Ah, bees
It's so good to still see many pollinators around, including bees and butterflies. Here is a Yellow-Face bumble bee Bombus vosnesenskii...
Native buckwheat still blooming and lovely
The native buckwheat plants are simply the best to grow in our hardpan California clay soil. The very lovely red buckwheat Eriogonum...
Mamma Monarchs
Several monarch butterflies visit the garden every day, all day, as long as there is daylight. They flutter by, making stops on lavender,...
Yellow-faced Bumble Bee and the California Poppy
On a windy afternoon, a Yellow-faced bumble bee Bombus vosnesenskii, was determined to collect pollen from a California poppy. As the...
It's butterfly weather
While we feel uncomfortable with very warm or hot weather the butterflies are out in great numbers. In the above photo, a Gray Hairstreak...
Sleeping Summer Long-Horned Bee
Yesterday as I made the morning rounds of the garden, I came upon this sleeping bee on a dried flower head of a Pozo Blue salvia plant....
Butterflies feeding on the ever popular Red Valerian
Although the smoky air has been often quite toxic, full of particulates, somehow the pollinators and other wildlife manage. A few painted...
Respite for the birds in the garden
The birds are surviving the toxic air that has been surrounding us for more than a week. Fortunately we aren't too close to the...
Tattered Anise Swallowtail sipping on Red Valerian
Anise Swallowtails Papilio zelicaon have been flying through the garden for several months now, but they fly so quickly that I haven't...
Whew, that was close
A close call in the garden, that I wasn't aware of until I got very near to the action. The leaf cutting bee is on a blossom of the...