

"Portrait of a Garden" by Rosie Stapel
I just watched this film today and found it very meditative, and informative. To paraphrase Jan Freriks, the 86 year old master pruner, ...


Here comes the honey bee, straight for a Blue Thimble flower globe
It so much fun to observe bees and butterflies visiting native plants in our garden. Here is a honey bee heading straight for a Blue...


Rolling in the pollen
The California alba poppies are getting their second round of leaves and blossoms of the season. And look who is literally rolling in the...


Wow! Very hard-working Ladybugs in the garden
Look what I discovered on the same Lupinus arboreus "Yellow Coastal Bush Lupine" where I discovered ladybugs hard at work eating aphids...


Hairstreak Butterfly on the Ribes
How delightful to spot in our native plant garden my first hairstreak butterfly Satyrium californica of the year. I was quietly sitting...


Yellow Faced Bumble Bee visiting Margarita Bop Blossoms
The yellow faced bumble bee bombus vosnesenskii spent time with the Margarita Bop penstemon blossoms. This native plant is only one of...


Bees and Lambs Ears
All of the lambs ears plants that I planted as little seedlings one and a half years ago, started to produce inflorescences a month ago....


Ladybug to the rescue
I noticed this seven dot ladybug on a leaf of one of the Lupinus arboreus "Yellow Coastal Bush Lupine" shrubs. Looking closer I realized...


It's the Ivory Banded Digger Bee
This weekend I got lucky getting images of the very busy Ivory Banded Digger Bees Amegilla quadrifasciata in the garden. This one is in...


Welcome to all the ladybugs
It seems like everywhere I look in the garden these days there is a ladybug (or ladybird) Coccinellidae. And what a blessing they are,...