snakes head fritillary

Another day pottering in the garden - I have sown some salad seeds in pots to take to my daughter, sorted the strawberry bed and generally had a good tidy up.

Every year these lovely fritillary come up and I am always amazed by the patterns on the petals. Then the lily beetles come along and chomp their way through the leaves and flowers, making a real mess. This year, I have been a bit more diligent and found four beetles on my other clump of fritillary - they are silly enough to be the brightest red, although when they know they have been spotted, they either turn on their backs, so they appear black, or they rush down the stems and into the soil.