A Pollinator's Paradise

Today we'll start with a closer look at the two hydrangeas by the kitchen door. We've apparently got some variable soil conditions, since these two plants are giving us a color range from deep blue to violet to pink. It's a great show.

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Here's a blossom head that sums up the whole color range.

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Our first fruit on one of the "Big Bertha" pepper plants.

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A honeybee rummages through the blossoms of creeping thyme.

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An orange-tailed wasp (or is this a hornet...i just don't know...is there an entymologist in the house?)visits a new rudbeckia flower.

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A busy bumblebee on the milkweed.

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A new Black-eyed Susan bud.

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Meanwhile, a pair of my expatriot asiatic lilies outside the Old Jailhouse Tavern in Orleans have come into bloom this weekend.

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The lily leaf beetles have been spotted here, but don't appear to have done much damage. Thank goodness--I just love these orange lilies!!

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