Lovely little umber skipper
Umber skippers are very small butterflies, that could almost be mistaken for moths. They visit our garden very often, usually in pairs....
Busy bees
Honey bee on brown fennel flower head So much vegetation is drying up in the garden, but as I walked around the garden today it was so...
Bee nesting habitat
detail of part of a bee "condo" at the University of California Native Bee Garden in Berkeley When we went on the tour of the Native Bee...
A female wool carder bee at work
I was very fortunate to observe a female wool carder bee anthidium fabricius collecting fibers from the underside of Lamb's Ear leaves....
Inviting butterflies
butterfly bush buddleja alternifolia flower cluster We provide food for butterflies too. The butterfly bush growing in a container pot in...
Time for harvesting
I know this isn't a big deal to people who grow a lot of produce, but we harvested all of these Early Girl tomatoes this weekend from one...
Life in the backyard
While making my daily round of the backyard, I spotted an unusual vistor: a grasshopper perched on the edge of the stone in one of the...
Leafcutting bees in the garden
Look at those circular holes cut out along the edges of the rose leaves. Unmistakable evidence that we have leafcutting bees nesting...
Bees in the backyard
Hover fly August is always the month when plants look very tired and much of the garden is dried out. It is even harder to keep plants...
The Munstead lavender plant
Here is our first bud on the Munstead lavender plant we bought last year. It looks so nice and fresh, on the verge of opening up to...
