Senses - Sound

Can’t sleep? - February 2025

On the last day of January the weather was mild and not so windy as it has been. I took a stroll down to the end of our track to check what damage the gales had done. At the edge of the woodland, which has a great variety of native plants growing wild, there was a strange low humming noise. Nearer to a large shrub it became louder and the hum was distinctly that of bees. Surely the bees are not awake yet ... But yes, bees, and lots of them milling around the shrub.

They seemed to be especially keen on this evergreen shrub – I consult the guide and it is Rhamnus alaternus, or Italian buckthorn, which as the name suggests is a native plant and has been known in the region since Etruscan times.

Surely though, the bees would be more attracted to a plant with distinctive flowers or scent? Isn’t that the whole point of showy blooms, to attract pollinators? Perhaps they are a colony of wild bees that live in a tree nearby?

I cut a sprig and take it indoors. A close up shows that there are flowers and they do have a scent. Perhaps this is just the very thing a bee enjoys waking up to, the apian equivalent to a cup of tea in bed.

Any bee that can’t sleep can get up and enjoy a range of sumptuous blooms in my garden today, and indeed many of these other plants are also covered in humming insects – but far from all of them. The insect expert Jean Vernon explains in her fascinating book Attracting Garden Pollinators, it is in the late winter when the first insects emerge that flowers in the garden are so valuable.

I take a walk around the garden and find not only honeybees but also large fluffy bumblebees who like to wake early and they are enjoying the flowers – very noisily. Here are a few plants that are proving very popular today:

You will notice that all these flowers are white or pale shades and native to our region. Some but not all are scented.

Much more brightly coloured yellow flowers don’t seem to have attracted as much attention – perhaps a bit too strong for someone who has just woken up?

So do please make sure that your winter garden has plenty of blooms for the early risers.

Sounds of summer - July 2018

Summer sun, summer heat and the summer visitors descend upon us. Don’t-cha just love ‘em?

Such an assault of noise as they go diving into the pool, splashing and shouting; fighting even. Then, in the evening, a cacophony that goes on right into the early hours. And that is just the frogs in my pond.

Go outdoors right now - and yes you can take that glass of wine as usual - and find out who your summer visitors are. You probably won’t even need to look: the sounds of them enjoying the delights of your garden will immediately be clear to you.

In my garden today I can hear:
The throbbing hum of bees … a whir of a dragonfly’s wings … cicadas scratching in the midday heat … popping wisteria seed pods ripening in the sun … shree-shree-shree of swifts … swoosh of swallows … the fluty song of a garden warbler as he tweets about his winter holidays in Africa.

I bet that the first place you are drawn to is a lavender bush covered in insects where the sound of humming is probably loudest. But which other plants and flowers attract noisy visitors into your garden? And could you perhaps host a few more?

Buddleia, Nepeta, Verbena, Oregano … and many more are very attractive to insects. Notice that that these are mostly native plants and all of them have little trumpet shaped flowers that the insects recognise and go searching inside. I suspect that your geranium plants are rather quiet.

So do we want to encourage all these insects? Yes we do, and not just the ‘pretty’ ones like butterflies and moths. We all know - or should do by now - that bee populations are under threat with potential disastrous consequences for us humans. But also the ‘ugly bugs’ like beetles and wasps and - dare I say it - mosquitoes. These insects provide food for many types of birds and amphibians: visitors who come here for the ‘grub’. Swallows, dragonflies and frogs all eat mozzies, and who could say that they are not welcome, despite their noisy habits.

Selecting plants for your garden that will attract the summer visitors will not only increase the number of insects but also the range and number of birds, amphibians and mammals. So roll on summer, and play it out as loud as we can in our gardens.