Can You Call This Working In The Garden?

Everything in the garden is growing so fast.  I chose to weed a new strawberry bed before the weeds ruined the plastic netting we use to protect the strawberries from birds.  I sit on a little cart when I work on weeding and that puts the beautiful  bee balm right at my eye level.  The butterflies and hummingbird moths  were way to busy sipping nectar from the flowers to notice me. I counted 6 hummingbird moths that I could see at once.  Never have I gotten such a close look at these fascinating creatures.  One came so close I got a great look at his fuzzy tan and brown body.  His wings moved  too fast for my eye to see them as he hovered over one tubular blossom after another. When he left he flew right by my left ear so I could hear the faint buzzing noise of his wings.  Several checkers and a couple of white butterflies were hanging around as well.

Since my weeding was finished when this tiger swallowtail showed up, I took a break and went for the camera.  I find butterfly photography challenging, but the bee balm helps to keep them focused on feeding.

I got a nice picture of this Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.  The strawberries are weeded and safe under the netting.  So is this working in the garden or having incredible fun in the sun?

Please note that coyote visited the smoke bush this morning.

Spring Ahead

Today is the day that you wake up at 7:00 and think " Oh no! It's really 8:00 ."  It will take me a few days to acclimate to the new time.  I'll be hungry before lunch and hungry before dinner.   I would be wide awake at bedtime, but this was a beautiful day and Ed and I both made much of it in the garden.  I just had to clean up the bed where these beautiful Dutch Iris are blooming.  They deserve it.  Most years they peek out of snow but not this year.  I know spring is on the way when these hardy flowers make their appearance.  Rain is in the forecast for the next several days.  Cool wet days will extend the bloom time of these early jewels.

Snow drops have pushed their way through Ed's  layer of mulch.  Finally they are blooming too!

Ed spent the morning cleaning up his daylily bed.  I worked on the Black-eyed Susan bed in the foreground.  It was sunny and comfortable.  It was nice to spend some time working in the same area of the garden.  Later Ed headed off on his own.  I  was focused on cutting back the lavender bee balm.  The dead stems were tall this year.  I didn't have a lot of trouble cutting the stems, but it never ceases to amaze me how those round seed heads can catch on everything.

By lunchtime we were both hungry and tired.  Ed wanted to go right back outside after lunch, but I needed a little rest.  After a short nap, we headed back outside for the afternoon.  It is important to enjoy wonderful days in March.  Sometimes they are rare.

The bed in front of the house was chosen for our afternoon fun.  Ed worked here close to the curved stone walls.  I worked in front of the house.  Several hours went by, but it is early in the season .  We were both getting tired and a little sore.  When we came back inside we discovered that it was time for dinner.  When I look out the living room window the progress we are making on this year's garden makes me very happy.  We have rain in the forecast.  I think for the gardeners here and the plants in the garden that might make for another perfect day!

Avert Your Eyes! Sex In The Garden

Like the old song says "Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees and the flowers ..." but today it one of my very favorite garden visitors, Hemaris thysbe, the Clearwing hummingbird moth that is mating on the lavender bee balm.  Ed took this great picture.  The flowers were buzzing with activity.  It was just plain luck that we spotted these two.

We took the time to snap a second picture before we moved off to let them do their thing in peace.  In all the times I have watched these interesting creatures in the garden, I have never seen this before.  Sometimes I say that and find out later that I was mistaken. In this case I'm very sure because I love to watch them and the prospects of more of them around is thrilling to me.  Not everyone finds them so fascinating, but for those to do here are some past posts. Still Wonderful When Wet  , Garden Guests Galore,  Splendor In The Grass And Weeds, Hemaris thysbe, the Clearwing hummingbird moth    For me it is awesome!!!!