Ladybirds

Seven-spot ladybird in Burren woodland

The Irish Times had an exclusive! readers offer a couple of weeks ago for a bunch of gardening products – just the thing for the leafy suburbs of south Dublin. A slug-slaying tray, a plastic hawk, a huge can of worms and a dummy CCTV camera were just some of the tasteful items on offer. Another was a box of 25 ladybirds for just 30 euro [ideal for rose gardens since ladybirds love greenfly, the enemy of every rose grower]. You could save 30 euro by growing a bunch of nettles in your garden (since ladybirds seem to like them, and we have plenty of them on our farm at home, if you want some) . The one pictured above was taking it easy in a coppice at the edge of the Burren last Saturday.

Buy this picture of a seven spot ladybird