The teasels are in flower

At last with the good weather the teasels are flowering. Once the flowers have died off I can start the final round of cutting.....but this time, the new season of teasel heads.

The moth nursery

The moths continue to emerge in their hundreds. Every so often I open the windows and some choose to escape while others remain housebound. I think this hot weather is encouraging more to escape from their teasel homes. The thing that surprises me the most is that the chrysalises have survived their baptism in Indian ink. I would have considered it to be quite toxic.

Friends are still bringing me last years teasels but unfortunately not many of them are viable. What seems to happen is that the spiky bits on the teasel break off and the head of the teasel becomes smooth. The barbs on the stem are eroded and the stem also becomes smooth and bleached in colour. The teasel heads often become radically altered....see below.

The new teasels are just starting to get going. 

Here's hoping there is an early bumper crop in my locality.