It has been an exceptionally good year for flowers on the gladdon (aka stinking iris) Iris foetidissima that is becoming increasingly abundant in our garden. Such a rich flowering should produce many splitting pods of bright orange seeds to enliven the winter garden.
There are two plants of great mullein, Verbascum thapsus, by our front hedge and for a few weeks one supported about a dozen mullein moth, Cucullia verbasci, larvae. These have a warning colouration so that birds don't go for them and feed openly in daytime. They pretty well shredded the one plant of the two out there, but it recovered and flowered well after the caterpillars had gone to ground to pupate thereby ensuring a good supply of seed and plants for future moths to lay their eggs on. When I see caterpillars like this it always makes me wonder how the moths find the right plants, especially when they are not very common..
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