Denzil has invited us to share bees ‘of any species, size, sex, colour and activity’. Despite the broadness of the brief, I’m not sure he’ll have been expecting these. Continue reading “An Homage To Bees”
An Homage To Bees
Insect Hotel by Frysian Design in a Flower Garden
It was great to see so much focus on insects during our recent trip to Floriade. This insect hotel, placed among flowers, created one of my favourite picture-memories from the show. Continue reading “Insect Hotel by Frysian Design in a Flower Garden”
Whimsical Yard Art in the Cooper-Young District
I promised to share more pictures from the recent Cooper-Young Garden Walk. Here’s some of the yard art (garden art, where I’m from) that was liberally scattered around the 90 or so private gardens taking part. Continue reading “Whimsical Yard Art in the Cooper-Young District”
Rose Bedeguar Gall (Robin’s Pin Cushion)
Some rose diseases are so easily spread and devastating that I have a horror of them (rose rosette disease or crown gall of roses, for example). On seeing these mossy galls, despite the overactive alarm message, ‘Do not touch!’ flashing at the forefront of my mind, I did get close enough to take pictures. I vaguely remembered what these fuzzy growths were but needed to look them up to be sure.
I need not have been so alarmed: Rose bedeguar gall, known as Robin’s pin cushion or mossy rose gall, is neither a disease nor as harmful to the rose as might appear. Continue reading “Rose Bedeguar Gall (Robin’s Pin Cushion)”
The Discover Challenge: Senses
The subtle but beautiful animal print pattern on this moth appealed to my sense of touch so much that it was all I could do to stop myself stroking it. The moth was looking for somewhere to rest during daylight. Nothing could deter it from selecting this wooden bench – not even a human being with a camera looming in to take its picture.
I left it in peace. Continue reading “The Discover Challenge: Senses”
Butterfly sipping nectar: is this just a cold transaction?
It’s tempting to assume other living things experience the world pretty much as we do. While resizing this picture, I was thinking how much fun butterflies must have in a flower meadow – swinging on flowers while they sip a little nectar, perhaps comparing flavours and seeking out the ones they like best, then fluttering off to the next field… Continue reading “Butterfly sipping nectar: is this just a cold transaction?”
A bee on a flower pillow
I wanted to share this picture of a bee exploring a mass of flowers at the recent RHS Tatton Flower Show. My iPhone shot isn’t perfect but I like the muted colours, the softness and the textures.
The bee may appear to be resting in this shot (we did see a large, intoxicated-seeming bee sleeping in a striped rose) but it was far from the ideal model, intently waggling all over the alliums, making the usual incoherent bee satisfaction and interest noises. Continue reading “A bee on a flower pillow”
Susan Rushton 