The 4th of July has come and gone, and my summer flowers are starting to ramp it up. The early-bloomers are humming with bees, and the late-bloomers are finally having a growth spurt after hanging back and letting the other ones go first. My wrens fledged a few weeks ago, causing quite a ruckus in the backyard for about two weeks, then Mr. and Mrs. Wren decided to get in the “family way” again, so now she is sitting on eggs and he is still proclaiming his territory and keeping a close eye on the box. After a brief hiatus in hummingbird activity while they were nesting, the hummers are back again in full force, and I am having a hard time keeping up with them so the feeder doesn’t run dry! So here are some pictures showing what is going on:
My Indian Pink was especially beautiful this year
I finally got a blossom on my common milkweed and the bumblebees found it right away!
The butterfly weed in my hot front garden is pretty happy, and I actually saw a hummingbird visiting it last week!
Butterfly weed
The bee balm bloomed extravagantly and the bumblebees and hummingbirds have loved it!
Close-up of a bee balm flower
My liatris is blooming very nicely after all the rain we’ve had this summer
I planted this little beautyberry bush last fall, expecting it to die over the winter, but it has done really well, even putting out a few blossoms, which a VERY tiny bee has found! Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Tiny bee, about 1/8″ long, in the center
My common sneezeweed, inappropriately named, finally decided it could survive in my hot garden!
Native honeysuckle. This is its second time blooming since spring.
Surprise visitors to my backyard! I have been hearing red-shouldered hawks screaming all spring and summer in my neighborhood, so I figured there was a nest nearby. This sight greeted me when I came down for breakfast last weekend–a young hawk sitting above my wren box, an adult on the fence, and a mockingbird harassing the adult!
And finally, my pokeweed is flourishing this year, practically looking like a tree! I harvested the berries last year (the ones the birds didn’t get first!) and took them in to TriState Bird Rescue for the birds to eat over the winter.
FROM WEEDS TO BEES 