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This is the second of my 7 day nature series on Facebook.
It appeared originally in https://derrickjknight.com/2014/04/29/a-fascinating-collage/
When we paid for Country Girl last week, Jackie also bought one of her favoured wrought iron candle holders for use as a planter. It has a screw fitted to adjust the height.
Today, I moved it to the gravelled concrete at the southern end of the garden. This involved moving a pile of bricks from where it now stands, and raking gravel to cover that corner. I had to evict a large number of woodlice, slugs, and, one snail.
Jackie had moved a few of the bricks earlier. Feeling the heat she must have removed her jumper, and slung it over the nearest available hanger, thus providing the Country Girl, now dubbed Florence, with a purple hair extension
The white climber is now making its way up the Agriframes Arch straddling the Brick Path.
The clump of geranium palmatums halfway down that shot draws bees so large that they weigh down the petals to which they cling whilst plundering the nectar.
Those plants are at the corner of the Dead End Path, alongside which a large philadelphus is in bloom.
Other plants attracting bees include poppies (this one also has a beetle)
and linaria.
Bees have shaken off so much pollen in the poppy that much smaller insects avail themselves of the bowl for a dust bath.
What, now, is this nosey creature entering the foxglove?
It’s a mosquito making a bee seem comparatively harmless.
My afternoon tasks including gathering up The Head Gardener’s weeding and clippings, and dead-heading roses, mostly in the Rose Garden where a few clematises like this
Hagley’s Hybrid have been incorporated for variety.
For our dinner this evening Jackie produced a stupendous beef stew with new potatoes. So tasty was this that when offered a choice of more stew, sticky toffee pudding, or more stew and sticky toffee pudding, I opted for more stew. That way, I reasoned, I could eat more. Jackie drank Peroni, and I drank Patrick Chodot Fleurie 2014, except for the glassful I knocked over the table, which was a shame.
LOL! Love the purple hair extension, Derrick. You nature photo is fabulous, as are all of the others.
Thank you very much, Jill
Spilling wine brings good luck, Derrick…a libation to ancestors and beneficent spirits.
Thank you for that, Cynthia. Not so bad after all. 🙂
Phew!
I think the presence of bees is a good measure of the quality of a garden. Love the purple geraniums!
Many thanks, John. We do have a lot of bees
Wow! great shots of the philadelphus. What a pretty garden. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks very much, Cindy
The first shot is breathtaking and I love the purple and blue hues here and there in the garden 🙂
Many thanks, Geetha. That first shot is your kind of pic 🙂
Yes, definitely 😀
Fab Florence! Love the close-ups of the flowers.
Thank you, Laurie
That top photo is absolutely stunning, but I love the bees on the flowers photos, too.
Many thanks, Merril
Florence is a winner! 🙂
Thanks very much, Pauline
What a beautiful post. Photo 1 is remarkable, the flowers are pretty and Florence likes her hair extension. If only we could all wear purple hair with such grace!
Thank you, Cynthia R
That bumblebee really took me back to Whidbey Island, Washington. While I was at Hedgebrook the property manager Billy’s daughter used to catch them and let me stroke them. They sat perfectly still in her hand until we’ve finished molesting them.
Beef stew is probably not the best food for a flu but I want some! 🙂
What a beautiful garden! I used to grow many things, then we had a horrible drought that lasted for years, so now I only grow a few flowers. Outstanding photography also 🙂
Many thanks, L.T.
I like that your like the many bugs you see. They’re industrious, aid various human endeavors and attractive so what’s not to like, I suppose…? Oddly, we have very few mosquitoes That I have run into in the rain forests of Oregon. Maybe they have moved into your neighborhood? ( PS: The “way” of it seems to be “weigh”, rather than”…bees so large that they way down the petals…”. :))
Thank you, Cynthia; and for the poof redding 🙂
Gorgeous images – I particularly love the the poppy dust.
Thank you very much, Catherine
Love those bees!
Thanks, Brenda
I can’t see the beetle, Derrick, unless it’s the little thing right under the bee (?) Also, that mosquito looks very large!
On the outside of the top petal. It’s very small – enlargement would help. The mosquito was quite big. Use the foxglove as a comparison – it’s quite a close-up. Thanks for the attention, Weekly
Wow. I am embarrassed to say that I did enlarge the photo twice and still missed it! It is very evident without enlargement after being told where it was. Thanks!
🙂
Derrick. you caught some great shots of a bee at work. Bravo.
Thank you, Lonely
Such a brilliant hair extension! I must try it myself. 🙂 Beautiful photos. I especially love the Poppy.
Thank you, Sylvia
Beautiful photos and everything 🙂
Thank you, Lakshmi
Beautiful flowers Derrick, and I really like Florence with the purple hair extension. Happy day to you my friend! 🙂
Thanks very much, Terry. You too.
Florence fits the maiden perfectly Derrick and her purple headdress is fitting for the young gal! Seriously the flowers photographs are just stunning – I thoroughly enjoyed our peek into the garden to day1
Thank you very much Mary
Love the top picture so lovely! Wow nice hair Florence!
Thank you, Lynn
most welcome
Love the new look of the Country girl, and the color of your clematis and poppy.
Thanks very much, Inese
The state of a garden’s health is measured by the bees. if they disaapear then apparently you have cause to worry. No worries as far as you are concerned.
Absolutely, Mostly. Thank you
Love the purple hair extensions! 🙂
Many thanks, Timi – and for the catch-up session 🙂