I’ve never seen a mariposa lily growing uphill from a stone. Uphill from a sagebrush, yes, but not a stone. They need well-drained soil, which means they grow best where water, snow […]
The Story of the Bee and the Cactus
Welcome to the green pistil of the brittle prickly pear cactus flower!They don’t bloom every year, but they sure have a green heart! And the sweat bee dives in head first. Perhaps […]
Mariposa Lily and Her Gardener
The mariposa lily and sweat bee dance is late this year, by calendar reckoning, but just on time by the measurement of sun and rain.I’m thrilled that they are here!
Fun With Pollen
Ah, the pollen of May. You can cover yourself with it and then launch yourself into open space … Wild Bee Leaving Its Salsify Feast (Click to see her golden mask.) You […]
Wild and Domestic Bees
Grassland bee (note the pollen)…. Apostemon Bee on a Mariposa Lily (Bella Vista) Most people here don’t know these beauties exist, and by that I mean both the flower and the bee. […]
Green Bees in the Rabbit Brush
Walking along above Kalamalka Lake today, I found the first rabbitbrush of the season in full bloom. Oh, and aren’t the bees happy! Covered in pollen, just like A Midsummer Night’s […]
The Biggest Mystery of All
Why yellow pollen? Green Sweat Bee in the Chicory On Her Way Home Why white pollen? Wasp Bathing in White Chicory Pollen No Yellow Pollen Cheating in the Mullein for Her I […]
When is a Weed a Weed? When Isn’t It?
Scotch thistle is listed as a noxious weed. To whom? Not to Western Swallowtails tattered by the wind. Not to green sweat bees. Not to bumblebees and Western Swallowtails at once. Maybe […]
Fire and Ants
Remember that fire? Grass burnt to the end of its story a couple weeks back? Only living thing left a few grasshoppers deep into the first stage of the grieving process and soon […]
