Archives for posts with tag: bees
It was only after I situated the aqua garden just so with irises, water lilies and stones that a frog came by. Â Â Â Introducing Maurice, 
the star of the garden this summer. He is a bronze frog, green face and bronze body. He’s very contemplative, doesn’t move for hours and even though it’s getting colder at night he is still there, sitting in his little pool.
There was a mini Maurice as well, in the smaller pond,
who disappeared a few weeks ago after being visited by big Maurice. Hmmmm…..
The Pickerel Frog who has a nice flashy coat
is in front of the house. She seems to love this blue pot filled with water and Elephant Ears. It’s situated right under the porch light where moths gather. I’m guessing this frog is a “she” because smaller versions of herself were nearby for a while, until they ventured off to who knows where.
Stayed tuned for Part 2, In a small corner of the world, there is a garden, Summer 2016.
That’s right, more frogs, flowers and bees.
In this spring and summer garden there were more frogs than in the past and more bumble bees than I’d seen in ten years. However, there were hardly any honey bees (just a few when the milkweed bloomed) and so far, one monarch butterfly. They usually come around at the end of summer.
Placing pots flush with the ground, filled with water helped bring more frogs and leaving a foot of long grass around the borders where clover could grow met some of their needs as well as the bumble bees. They also seemed to enjoy the addition of water lettuce in their pools. This time around I added more plants to the front, North side of the house, as well as a small water garden in a tall blue pot, where tiny frogs came to hide. There in the shade, the Coleus took off along with the Creeping Jenny.
One of the new flowers in this mix was the Mexican Red Torch, lighting up the place with it’s truly vibrant petals. The stems and leaves are so velvety soft. An intriguing plant it is, as it is slow to bloom, growing lots of large leaves. It is still creating more buds and continues to bloom.
As far as the vegetables that were grown, the most successful was the Swiss Chard, onions and the strange looking carrots (such intense flavor). Unfortunately, the tomatoes took for ever to get going, the potatoes looked like food for the Lilliputs and the eggplants were devoured by pests. The corn grew small as well, but, it has yet to be picked, since it’s popping corn.
All in all, it was an amazing summer; warm, hot, cool in all the right places and not too rainy. Taking great advantage of it by being outside as much as I could, made for some nice shots.
Last year I let the little garden go completely wild. Different types of grasses grew, all kinds of weeds, the place was buzzing like a city. The usual characters came back and a few new ones I hadn’t seen before. The honey bees came earlier in the spring and hardly any in the summer. There was an noticeable absence of the Monarch butterfly and the Japanese beetle. Also, surprisingly, there weren’t as many mosquitoes. No vegetables were grown, just a few left over sunflower seeds from the year before and a couple pots of basil. All in all, it was a lush little garden which will grant me fresh, rich soil for this year’s planting.
We had so much rain last Spring. We were soaked.
I placed a pot, flush with the soil, for a make shift frog pond.
When I was getting it ready guess who came to wait, our good friend Basil. Can you see him?
When I finished placing the rocks just so, Basil jumped in and looked like he approved.
Once the rhododendrons bloom, the bumble bees come out and the place starts buzzing.
And of course, the Ruby throat.
The beach rose bloomed for the first time!
The grass grew and so did the infamous Milkweed.
With it comes true delight; honey bees, bumblebees, butterflies and all kinds of insects.
I put a pot in another spot where I had seen Basil sitting once, but the frogs did not take to it.
Still letting it grow wild and free.
Then the Hibiscus comes along, giving everyone so much.
Its a favorite of the Green Leaf Grasshopper
Waiting patiently for my sunflowers to grow…
… and grow they did.
When summer is in full swing, the lawn gets mowed, but the ‘small corner’ keeps growing.
And more visitors arrive.
This time a smaller frog.
Here is the teeniest, tiniest frog on a mint leaf.
Even a toad came to our door step.
Underneath the walnut trees near the road grew some amazing fungi specimens.
The beauty of summer
The hydrangea is always a good indicator of the seasons changing.
And when the Milkweed start to open their pods of seeds.
The End
