It can be surprisingly hard to get a decent photo of a bee. You'd think it would be the easiest thing in the world -- bees don't move very quickly. But they also hunch over on themselves, and their black eyes blend in with their black fur, and what you often wind up with is a dark furry blob with no distinguishing features. So I was happy with these shots, with the bee's face visible.
The bees do love that wallflower, which we've had for several years now. A co-worker gave it to me as a seedling. It seems to be losing some of its vigor so I suspect we'll have to replace it before too long. Wallflowers don't live forever.
We seem to have lost a couple of other garden plants as well. Tammy the tamarisk tree, where the goldfinches loved to perch and nibble on the buds, has apparently died. There's no green growth visible at all -- just dry brown sticks.
Likewise, our orange broom (top photo here) seems to be mostly dead. It has no flowers or leaves, and several dry brown stems. There are a few areas that are still green, but I'm thinking it's toast.
I'm not broken up about either of these losses. I'll remove the plants in the next week or so and maybe we'll put something new in there. (Though maybe not something large -- I've always thought Tammy was in a bad location, in the middle of the roses.) Fortunately I still have about £100 on the garden shop gift card my co-workers gave me for my retirement. Maybe I'll run that errand today.
Yesterday proved to be warmer than expected -- we topped out at about 87º F (or 30º C) but it felt much more tolerable than the days before.
The heat yesterday did feel more tolerable than previous days, at least you can do a bit more in the day without the feel your melting.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how much difference just a few degrees can make.
DeleteWe have been hearing about your heat down here on our tv news. Stay cool. I like wallflowers though I have never had one.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a big story! I think everyone worries what it indicates about the approaching summer.
DeleteThe top bee picture is especially impressive. He seems to be looking directly at the photographer and possibly saying or thinking, "What the **** are you looking at buddy?"
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much they see. Probably just shadows, shapes and colors?
DeleteAren't modern cameras just so good, and aren't phone cameras even better. The bee photos are good.
ReplyDeleteAs for Australia, the best broom is a dead broom, an invasive species.
Phone cameras ARE good these days, but I took these with my big Canon and my zoom lens.
DeleteI always feel a little sad when one of our garden plants die. At the moment I am mollycoddling a very sick Callicarpa that has been struggling to survive for the past three years. I hope you don't have any more fatalities in your garden. The bees need them!
ReplyDeleteWe have two Callicarpas, one doing better than the other. (The less-vigorous one is in too much shade, I think.)
DeleteCapturing a bee in flight is a challenge, too. It's worth the difficulty, though, just to know they are in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI certainly want them around, whether I can photograph them or not!
DeleteI think my long lived lavender is over. Just dry twigs. But I won't rush to dump it just in case. It was huge and lovely for years, and I would give the neighbors some to dry each year. But I guess everything has a lifetime.
ReplyDeletePlants really do have a life span, even long-lived lavender!
DeleteThe bee photos are exciting. Nice captures. Such a shame about the dying plants. But just another excuse to get more. I’m glad the heat is not quite so bad but I still cannot imagine what you’re going through there.
ReplyDeleteWell, our heat is probably nothing compared to your heat! I think you have us beat nearly every day in the summer!
DeleteAbsolutely so much hotter here, but air conditioning is the norm, and that makes it liveable. Also, morning temps are always considerably lower (20 or 30 degrees F). And much lower humidity. You’re much tougher than we are.
DeleteI always hate it when one of my plants dies. I have a peace lily that I got in 1992 when my father died that is still doing well, despite having me as a plant father. (I do not have a green thumb!)
ReplyDeleteThose things are incredibly durable and quite tough!
DeleteEven if they're hard to photograph the bees seem like natural posers!
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it's the photographer's skill that makes them look that way. :P
DeleteIt's fun, isn't it? Having a generous gift card! The magic keeps continuing. My orchid is losing flowers. It's my first orchid so I have no idea if I'm watering it too little, too much, or it is just its life cycle. (I don't panic if lilacs die on the tree; they'll be back.)
ReplyDeleteWell, orchid flowers WILL eventually die, though they normally last a couple of months. Sometimes they all go at once and sometimes they die one by one over a period of days or weeks. Just depends on the plant. I water my orchids once a week, letting them drain completely each time.
DeleteThanks. Makes me feel a little better! I'm gathering they will bloom again on the stalk, right? One can hope! (I got this at the beginning of April so I guess the time is right.)
DeleteWe watched a documentary on Nat Geo the other day about bees, it was fascinating. Lovely photo of the bee.
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting and watching to see what survived and what didn't, but flowers have begun appearing:)
Nice! Winter's icy grip has finally broken!
DeleteI Love Garden Shopping Days - Most Of The Time It Is Basically Walking Around But Still , Love The Serenity Of Shopping In A Nursery - And On A Gift Card , Banner Day
ReplyDeleteStay Silly ,
Cheers
I would love to work in a nursery. That's a job I could do. Maybe I should see if they need help?!
DeleteTop photo is the cutest thing I have seen all day,maybe ever! El Nino this summer will be el Nono - baking people and gardens and making we wish for winter. At the very least it gives folks something to complain about other than the orange butthole.
ReplyDeleteSometimes even when it's dry here, people praise the weather. They just want it warm and sunny, regardless of how much we might need rain!
DeleteI find it almost impossible to get a good bee shot. They're as hard as butterflies to capture. Or harder. Hard as toddlers! They all move too fast.
ReplyDeleteBut you got some. Excellent!
I can do butterflies if I have my zoom lens, but yeah, bees are tricky.
DeleteBumble bees are fun to watch.
ReplyDeleteWe've got loads of 'em!
DeleteThat gift card was a great present for your retirement! Your co-workers knew what you would enjoy the most! Good luck shopping for plants.
ReplyDeleteIt WAS a very good gift for me.
DeleteThe bee photo is amazing. Seeing a bee's eyes and facial markings is a first for me.
ReplyDeleteIf you like dwarf trees, consider a Japanese Maple (JM). There are many varieties with lovely green, cream and sugar, and plum colors. My shortest JM is approximately 3 ft. but it is 3-4 ft. wide. They make a great focal point in the garden. Some garden centers sell them in one-gallon pots.
We actually have a Japanese maple in the garden, which was planted before we got here. It's about doubled in size in the years we've lived here. Still small as trees go, but not a dwarf variety.
DeleteGreat job on those bee photos! He's a fuzzy little creature.
ReplyDeleteLots of fuzz to collect pollen!
DeleteI find bumblebees (and dragonflies) a lot easier to photograph than butterflies! Your shots here are very nice. Do you ever see honeybees?
ReplyDeleteSometimes, yeah. We see many different types of bees, many of which (sad to say) I can't identify.
DeleteLove the bee photos! I'm having my 30 year old now dead rhody cut down this Saturday. I'm sad but resigned about it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame. Weird how it just gave up the ghost.
DeleteI do like your bee photographs :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Thank you!
DeleteBuzz off said the bee.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that's what it was thinking!
DeleteLovely bee photos
ReplyDeleteIs that a perennial wallflower that the bee is on? I've heard that you can trim them back if they get too leggy, and not letting it set too much seed will keep it going.
A plant I love but it hasn't been hardy enough for here
Yes, it's a perennial wallflower. I've cut it back some but I'm afraid to cut too much for fear of killing it. I hadn't heard that about seed -- probably too late now!
DeleteBrilliant bee photos. I took many, many one day in a vain attempt to get a really good one. Thank goodness for digital cameras, imagine sending off film the old way only to get back 25 blurry photos of bees going about their business.
ReplyDeleteThose are the types of images I see in some of those slides I've been sorting through! LOL
Delete