Wildlife in the garden

Apart from our cats, the occasional hedgehog and one year a toad, the wildlife we tend to see in the garden is from the insect world.  This year, there haven't been many butterflies, probably due to the very cold temperatures last winter.  I have noticed lots of hoverflies and the occasional bee, busily searching for food.  The above photo shows a spider in the centre of the web, but what really attracted me to the image was the way the web appeared as though decorated with glistening raindrops, like pearls.

I bought the perennial lobelia above from a market stall this morning, as the colour appealed to me, being a lovely shade of blue/red.  I put it in the garden, still in its pot, to allow it to become acclimatised and to allow me to decide where it should go.  As I was looking at it, I noticed a bee and was lucky enough to have my camera with me at the time.

Finally, a Clematis Jackmanii Superba (and it has really been superb this year - probably the best I have ever seen it) with a hoverfly right in the centre.  I love the richness of the colour with the purple/crimson bar in the centre of each petal and the way the petals look as though they have been made out of velvet.

I enjoy seeing wildlife in the garden and am pleased that I can do my bit to help the insects survive.