Bee Love

As I was driving up to my daughters today for a visit with my sweet pies, I was as usual listening to NPR on the radio. On Weekend Edition they were interviewing a guy talking about how some Orchids have evolved to look like a bee-butt sticking out of a flower- in order to seduce the bees in...Check out NPRs website for a link to"Orchids: The Inflatable Love Dolls of the Floral Kingdom" There are some stunning Orchid and bee pictures.

And a few pictures of my own: The early morning bees getting some action with the night blooming cactus before the flowers closed up with the sun. Click on these for a better view.

A Pyrrhuloxia at the bird-feeder and blooms in the night

I spend a good share of my time at work- so I've put a bird feeder outside my office window, and get a fair amount of birds visit it. I've been noticing this Cardinal-like bird for a few weeks, and his mate visits as well. I did a little checking today and discovered it is a Pyrrhuloxia. Novice birdwatcher that I am, I'd not heard of this bird before but he is a real beauty. My pictures taken through my office window don't do him justice. Wikipedia has much better pictures and a little information too. The Pyrrhuloxia is found in Mexico and the Southern US states. He is from the same genus as the Cardinal. A new camera is in the near future for me and I can't wait to be able to capture better bird pictures with it. These are better if you click them.

And I just have to share some pictures of the big "night bloom" this week. I had TEN! at one time. The scent was heavenly- and the flowers as wonderful as ever. I only wish they would last.

I am fascinated by these flowers- the long stamens and the little wiggly center thing. I am sure theres a name for that---:)

When I took these next two, the following morning, there was a huge buzz coming from one of the flowers. Notice the black in the center...it was one of those great big black bumble bees and I only wish I'd been brave enough to get close to him as he was exiting, but those big bumbles freak me out...I only took pictures timidly as he was buried deep inside the bloom- rolling in that heaven.

Happy Weekend! I am absolutely overjoyed that it is Saturday!!!!

More Bees Please

As I wandered the garden this morning I noticed the bees buzzing around the Aloe flowers. These flowers are really mostly spent, but don't tell the bees that. It was interesting watching them climb right into the little tubes and then back out bee-hind first! You must click the pictures to really get the detail.

A little bit of heaven in the backyard

When I went house-hunting in Tucson about 6 years ago, I was not exactly impressed with what my money could buy. Until I hit on the one I live in today. The house was ok- nothing to really brag about, but it had potential I guess you could say. However it was the yard - and the 5 full grown citrus trees that really made me take notice. I have an Orange and a Tangerine in the backyard, and a lemon, lime and grapefruit in the side yard. Right now the Orange tree is in full bloom and the perfume is so strong that the dogs start sneezing the moment they step out there. The other 4 trees are all in various stages of blooming too. Here are a few pictures taken yesterday.

One perfect lemon blossom.

Lime blossoms on the way out. They opened last week.

A baby lemon starting at the center of the flower.

Lemon buds and a baby lemon- I love the lavender color of the buds.

New leaf growth on the grapefruit. This tree gave a bumper crop this year but they were very small fruits. I still have lots to learn about how to grow citrus.

The bees busy at work on the orange blossoms.

I don't seem to have as many bees as last year which is concerning. If you have bees visit your trees and plants are you noticing a decrease this year?

Caladium and the seed pod

I purchased some Caladium bulbs last spring, when I saw that they would grow well in the shade. I have a small patch right outside my front door that has a big Olive tree growing in the middle and I "try" and grow things under its branches which has proven to be a bit of a struggle-as not much sun gets through to the area.

Well I have happily watched the bright green and almost pink red leaves sprout up on a regular basis, but yesterday I was surprised to see a strange pod like structure growing up from one of the bunches of leaves. I did some online research and found it was a seed pod, and that if I wanted to encourage more leaf growth, I should cut it off at the base! On the other hand, if I let it dry on the plant, and harvest the seeds and grow them, I could possibly see some interesting variations in color from the parent. Oh the dilemma!

Although these bulbs are not hardy to our low temps of 25 or so, I think they will be worth the trouble of digging up and replanting next year- I have to fill this bed in with something!

Other surprises in the garden recently were little mushrooms on impossibly thin stalks- they didn't last when the sun came out but they were tall and valiant early in the morning.

Also the busy bee- he discovered the new flowers the Cholla put out after the rain- they hadn't even completely opened up yet, so the stamen were still hidden inside and he really had to work to get what he was after! Click on the pictures to really see the detail.