Sunday 3 August 2014

Disease, destruction and death


I've been enjoying the stormy skies that have rolled over, bringing thunder, lightning and the odd deluge.



 I spent a moment with my head out the window watching the water on the patio.  I stopped when the water started running down my back.


In the garden, something's amiss.  The apples have gone wrong.


There are a handful of normal ones, but most of them have failed to grow to the proper size and now they've started to rot.



Inside there's no sign of insects.  These went a bit extra brown while I went and found the camera, although there was a bit of brownness anyway.


If anyone knows what's happened, I'd love to know.

I took all of the non-growing ones off and summer pruned the trees, removing the whippy stems back to a couple of leaves.  The Ribston Pippin and Egremont Russet are the ones that are affected.  They grow next to each other.  Further up the garden is a Worcester Pearmain which seems fine.


While I was outside I took some lavender cuttings.  It's a white stoechas type, and really pretty.  A basketball landed smack in the middle of it, so a lot of the cutting work was done for me.


My neighbour gave me four kale plants, which made me happy.  I put them in too.  They wilted a bit, but I'm hoping they'll perk up overnight.  I haven't protected them from butterflies or slugs or anything, so I'm guessing they might have a rough ride ahead.

At the allotment I've got some sprout plants, also someone else's leftovers.  I protected them against butterflies.  So imagine my surprise when I looked under the covers and found several of these.


Destructive but pretty.  I didn't have the heart to despatch them, so I picked the leaves they were on and put them somewhere else on the plot.  No doubt they'll find their way back to the sprouts.  Killing them seemed too extreme somehow though.  One day they'll wake up and be able to fly!  How amazing would that be?  I couldn't deprive them of that moment.

Back in the garden the boys have been enjoying the flowers they planted to attract bees.  This morning I noticed a white spider clutching a honey bee in a death grip.


The bee was dead, and the spider spent hours with its prey.  I looked it up and found that it's a crab spider.  They can change their body colour to match the flower they're on!  It might take a few days, but when it's done, they can lurk there, neatly camouflaged, waiting for something unsuspecting to drop in.  Then they grip it with their extra strong front legs, kill it with a venomous bite and suck it dry.  Eek.


After all that death a destruction, a little bit of pretty.



I took a quick trip to the allotment on the way to the park this afternoon.  I picked a very long thin courgette, along with three more normal ones, seven cucumbers, a handful of tomatoes and one corn on the cob.  I think I need to diversify on the crop front a bit.  I'm learning a lot all the time.  When things fail to germinate I need to re-sow.  Somehow I've ended up with no beetroot at all and only one carrot.  Although when the cucumbers didn't look too healthy I kept putting in more and now I think I'm about to experience a mega-glut.


We ended the day at the park.  Football, manhunt and a little messing about in the stream.  The summer is good no?


32 comments:

  1. Those dark skies are wicked awesome! I love scenes like that! And I am not sure about the apples...I will ask around Sounds like a possible virus. I have several plants that came down with different things and I was told that it should be better next spring. Cool shots of the spider! And yay for all of the cucumbers and the kale will be so yummy!! You and Amy inspire me with your lavender as that is one plant that intimidates me! Happy gardening pal lovely shots!

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  2. Amazing skies. Sorry about your apples they look horrible don't they? Do hope it isn't anything too serious and that the trees will survive to live another year. We lost all our kale to snails or slugs and were left with little sticks but no leaves! That spider is amazing - isn't Nature clever but also very cruel. Hope your cold is better now?

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  3. I didn't know about crab spiders - interesting! I don't know what's wrong with your apples either, sorry! We have only a crab apple tree, it started off well, but has been poor these last few years, I should try and find out what's wrong with it. Lovely cosmos photos, I should have one flowering in the garden soon...

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  4. Messing about in the stream.... gosh that brings back memories. We had a stream at the bottom of our garden growing up (it was suburbia but somehow this stream had survived). Not much more than a trickle really but we were always building dens, damming it, making bridges and swings. Sooo many happy memories :) Thank you :)
    Jillxo

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  5. That spider is so weird! I've never seen one like it before now. I'm sorry about your apples. Some years we have lots of trouble with bugs and worms getting inside the apples but this year it all seems to be going well. I hope you can figure it out. I love the picture of the boys in the stream, we enjoy playing in places like that too.

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  6. Nature can be quite vicious, but fascinating at the same time.

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  7. My goodness.. what trials and tribulations lurk in the little places in a garden! Sorry about the apples.. to be honest.. we have a big tree full of apples but each time we try to eat them they are either not ripe or wormy or whatever. I don't believe in spraying them with poison.. lol! Yes, Summer is good. We are almost ready to leave for our camping trip. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  8. I hope that this week is less destructive around your garden and allotment! xx

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  9. We've had some terrific storms haven't we? I slept with the curtains open one night to watch the lightening . But we're loving the sunshine too
    I'm no help with the apples, not surprisingly, but a similar thing is happening to our plum tree unripe fruit rotting and leaves curling and brown.
    That colour changing spider is interesting, I bet your boys were fascinated .
    Have a great week C J. X

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  10. I thought you'd been watching the news for a minute, it seems to contain nothing but similar themes at the moment. I must try lavender cuttings. Given the plants are expensive and unreliable here, it may be the best way forward.

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  11. oh those skies!

    I am just the same with my little veg patch. I ended up with a glut of spinach which went to seed and not much else, and forgot to replant......

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  12. Nature captured wonderfully. When the rain has come down it's been amazing - I do love how you can see the weather moving from where we live now...not just drab and boring old grey.

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  13. Do your apples have brown rot? They look very similar to some of our plums and someone told me that was what they had. That spider is very clever.

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    1. I've looked up brown rot and I think you're right, it seems to fit. My next-door neighbour's plums have something similar too.

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  14. Such menacing skies, they're amazing. Sorry to hear about your apples, it's so disappointing when you've waiting all year and then a crop fails. Glad you've got the Worcester Pearmain to fall back on. I've learnt something new about the spider, how clever being able to change colour to camouflage itself. Your park is so pretty, I do like to see willows growing by water, such a beautiful scene.

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  15. Goodness me from the title and the first couple of pictures I thought that this was going to be a such a doom laden post.
    Shame about your apples, I hope the okay ones stay that way. I like the white cosmos, they're one of my favourite flowers.
    Flighty xx

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  16. What a fascinating post! Love your garden and it's interesting insects - that spider is beautiful and eerie...you made me smile with your rescuing of the caterpillars, how did they manage to get under the protective cloth? The best laid plans...sorry about your apples, hope you're able to find an answer - a local garden centre or gardener might have some answers? Chrissie x

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  17. Ew, that spider and caterpillar - I'm not into bugs! While on vacation, my Dad tried to get me to photograph a huge spider that he said was eating a bee - I didn't need to see it. Sorry about your apples, what a shame. :(

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  18. Lovely post! Our crab apple and Allington Pippin have succumbed to some leaf disease even before they set fruit: brown curly leaves and all flowers dropped just when they should have been setting fruit. It probably is a fungal disease, though I'm not completely sure. A good pruning and some good care may recover them for next year, we keep fingers crossed... Often those diseases may be aggravated by weather, and it may not occur at all next year. At least we have loads of apples on our Worcester Pearmain and also on a White Melrose, hopefully they stay in place until they are ripe, it will be the first time we have a good crop.
    Last year our kale got eaten by caterpillars into small sticks, but when left into winter they recovered and gave a decent crop after all at the top of the plants!

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  19. The apples have brown rot- some of our plums are the same, It;s a fungal disease.

    That spider is punching above it s weight.

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    1. Thanks Sue, I was hoping you'd stop by and identify it for me. I've disposed of the apples and and cuttings, let's hope it's only this year.

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  20. Interesting and a little disgusting about the spider. I read, but tried not to look to closely at the pictures. Although, maybe now I will look a bit closer at flowers before I bring them inside; wouldn't want one of these color changers in my house! Ick. I do love that you saved the caterpillar, and especially reason why you did. Wish I could offer some insight about the apples. Gardening always seems to be one of those things that works as a metaphor for life. It's hard, but beautiful and you have to stick with it to reap the benefits. Hopefully your apple tree will make a comeback.

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  21. I rather suspect that you're a bit too tender hearted to be a vegetable grower! I'm with you though, I can't bring myself to intervene with the running of nature. These days I just let things take their course and watch with interest.

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  22. What a beautiful park to play in wish we had one like that close by!

    Your allotment pickings sound a bit like my garden, I too have failed on the root veg crop this year, maybe it was too hot for them they usually do so well round here. I have two carrots and three beetroots that are still at seedling stage :)

    I hope the rest of your apples do not succumb to brown rot, they look delicious.

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  23. love all the planted pots on your patio!!! the summer has just flown by, hasn't it? but it seems as if you all are making the best of every minute of it. (that spider photo was freaky cool!!!)
    thanks for popping into my blog---so glad I found yours!

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  24. Isn't nature amazing - that spider - WOW!...And even the brown rot! I hope it's sorted for you for next year and your other variety bears lots of (edible) fruit.

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  25. Our apples are very poor this year. After some decent years I've let my guard down. I didn't renew the grease bands at the bottom of the trees, they didn't get a winter wash and I didn't put up new codling moth traps in spring. Result bad apple crop!

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  26. That spider is just amazing! I am a little freaked out because spiders and I don't see eye to eye. I am sorry about the brown rot, fungal disease is difficult to treat. My quince tree has one that affects the leaves, so does the pear tree. Not much fruit to look forward to, probably because the trees are not happy. I found some non growing apples on my apple tree and must check if it is anything like brown rot. Summer is good :) It feels more like autumn here unfortunately. x

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  27. Loved your cloud and rain pictures. I am sitting in my conservatory listening to the first down pour in what seems like weeks..I can almost hear my garden saying thank you! Bet the snails are loving it too!

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  28. Sometimes I like those summer rainy days that give you an excuse to curl up on the couch and just listen to the rain drops fall. That's too bad about the apples, though! I'm sure it's hard to figure out what causes those things to happen sometimes. At least you ended the day basking in the sunshine in the park. Hope you're having a great start to your week, CJ:)

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  29. ah, you make me really yearn for summer! what beautiful pictures, all of them. thank you from gloomy hobart :-)
    your poor apples though. how distressing.

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  30. I've had similar problems with my apple. Some apples have rotted on the tree. I have had a crop but think the problem might have been lack of water in July as the apples which rotted were the smaller ones which never swelled to a proper size. I'm sure it's just one of the things. I'm going to make sure I add a mulch of compost around my tree in autumn.

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