Yesterday it was the second of my ‘Meet the Wandering Naturalist’ sessions in the Gardens – strolling around and looking at wildlife (insects in particular) for a couple of hours and showing it to any interested visitors.

Insect abundance was not quite as great as the first, two weeks ago, and many of the butterflies were distinctly worse for wear after the downpours of the past week, but there was more than enough to fill our time, helped by the sultry, warm, humid, still weather, more jungle than Essex summer. Much better weather in fact than the forecast for thundery showers – the sun was patchy, but very warm when out, a thunderclap mid-morning preceded a very light shower until five minutes after the session finished when the heavens opened with what was probably the spikiest rainstorm of an already wet summer.

The star performers plant-wise were Bistorta and Lavandula, especially for wasps/hoverflies and bees respectively, and Origanum for the whole spectrum of insects. And the favourites from last time, Eryngium and Buddleia, although fading fast still have serious pulling power…

But of course these plants were only a small selection of the resources on offer to our insects, as the photos below show:

Showiest of all the insects of course were the butterflies, with 14 species logged, including a major emergence of second-brood Holly Blues, although the very best, a stately Silver-washed Fritillary didn’t hang around for a photo!

Hoverflies too were everywhere, and included two of our largest species Volucella zonaria (Hornet Hoverfly) and Volucella inanis, among numerous other species…

… along with other flies from a whole range of families:

Honeybees, bumblebees and wasps, including the locally scarce Median Wasp on Ruta, as seems to be usual, added to the pollinating hordes…

… along with less celebrated but no less important pollinators such as beetles.

Of course not all insects are subsisting solely on nectar and pollen: in our garden jungle there are also predators. Below is Kite-tailed Robber-fly with a Marmalade Hoverfly dinner and a Bee-wolf wolfing a bee!

When flowers are on offer, it is always too easy to overlook other wildiife action around the garden, or perhaps more aptly ‘inaction’, sitting around on the foliage basking, looking for food, or nesting…

So, another wonderful two hours immersed in the Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens …

If anyone would like to join me in the garden looking at its wildlife, I am planning on repeating this (weather permitting) on 18th August and 1st September, between 1100 and 1300 each day. No need to book, just come to the garden (normal entry price – see our website for details) and ask at the Visitor Information Centre where I will be and when, and come along and find me!

While one can never predict what nature will deliver, my guess is that, as we slide gently towards autumn, it will be members of the daisy family such as Echinacea and Eupatorium that we will be celebrating next time!

Visit the Beth Chatto Gardens and be inspired to Rewild your Mind!