A Cool Insect in the Garden

This is a tachinid fly.  It is absolutely in love with the variegated mint flowers on our patio.  I don't think I will talk about its cute hairy butt or may be I should.  Better not!  I can see the Google searches now!  There are like 1,500 species of tachinids that provide biological control in your garden.  That is why it is so critical to avoid chemicals if you can.  When I was an active master gardener, I was always reminding the callers that the bad bugs are only about 2 or 3 percent of the total insect population.  I know most of you don't even think about spraying these days, but on the off chance you do, think about all of the good insects that are trying to get those bad insects under control.  Quiet day here.  The Herbal Husband is taking a well deserved break from the garden.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

Swallowtails Everywhere!

Been working hard in the garden trying to reclaim another section where some invasive shrubs had taken over.  The Herbal Husband did most of the digging and I did most of the cleaning up.  A slight diversion above the swallowtail butterflies have been everywhere.  Lots of fun to watch!  Hope you have had a good day.  Talk to you later. 

Is It a Comma or a Question Mark?

This little guy or girl didn't stay around long enough for me to get a great photo!  I do know this much that it is an angled-winged butterfly.  My National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies says, "They have sharply angled, somewhat irregular wings.  When the wings are folded at rest, the drab undersides resemble leaves or pieces of bark, making them difficult to see.  The undersides tend to be somewhat brighter shades of orange and rust-brown.  This group includes angelwings, tortoiseshells, commas and question marks, as well as leafwings, snouts and daggerwings."  It is definitely this group.  I just will hope that we get another visit before the end of the growing season!  We have had some outstanding insects this season already and we have just started summer!  Finally, got our tomatoes planted!  I guess it is never too late.  Hopefully, you have had a great day.  Going to be slightly cooler tomorrow and Tuesday before the heat comes back.  Talk to you later.

An Interesting Visitor in the Herb Garden!

We have some cool visitors that stop by the herb garden from time to time.  This little guy was fast, but then it just stuck around and let me take its photo!  This is a common whitetail dragonfly!  Who knew?  It was supposed to rain early in the day, but I got a bit more accomplished than I thought.  So hope you had a good day.  I've heard from two of the magazine winners.  So please if you are a winner, e-mail me your mailing information.  BTW, I added a little list of chores with photos on the right hand side of the blog that are going on in my herb garden especially for those of you who are in the mid-Atlantic states, but hopefully it will be helpful to other parts of the US as well.  Talk to you later. 

Always Glad to See These in the Garden! My Submission ID Was Correct!!

The roses across the way from this rugosa are just full of aphids.  Aphids are a favorite food of the lady beetle.  I think I'm finally getting the hang of my camera.  This little cutie was on the rugosa rose the other day.  I think it's probably a multicolored Asian lady beetle.  I need to submit the photo to the Lost Ladybug Project.  You can submit photos as well.  They are always happy to find new types and where you found them.  Just wanted you to know that I got my ID correct!  Here is a link to my submission.  The photo on the left isn't as good as the recent one, but it is of a native ladybug.  So I guess that's even better!  It is sort of cool in the garden.  We probably got over a half of an inch of rain.  The rain gauge hasn't gone outside so how can I really gauge how much rain has fallen?  Oh well, eventually we will get it outside and then the measuring will begin.  Hope you are having a great day or evening wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Still Blooming in the Garden!

Calendulas with Dark Centers

Double White Feverfew

'Walker's Low' Nepeta

These three flowers are always around for the end of the gardening season.  I will probably have a couple of calendulas flowering for my bouquet on next week's Thanksgiving table!  Yikes!  That came around quickly!  I especially like the single flowered feverfew.  This happens to be a double one.  It can be invasive in the garden, but I have quite a few invasives, don't I?  The last flower in this trio is a nepeta called 'Walker's Low'.  It is an early bloomer in the spring and as you can see a late bloomer as well.  The bees were working the nepeta.  It was fun watching them.  Giveaways are coming!  Trying to get them in before next week so you will have them in time for the holiday season.  Another cool, rainy day.  Talk to you later.

Monarches in the Garden

Here in the garden we have many insects and birds and also butterflies. I always look forward to seeing monarches on the butterfly bushes in the front and back gardens. It means the end of the summer because they are off to faraway Mexico. They are a great addition to the garden.

A Beautiful Day in the Herb Garden!

I just love this time of year! I know I keep saying this but today was an outstanding day in the herb garden. I talked briefly about the beneficial insects in a previous post and there is no other group that is more beneficial than bees. Here is a bee enjoying the tansy in my herb garden. We keep the tansy in check by taking most of it out late in the year each year so it doesn't have a chance to take over. It works quite well. I haven't forgotten about the mystery herb. I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Beneficial Insects and Birds in the Herbal Garden

I just love to let vegetables go to flower. Like these leeks. They attract so many wasps and flies that are beneficial to the garden. My husband is growing purple corn from Peru and it had some kind of problem and he found two ladybugs that were cleaning things up and had come to the rescue. The goldfinches are loving the sunflowers! Hope you all enjoy the last of summer weather over the Labor Day weekend.