Still Buzzing

Things are getting ratty looking in the garden, but the heart-leaved aster is still hosting a buzzapalooza every day. I wish I could get some pictures that conveyed just how many bees are all over. There must be a dozen bees just on one plant. Plus an Eastern carpenter bee showed up the other day. […]

The Elusive Monarch

Finally, the butterfly bush (Buddleia) lives up to its name. It even slowed down that pesky Monarch butterfly that’s been taunting me all summer. It enjoyed the flowers just long enough for me to get a few pictures. Though it’s late, I’m still hoping to see more.

Not a bee, but an amazing simulacrum!

There’s a ton of native asters that are hard to distinguish, as I discovered after spending easily a confused hour pondering my wildflower book. I finally decided that it’s Heart-Leaved Aster overflowing in my back yard with huge plumes of pale lavender-to-white flowers feeding lots of happy bees. Except one of them is a syrphid […]

Gulpies

Gulped. That’s what happened to the first few babies that popped out of my new guppies.

Birds on a rainy day

It’s still raining, but that’s not slowing down these goldfinches. One stuck to the nyjer feeder, while others foraged on the coneflower seed heads. Everyone is wearing their winter plumage, so I guess I won’t be seeing any wild canary-yellow birds zooming by until next summer. Still, with that buff background, the white borders on […]

Birds from a sunnier day

Here’s some pictures I’ve been saving for a rainy day (and yes, it poured today and it’s going to keep pouring, they say). For some reason, I get excited when I see a woodpecker visiting the cat entertainment center bird feeders; I guess it seems more “woodsy” than a sparrow. Based on its size, compared […]

Last Fruits?

The fall-bearing raspberries I planted this spring are actually bearing fruit already. In fall. Lots of them. Nom, nom, nom.

Do Bees Sleep?

I’ve been wondering if bees sleep since I saw all these black bees zooming about in the early evening. They seemed to be chasing each other. Then they clustered on a few stalks of grass, jostling and fighting for the good spots, until they finally settled down. When I looked them up, I was told […]

Fall vegetables

This curly eggplant is one of the third batch of Oriental eggplants I’ve expecting to harvest. Every time I remember how tasty the previous ones have been, I also remember a Japanese proverb cited in one of my favorite (non-writing) blogs: don’t your daughter-in-law eat autumn eggplant. Nobody seems to know what it means. Is […]

How to Keep Cats Out of the ‘Nip

Bees like catnip, but everyone knows cats love it, the fresher the better. If you try to grow some for them, they’ll eat the plants right to the ground if you let them. So we don’t let them.