of the boy cats recently. 💔💔💔