I like this one on the Russian Sage a lot. The lines. Kind of gives an idea of how dense the blossoms are. It’s no wonder that those plants and blossoms are just pulsing with bees once they start to bloom. Great plant for pollinators – and it’s not very thirsty at all – and blooms and blooms and blooms and blooms. Plant a couple – or a lot!
Away from the Peruvian Lilies
This one is from the 11th of October and you can see on the left blossom that the grasshoppers were still going strong even that late in the year.
Good look at her in flight. Usually I get profiles, but I like this one going away. Great view of her wing. Beautiful critter.
Tongue on the Russian Sage Again
This one makes me smile, too. I know it’s dumb to anthropomorphize insects, but this one looks just a little puckish to me. And I’m going to use a little of my artistic license that I think I’m supposed to have to be okay with it.
Great face…and look.
And up the Larkspur
Larkspurs can look kind of weedy sometimes. But I really like them. Especially when they’re dense. And this is a really good shot of them and the bumble – that top blossom is especially neat looking. The bumbles love them but they’re kind of hard to shoot on them because the bumbles are heavy enough to pull the stalk down some. Add a bit of a breeze to that – your inherently shaky photographer – and it gets a little rough finding that sharp focus. This one worked well, though. And don’t forget to notice the pollen baskets on either side of her.
Up the Lavender
This one delights me. Might not be stellar art, but the lines and lights and darks and focus are just fun. And it’s a good look at her, too. From October – that rebloom I mentioned a while ago.
More Mumming
Serious question: why do we humans think it’s okay to say stupid stuff as long as it’s alliterative? Or rhymes? Or almost rhymes? Click it or ticket. Who says that, really?
End of mini-rant. And enjoy another reason to love the chrysanthemums. I’m trying…and I might be almost there…and it’s pics like this one that might be doing it.
Blanket Flower Goodness
I have it in my head that in years past, I kind of went overboard on posting bees on blanket flowers. Might or might not be true, but I’ve not posted as many this year. Here’s a neat one from June.
And I might be a bit of an evangelist for the blanket flowers. They’re really inexpensive, easy to care for (and don’t take much water), they bloom from about May (at least here in Utah) all the way through the first hard frost. And, most importantly, the pollinators just love them. And they’re another that seeds and morphs from year to year – the bee creations. And that’s fun itself.
Profile on the Lavender
For some reason, I really like the profile shots like this one in which they’re hanging off the flowers. I shoot so many bees during the summer (literally thousands of pics a day on some days) that the shapes and attitudes of their bodies become familiar to me. This is one of the best in my mind. And the lavender is just fantastic because it is.
Beeneck on the Caryopteris
This one just made me smile when I saw it. The plant’s also called the bluebeard (and you can see why…although it’s purple-ey, too). Blooms in the late summer and early fall and it’s such such such a magnet for pollinators. They’re so attracted to it. Love the bee in this one. It’s a good look and fun to see her neck a bit. Shadows are a little nasty, but she looks really good.
A Rare Salvia Shot
Didn’t have as many salvias around this year in the garden and I’m not sure why. I love them and so do the bees. And they, like the sunflowers (and many others), are products of the bees pollination. Fun to see the colors and even sizes vary from year to year. And they, like many of the others, wander around the garden as they seed and grow and seed and grow.
Great look at her in flight. Love it when I get those sharp shots.