Last Sunday I went to a great gig at a great venue- the Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses in South London. From time to time they put on sessions of wild and wonderful music which they call (appropriately enough) 'Avant Garden'. 

 I'd arranged to meet some old friends of mine Neil and Kelsey who moved to Penznace about twenty years ago. I'm sorry to say we lost touch during that time and it was good to catch up. Indeed, Kelsey was one of the performers and played a selection of her beautiful nature-themed songs, mainly solo piano/vocals with a little help from her friends (and daughter).

 At one point she led the audience in a singalong about the joys of Red Valerian. This plant is the subject of quite a few entries in this diary but I never expected to be singing a song about it! The number of songs concerning Red Valerian is limited; in fact Kelsey's may well be the only one of the genre. Anyway, she sings of the Hummingbird Hawk-Moth and the Painted Lady on Red Valerian so here are photos of both these insects nectaring on that very species.

 If you want to listen to Kelsey's music check out her recent release 'Kelsey Michael Music of the Waves' which is available from an internet near you.

The wildflowers of spring and summer cheer my thoughts during these grey winter days.

 I think of Snake's Head Fritillary in Lammas flood meadow.

In my mind I wander through drifts of Bluebells in ancient woodlands.

 

 I picture Orchids on chalk hillsides.

 And always in my mind's eye there are pollinators.

 Very few flowers to photograph at this time of year but Mahonia x media comes into its own; cultivars like 'Winter Sun' and 'Charity' are widely planted. I don't detect any particular scent but bumblebees do and will come out of hibernation on milder days when they get a whiff of it.

 Sometimes the various Mahonia are referred to as 'Oregon Grape'. More accurately that is the common name of the lower growing and spring flowering M. aquifolium which hails from the Pacific Northwest of America. The ones that bloom in winter have Asiatic antecedents being accidental and deliberate crosses of M. japonica and M. lomariifolia (and perhaps M. bealei). Botanically speaking I should note that Mahonia is generally now classified as Berberis which is a larger genus.

 Looking more closely at the inflorescence of the one seen above it has the characteristics of a raceme i.e. a flower spike where the flowers grow and open from the base upwards.

Frosty morning in the lanes of Hertfordshire.

 Hedgehog habitat. I've read that hedgehogs will nest in piles of logs and leaves. My father had tree surgeons in to lop a Corsican Pine where it was overhanging a neighbouring property. There have always been hedgehogs round here so I thought the cuttings could be put to good use...

Beginning by stacking the spindlier branches with an entrance of sorts into the inner space.

 Then covered over with the trimmings.

 The remainder of the trimmings I simply laid in a heap at the base of the tree. The needle-like pine leaves might suit a spiky hog. Also made a log pile of the thicker sections of wood (see top right of the top photo). Whether for hedgehogs or not organic matter in varying states of decomposition teems with life from micro-organisms to mammals.

 I gather hedgehogs move quite freely between nests. They have both summer and winter nests which can be rudimentary for resting or denser for hibernating. I've never come across a nest but the colony seems to be thriving so they must be kipping somewhere... 

Winter has arrived with hard frost, freezing fog and dun colours.

Blue sky, bright sun...and very cold.