It’s Time to Smell the Roses

We had some much needed rains this spring and the wild rose flowers were spectacular and smelled divine. I made it a point to stop to smell the roses during my walks while taking stock of the bugs on the roses 😊. There were a lot of honey bees, mining bees, bumble bees etc. also … Continue reading It’s Time to Smell the Roses

A Winter’s Delight (Rose Gall Wasps)

I collected wild rose galls last spring and successfully reared some wasps from them. I had forgotten all about the galls and wasps until I came across a banditry of chickadees pecking at galls on a cold winter's day. "Banditry of chickadees" 🙂 - love it, had to look that up. I collected a few … Continue reading A Winter’s Delight (Rose Gall Wasps)

Who has been eating the roses?

Roses are blooming all over the valley and what a display of colours. They smell nice too, particularly the wild roses. I saw a lot of damage to some roses on my walk this afternoon and upon closer inspection found a bunch of rose curculios having a feast and some mating pairs. They had done … Continue reading Who has been eating the roses?