mistressofmuses (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mistressofmuses) wrote2024-07-17 09:20 pm
mistressofmuses) wrote2024-07-17 09:20 pm
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Xeriscape Garden (with bees!)
Since I was free from jury duty, and we were free to leave the apartment (the smoke detector test presumably completed), we decided to go out briefly yesterday. It was still pretty hot, but to the tune of low to mid 90s instead of 100s.
We didn't feel like doing a lot in the heat, but we decided we could take a quick walk around the xeriscape garden.
Definitely not a ton blooming right now (considering just how hot and dry it's been), but there was some, and we did see lots of bees! So many bees, of so many different kinds!
One of the most interesting bees. I'm not sure what kind they were, but they were very light - almost white. And with such long antennae! It looked really nice against the dark red coneflower.
And bumblebees always make me happy, especially when I can actually get pictures of them!
Some asters!
At one point shortly after we got there, Alex and I both tried to point out a bunny to the other. I was looking at this one...
...While Alex had spotted a tiny baby bunny bounding through the garden. Here it is sheltering in the shade of a rock. (Too cute.)
A bee in a flower! I think the flower is a poppy mallow.
A wasp of some type. I think this is a species of sand wasp; they had the same silvery-bluish eyes.
And a honeybee!
There was a big sphinx moth fluttering around. It eventually landed, but I couldn't get a completely unobstructed picture, lol.
They're so pretty, and I love them. I did try to get that last leaf out of the way, but that startled it away.
This guy blends in pretty well, but he was really neat! A yellow dragonfly! Not a color I see very often at all.
These flowers were quite lovely.
And collected many bees!
Over on one of the piñon trees, there were a bunch of ambush bug nymphs. I've seen them on the daisies in one of the neighborhood parks, but never noticed them in the pine needles before. They were very hard to get good pictures of (my camera did not want to focus on them, and then a breeze came up and made it even harder.) But this one turned out all right. And she has a snack!
(And bonus little baby pinecones in the upper left corner.)
And a bumblebee (the same one as above the cut, I'm pretty sure)! There were SO MANY on this particular plant.
I wish I had something here to convey size, because this particular bumblebee was ENORMOUS. Like, more than twice the size of the one above, probably a bit over an inch long.
It was nice to go out and get at least a little bit of fresh air and sun, even if it was hot sun, ha. Bella came with, and did NOT stick her face in the cactus this time, lol. She did, however, eat seven Japanese beetles. She is doing her part to manage the extremely destructive invasive species.
We didn't feel like doing a lot in the heat, but we decided we could take a quick walk around the xeriscape garden.
Definitely not a ton blooming right now (considering just how hot and dry it's been), but there was some, and we did see lots of bees! So many bees, of so many different kinds!
One of the most interesting bees. I'm not sure what kind they were, but they were very light - almost white. And with such long antennae! It looked really nice against the dark red coneflower.
And bumblebees always make me happy, especially when I can actually get pictures of them!
Some asters!
At one point shortly after we got there, Alex and I both tried to point out a bunny to the other. I was looking at this one...
...While Alex had spotted a tiny baby bunny bounding through the garden. Here it is sheltering in the shade of a rock. (Too cute.)
A bee in a flower! I think the flower is a poppy mallow.
A wasp of some type. I think this is a species of sand wasp; they had the same silvery-bluish eyes.
And a honeybee!
There was a big sphinx moth fluttering around. It eventually landed, but I couldn't get a completely unobstructed picture, lol.
They're so pretty, and I love them. I did try to get that last leaf out of the way, but that startled it away.
This guy blends in pretty well, but he was really neat! A yellow dragonfly! Not a color I see very often at all.
These flowers were quite lovely.
And collected many bees!
Over on one of the piñon trees, there were a bunch of ambush bug nymphs. I've seen them on the daisies in one of the neighborhood parks, but never noticed them in the pine needles before. They were very hard to get good pictures of (my camera did not want to focus on them, and then a breeze came up and made it even harder.) But this one turned out all right. And she has a snack!
(And bonus little baby pinecones in the upper left corner.)
And a bumblebee (the same one as above the cut, I'm pretty sure)! There were SO MANY on this particular plant.
I wish I had something here to convey size, because this particular bumblebee was ENORMOUS. Like, more than twice the size of the one above, probably a bit over an inch long.
It was nice to go out and get at least a little bit of fresh air and sun, even if it was hot sun, ha. Bella came with, and did NOT stick her face in the cactus this time, lol. She did, however, eat seven Japanese beetles. She is doing her part to manage the extremely destructive invasive species.
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That looks so so peaceful and lovely! 🥰
Bumblebees really do hit that "all is well" feeling don't they?
Thank you for sharing. 💗
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I had to look up 'xeriscape'. That's cool.
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It is a neat garden! It's maintained at least in part by the municipal water company as a sort of example of how a garden with lower water needs can still be really nice.
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I adore bumblebees (and other types of bees too... bumblebees are just particularly comforting, ha.)
Thank you!
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When I was a kid, it was a rarity to see a bunny around. We'd see them maybe once or twice a year, but not even every year. (Which is surprising, considering the area - I don't know why we got so few.) Now we see them very frequently, and even though I know a lot of people think of them as annoyances or pests, I always like them, ha.
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I was really happy with a couple of the bee closeups!