Turk's Cap

This is a wonderful, carefree bush.  I planted one in front of the bedroom window years ago and over time, I now have 5 large plants.  They just keep on keeping on.

                                      Click on picture and view all larger

                                                                                 

                                                                         

Bees At Last

My garden does not whet the appetite; it satisfies it. It does not provoke thirst through heedless indulgence, but slakes it by proffering its natural remedy. Amid such pleasures as these have I grown old.

gardening quote by Epicurus

My gardening goal has been from the beginning to have something blooming all spring through fall.

These bees have been on the white salvia for over a  month. They are welcome here and do not attempt to attack me when I get too close.

I have been trying to capture bee photos in my garden.  Trial and error (lots of errors), and nearly giving up several times, have been hard on this ole brain.  Hard on the ego.
One morning last week, I was again trying to get a clear picture.  The trick of clear is no movement with a small digital camera. Hence, this week I am going to find a light weight small tripod. There are some that have only one leg. (onepod?)  The movement has been the biggest problem.

I propped my camera on a stake holding the chicken wire  around my coneflower bed and held tightly. Seems to have worked for these.

This bee is the only one with pollen on his legs.  He has been at the search early. The other three pictures show that these bees are just getting started as they do not have the tell tale orange legs.

The bees are searching for nectar in the red autumn sage and turks cap blossoms. Red is difficult to "get right", more "learning" ahead.  I am seriously going to look for that tripod!

Wood Ants (Formica Rufa)

Oh, happy day!  Another problem!
Yesterday, I was taking pictures all over the garden and came across something I have never seen before.  Photography becomes an education in more ways than one.  I doubt I would ever have noticed this phenomenon otherwise.
Hubby and I had a discussion as to these being termites. Even reading the information on the web, I am not sure.  I don't intend to do a scientific paper on the ant vs termite. That is not the purpose of my blog. Just interesting nature happenings is my goal.

 

The yellow "beads" are obviously eggs.  Now, are they the ant egg or some other little surprise? 

 Take a good look at the brown leaf.  The end attached to the branch is green and the rest is brown.

Thanks to finally, finally figuring out how to use my Nikon optic zoom, I can get better closeups.

here is a link to a web site with pictures of the ant.
wood ant

Rabbits this July

This summer has been quite different from last year.  During a spate of 100+ degree weather, the pests started eating any young growth in my garden.  They prefer nice, young, sweet leaves to the older ones. That is when I put up the fence around the Cone flowers.

They are still around, making themselves to home even in the courtyard.  If I let the Black Oil Sunflower seeds that fall from the bird feeders germinate, they will find the sprouts and blatantly help themselves, stripping from the bottom up.  The trick is to pay attention and pull out any new growth from the bird feeding area.  The seedlings seem to sprout and grow 5 inches over night.  Then here come bunny scouts for the goodies.

I have watched the little pests stand on their hind legs to eat the seed heads from the Dallisgrass, which is a pest of another sort for lawns.  Nasty, obnoxious stuff.  However, if I could get the rabbits to eat ALL the seed heads, problem solved.  Not that that is going to happen.

Plants in my garden that don't seem to appeal to rabbits; Penta, Salvia, Obedient Plant, Chrysanthemums, Turks Cap, Lavender, Rosemary,mature Zinnias Moss Rose (Portulaca), Tickseed (Coreopsis), Phlox, Blackfoot Daisy, Plumbago and tomatoes.  Oh, yes, also mature Cone flowers .

My plan is to experiment with larger, space filling plants the rabbits don't like.

Rainy afternoon in July

When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it.  If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.  ~Author Unknown

 As I am hard of hearing, one of the things I miss most is not hearing the rain.  Hubby fetched me from my mystery book to come hear the rain.  A sudden downpour has the down spouts gushing rain water and filling the pathway with an almost stream of flowing water.  Heaven.  Sitting on the patio, I can hear the blessed rain. In July, quite a rarity.

This morning, I was out taking advantage of the overcast sky and shooting pictures.  I happened to point the camera up and caught a hummingbird on her morning rounds, searching for nectar. She zoomed in under the branches for the trumpet vine flower and changed her mind.                                                       

Though an old man, I am but a young gardener. ~ Thomas Jefferson

 

            

Pink Beauty not such a good thing?

I took some pictures of this moth Pyrausta inornatalis in early July this year.  Have never seen one before. It is tiny.

 

I was fascinated for nearly an hour with a "pink" moth.  Upon further investigation, it is not a good thing to see on the Salvias?

I found a web site that has discussions regarding the moth.  The moth is specific to Salvia. When you see it, it is looking for a place to lay eggs.  I will take their word for it and check for eggs on my Salvia.  So far, Haven't seen much damage from anything other than heat.  My lovely white Salvias have turned an odd, all be it, a wonderful plant to photograph, that may be affected by the larva??  I know nothing of the life cycle timing, so will just check the plant carefully.

Regardless of possible infestation, it is a lovely, delicate, tiny moth.


I was actually taking pictures
of bees when the moth flew in.

Early morning after rainy yesterday

Yesterday was a damp and sometimes sudden downpour kind of day.  I think I
have taken enough pictures of zinnias and then my obsession kicks in.
These are some I have edited to share here.



 The grasses are Ravenna grass
that looked so sad this spring. A little faith, fertilizer and rain and it is a good background!



Click on a picture to enlarge.
Enjoy!

Even dying, zinnias are so photogenic

I am not sure how I got this one. A combination of dew and a flash?

I had intended to pick "just a few", but why not an album of such beauty in MY GARDEN

A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. ~ May Sarton

 

.A garden never knows when its over. ~ Paula Deitz