December is here, so it is summer time even though the weather doesn't seem to know. It is a green time still - there has been enough rain to compensate for the wind, although the forecast is for a dry summer. So there has been plenty of growth and flowering going on, and with all this luscious plant-life the beasties are much more in evidence...
The greenish yellow iridescent sheen of a blowfly's thorax harmonises well with the bright yellowish green of a parsley plant with its umbels of little green buds and foaming of tiny white and yellow flowers.
Parsley is such a useful herb and very easy to grow. It is slow to germinate, and it can be a bit difficult to keep producing a supply of the tasty and decorative leaves because it is a biennial (at least in temperate zones). In the first year it forms a dense clump of leaves - curly or flat depending on the type - which are such a good source of vitamins and minerals as well as being a familiar garnish. The parsley plant forms a deep taproot and, in the second year, the tall stalks which bear the umbels of flowers. The leaves are sparse at this stage and after the profuse seed is set, the plants die.
In my wilderness that I call a garden I am very happy to let parsley go to seed and then establish itself where it will, although it can be a bit of a thug if it gets too close to other wanted plants. But in leaf, then flower and seed, it is a lovely sight. As for flies, they do fill an important function in the cycle of life and decay, even if most of them are not remotely as decorative as this particular one.
The parsley flowers when opening - a delicate almost lacy pattern.