Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
16th May 2026
Caterpillar Poo
I am so glad that, after nearly 60 years on this glorious planet, I am still impressed and fascinated by the little things in life.
This week it has been caterpillar poo. Or more to the point, the size or quantity of poo a caterpillar produces.
When Yogi and I were on one of our sniffari’s this week, we spotted a neighbour inspecting something in the hedgerow. It turned out that she was looking for the Scarlet Tiger moth caterpillar. She had already spotted the caterpillar poo on the green alkanet leaves, which had given away its probable proximity. It wasn’t long before we spotted it, and Yogi of course, photo-bombed.
The Scarlet Tiger moth is quite common in south Wales and is a day-flying moth, as opposed to night-time.
Its favourite leaves are nettle, comfrey and green alkanet and as I have copious amounts of all of those in my garden, I came straight home to (eventually) locate three more caterpillars in my own garden.
I often see Scarlet Tiger moths at the cottage in the summer, but was chuffed to see them as ‘yoofs’ this year.
New Balls
And staying with being impressed, I loved the David Attenborough tribute on TV last week. It was so uplifting.
One thing that they didn’t mention was that David Attenborough was actually responsible for the colour-change for tennis balls – from white to yellow. Now I know this was with regards to Wimbledon and to ensure the balls could be seen easier, but I will always think about it when I throw a tennis ball for a dog.
Not Yogi, I hasten to add. She has never chased or retrieved a ball in her life, working on the premise that if I threw it away, then I don’t want it.
Bamboozled
Not one for waste, I have been busy ‘making’ my own bamboo canes.
After cutting back a rampant bamboo at home, I spent ‘an age’ pulling off the side shoots to get clean canes, which I will be able to use in the garden.
The common bamboo is not a user-friendly plant at all, with limited appeal – unless you are a Panda – although it does have a cool name, ‘Bambusa vulgaris’.
Not only is it invasive, and really, really, really tough to cut back, it happily gives you a painful unexpected rash. Using ordinary secateurs to cut it back will almost certainly result in carpal tunnel syndrome, so I used the Stihl battery pruners (stihl.co.uk).
They are a ‘blinking brilliant’ tool but please be careful if using them, as they are razor sharp and once switched on, once you touch the trigger, they close rapidly.
That, without going into detail, gives you no option to release and stop the ‘cutting action’. All I’m saying is that you need to keep your other hand well-out-of-the –way and concentrate as though your digits depend on it. Because they do.
Anyway, I am happy to report that I now have a huge stash of clean bamboo canes that will be put to good use in various gardens. And all my fingers.
I had to have a quick look where the word ‘bamboozled’ originated from, as it’s such a great word and I couldn’t see an obvious link to bamboo. It appears there isn’t one. It seems no one is sure, but Scottish origins are suggested thanks to the word bombaze, meaning to confound, confuse or perplex.
Flower Power
I’m sure you have noticed just how much blossom is around this year – especially if you suffer form hayfever.
All the flowering shrubs seem to be laden with flowers, with the Red Robins (Phontinia’s ) being a good example.
Whilst it’s lovely to see, and great for the insects, Dad always used to say that particularly prolific flowering was a sign of the plant being stressed. It therefore produces as many flowers (and therefore seeds) as possible to try and ensure it’s continued survival. It’s easy to forget that plants flower for their own reasons and benefits, not ours. Photinia ‘Red Robin’ is a hybrid shrub that does not ‘come true’ from it’s own seeds. That means you won’t get an identical plant, and which is why propagation is always through stem cuttings.
And that reminds me – I have seen a lot of smaller ‘Red Robins’ looking a bit leaf-less at the moment, whilst still being heavily in bloom.
Even evergreens ‘change’ their leaves every year and I think if you look carefully at the bare branches you will see little red shoots which means the new leaves are on their way.
I think the shrubs have been a bit energy-depleted this year, due to the heavy blossoms, and the leaves have paid the price, being slower to renew.
Don’t panic, they’ll soon leaf up – nature has a fabulous way of restoring balance in her own time.
Do Not Disturb
Please remember to be mindful of nesting birds in your garden now.
Despite leaving the obvious locations, like hedges, a wide berth, whilst working at the cottage last weekend, I recently disturbed a wren’s nest in a Trachelospermum jasminoides (Star jasmine), which I was lightly cutting back from a path.
I also unintentionally bothered a little robin who has nested behind an ‘always-open’ door in my porch and even managed to interrupt a sparrow nesting in a dense Hebe as I was staking the Lupins next to it. A bit stressed out by disturbing them all, I obviously left the areas alone quickly and all birds returned to their nests without any damage being done.
But it goes to show that they can be nesting pretty much anywhere at this time of year. It is of course a privilege to host them and their new families and all the jobs can wait until the ‘birds have flown the nest’.
On The Scent
To break our sniffari’s up recently, I have been picking Yogi up and resting her on my knee so she can see the views over the stone walls.
She loves watching the pheasants in the fields, the sheep grazing and the birds flitting back and for, but most of all, I have noticed that she just loves to sniff the air.
I am guessing that there is more scent at that height and it is just joyous to literally take sniffari’s to a new level.
So after deciding that I’d postpone the various jobs in my garden, I took a leaf out of Yogi’s book, and just sat and ‘sniffed the air’.
I highly recommend it.
Bee Kind
Wednesday (20th) is World Bee Day, a day to celebrate of the importance of bees (and all pollinators).
An UN-designated celebration, the aim is to raise awareness of the crucial role bees and pollinators play in ecosystems and agriculture by encouraging educational activities and planting initiatives to protect these insects. The 20th of May was chosen because Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping, was baptized on this day in 1734.
Whilst bees should be celebrated every day, please try to do something positive to help our hardworking little friends.
You could sow some wildflowers, plant pollinator-friendly plants, build a bee house or have a look online for other bee-friendly ideas. Thank you for bee-ing kind.
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