Signs of things to come

Hopefully my flower gardens will be as full of butterflies this year as in the last several years.

I just love ladybugs. This is a partial view of one of my daylily flowerbeds. As you can see I am going to have a real hard time getting in there for photographs. My husband likes to plant them close to begin with, and then when they grow there is NO room to get around them. He did weed and mulch this spring before the daylilies started showing themself, so with the mulch and the closeness of the daylilies, not much room for weeds. Thank goodness, since we couldn't get to them if they were there. I do think he is seeing the error of his ways right now.

In the back there is a hint of purple from the iris bed, and you can see the road. The daylilies are right up to the edge of the bank down to the road. I used to be able to walk around that edge, but this year the daylilies have grown so much I won't be able to. This one bed is 10 rows, of about 20 plants in each row. Then I had Jimmy leave me a path before the next section. Hah! The path is almost closed up. I may end out getting him to dig a row up every so often just so I can have a path. Won't be this year. He barely gets home before he has to go back to work.

We did have a wonderful day Saturday....no work for either of us. I had to work Sunday, so he left his yard work for Sunday. Those of you that are against that, just keep the comments to yourself. We do what we have to do. I ended out only having to work 6 hours, so Jimmy met me in Knoxville and took me to The Chop House. He went onto Rockwood and I returned home to continue with my current needle felting project.

Ladybird Beetles

We always called these Ladybugs, but have found out the correct name is Ladybird Beetles. There are 350 species in the United States.

I went outside during a break in the rain yesterday (no photos today, it is pouring the rain) and was trying to get photos of my iris blooms. Not sure how they are blooming in all the rain, but they are gorgeous this year. Looked down and saw the Ladybug on the ground, so I picked it up and placed it on the iris.

The wind was blowing (bringing in more rain) and the first photo is not quite as sharp as I would have liked. Snapped the 2 photo, and then the Ladybug was blown to the ground. Didn't even see where it went, photo session over.

My 15 month old grandson is here today, while his mother goes to Bible study, and he is suppose to be taking a nap right now. Know how hard it is for a Granny to let him sleep while he is here? Specially when he doesn't want to. I decided to get this post ready so I could TRY to ignore him for a few minutes. It hasn't worked very well, and I am going to get him to play for a while. When Mason is here I don't even care that it is raining, yet again!

Insect taking a drink on daffodil bloom

Not only are the daffodils blooming,

but the insects are showing up too.

Spring is in the air.

Various insects taken summer 2008

I am very interested in this first insect. The top photograph is taken on the milkweed in the field behind my house. The day I took this the butterflies and bees were all over the milkweed. Even had a monarch that day. The one below is on a day old daylily bloom. It looks like a butterfly in the making, but I can't find it in my reference books for insects or butterflies.
The rest are just some macro photographs of insects I took all during the summer.

The Spotted Cucumber Beetle is the only one I could find in my reference book, not a very big reference book.

Spotted Cucumber Beetle

Praying Mantis

My neighbor called, come quick. He had this Praying Mantis in his screened porch.He moved it to the flower for me.
Then outside, where he really blended in with the environment.

Here the Mantis had seen enough of me and my camera.

Rose of Sharon - double bloom

The bee was a surprise when I got to the computer. I thought it had flown away when I took the photo.

Insects flying around Eastern Bluebird

You can see why I have flycatchers in my backyard. I did not see the swarm around this Bluebird until at the computer.

Small wonders on the daylilies

I went out to deadhead the daylilies, and look what I found.

"Ladybugs" Ladybird Beetle

We always called these Ladybugs, but looking in the book, they are really called Ladybird Beetles. There are 350 species in the United States. I just enjoyed following this one all around my lily.