chickensense

More on these daylilies at: My Daylilies from Seed

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We’ve been seeing a different type of bee in our gardens this year. For the last 3 or 4 years there have been almost no bees at all, so it is nice to see any kind of bee again. In 2007 there was a drought, then when it finally rained the plants acted like it was spring. We had lots of flowers, squash, zucchini, and cantaloupe blossoms but not one single bee to pollinate anything. It looks like it will be much better this year, which is good because my cantaloupe plants already have flowers, as does one of the squash plants in the big garden. 

I don’t know what type of bees these are. Are they bumble bees? They are very large and fuzzy, about the length of my thumb from the knuckle to the end of the thumb nail. Their tail end is all black. They have a single black stripe on their back, amidst all the yellow fuzz.

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A hummingbird flew bang into the trowel I was carrying in the garden yesterday. I felt the thud and looked down and there was the bird at my feet. We hoped he was just knocked out so we put him in a basket of grass. Soon, however, it was obvious that he was dead. I’m so sorry little bird.

Later that afternoon I hung my birthday hummingbird feeder. I’ll be sure to watch carefully for hummingbird traffic from now on.

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Antique-Style Hummingbird Feeder

My wonderful brother gave me a Wal-Mart gift card for my birthday. I had fun today choosing my gifts. (It is rather amazing, the variety of things you can get at Wal-Mart.)

My favorite is a gorgeous humming bird feeder made from an antique-looking, real-glass bottle. The base and flowers are made of metal.

I also got a six pack of tomato plants, some pink wax begonias for my new shady garden, and a 72-plant, mini-greenhouse for starting the seeds that I received for Mother’s Day.

Then picked up a green metal bird feeder, a 50-lb sack of sunflower bird seed, and a small bag of thistle seed for the finches. We get the most gorgeous yellow and orange finches around here. (I can’t believe how much the cost of thistle seed has gone up in the last 2 years!)

I got a few more odds and ends such as a desperately needed 5-shelf book case, 2 bags of organic humus/manure, a bag of potting soil, some plant labels, and a large citronella candle to place on my new green, iron, patio table and chair set which was my gift from my husband. It is a gorgeous set, with iron flowers on the chairs and a large umbrella too. (Jesse’s gift was a tiki-torch to put next to the new set.)

I think I will hang my new bird feeders at my Stump Garden (on the green pole), where they will be visible from the kitchen windows, the porch, and my new patio table outside. I can’t wait to sit there with a cup of tea to watch the birds.

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