The Philosophy of Bees

Just when I thought I was soo cool and knew all about the little visitors in my garden, this little green bee popped up and turned me into a gaping novice.  Oh.  My.  Stars!  A Metallic Green Sweat Bee!  In my garden!  Frantic snapping of photos insued, hence the blurry photo below.  Note also the white insect egg cases in the flower pom-pom in the background of the photo above.

Can you believe the color combo that Nature so effortlessly arranged?!  The pink Eriogonum and green Agapostemon was a good call.  It brings up the old philosophical question, "If a Green Sweat Bee lands on an Eriogonum and no one is around to take a photo, is the bee totally awesome?"

The Butterflies Have Arrived!

First butterfly picture of the season!  A spunky little Acmon Blue impatiently flitting about the Eriogonum grande rubescens (San Miguel Island Buckwheat).  This little one can be hard to spot since they typically measure a measly one inch across or so, but their restlessness can help if you look for movement among the flowers.  This leads you, however to make you look pretty crazy, crouching on the sidewalk with camera in hand cursing the darn thing to just stay still for a minute! 

The other sides of the wings look just as lovely, leopard spotted all over. May it be the first of many this summer!

Nature, My Trusty Propagator

I wish I could take at least a little credit for this, but the skilled propagator known as my front garden has wowed me again with a forest of mini-Eriogonum grande rubescens (San Miguel Island Buckwheat) that have seeded amongst their respective mothers.  It's a moment for me to think about the design.  For my own garden, I tend to be a little kitchen-sinky in terms of plant selection, but the garden seems to be enjoying its mix of Clarkias, Dudleyas, and Eriogonums.  Not so much with the Mimulus or countless Calandrinia seeds.  Ok, garden- I hear you!  Although, I hope it won't mind if I sneak in a few Asclepias...  maybe a Ceanothus and whatever I run across on my next nursery trip, and well you know how it is!


If anyone is interested in a few, I have more than enough to share.