Not too much gardening going on right now, been insanely busy with Board of Education duties. The other day though I took a few more butterfly images. Was totally mesmerized by this butterfly dancing oh so close to the spiderweb.
I kept watching carefully because I couldn't tell if it's feet were actually stuck there.
Now I'm thinking I should have poked it a bit with my finger to make sure that it was truly free but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing it fly about.
Also living life on the edge is Calie-the-wonderdoodle-dog who obviously has no problem sleeping in what ever position is most comfortable!
Early this past spring I found a number of praying mantis egg cases while doing garden clean-up. During the month of May I did a dozen programs on healthy gardening at our local elementary schools. Part of the program was to bring them egg cases which they kept in tanks in their classrooms until the young praying mantis hatched.
My only concern was that I would not have any praying mantis in my own garden but I kept assuring myself that I couldn't have found all the egg cases and surely there would be mantis young hatching here too.
Yesterday I was thrilled to find this Mantis in the flower bed around my pool. It had perched itself in an ideal spot, right next to a large blooming clump of Sedum. Normally I would feel bad that it was catching bees there but since I'm still itching like crazy from the sting I got on Tuesday, I'm not so upset. Of course I'm joking, I realize how much we need our pollinating insects. Still, I also love watching these cool praying mantis.
I do hope to find one in the front borders too but since that's where I got stung I'm working very slowly out there.
Last night I decided that I would definitely open for sales this Saturday. Guess I'll be working like crazy out there all day today and tomorrow!
(The garden as it looked last night. Lots of pollen and nectar to be had.)
Bumble bees have always been like jewels in my garden.
Luckily, I'm not allergic to any stings. In fact, two years ago I stepped on a wasps nest and was stung 12 to 15 times on my legs. Although I was in severe pain, I only experienced some shakiness for the first few hours and that was most likely due to shock.
When my daughters were little my dad would come over and show them how to pet a bumble bee. He'd look for the tall stalks of Liatris. Sure enough by late afternoon they'd be studded with drunken bees and you could gently take your finger and stroke their back.
(Bees aren't all that like Liatris. Every garden should have waves and waves of this plant.)
The only time anybody has been stung by a bumble bee here is when they were walking barefoot over the clover.
(Besides on clover, I always find bees on the bloom stalks of lambs ears (Stachys byzantine)
Our local paper has carried a number of articles this year about the sudden collapse of bee hives. This is a huge problem for the entire world and I hope they figure out what is causing this disaster. That being said, yesterday I found a nest of bumble bees!
(Can you say "Cheese" little bee?)
Our sprinkler system is all on one zone but there's a strip of pop up heads along the driveway that needs to be turned on with this little valve. The valve is in a nice neat hole in the ground with a good hard cover. Many times I keep that cover off because that hole seems to be the perfect hole for every creature in the garden. Two years I found chipmunks in there, this past winter there was a family of mice or voles in there and now, there's a ground nest of bees.
I wasn't sure if they were bees until I read about them at http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2143.html These guys fit the profile perfectly. Since the nest is an annual event, I'm going to leave it bee (ha!). There are no tours coming through the garden this year and if people come over I'll just cover the hole so nobody disturbs the bees. I tried like crazy to get their picture yesterday as they buzzed across the tops of my Spirea but they just wouldn't hold still and pose for the camera.
I kept watching carefully because I couldn't tell if it's feet were actually stuck there.
Now I'm thinking I should have poked it a bit with my finger to make sure that it was truly free but I'm pretty sure I remember seeing it fly about.
Also living life on the edge is Calie-the-wonderdoodle-dog who obviously has no problem sleeping in what ever position is most comfortable!
