Charming God

Yellow is capable of charming God. ~~ Vincent Van Gogh

 Certainly, Van Gogh knew his colors!

Our first charmer of the day is this lovely little yellow flower that grows on a shrub. I believe it's a potentilla of some sort, but don't depend on my identification - and there are way too many varieties for me to be sure which this might be. I liked both the delicate blossoms and the tiny leaves that are the perfect backdrop to show off the blooms. Any experts out there?

Next up is Yellow Goatsbeard. Perhaps not such a charming name, but this late bloomer deserved to be recognized for extra effort outside its usual season.

I happened to catch a couple of Cloudy Sulphur butterflies on a sunny day, despite their name.

The first picture shows the wing markings better, but I also liked the brilliant yellow-green of its eyes against the fine yellow hairs on its face, not to mention the marvelous antennae! 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I can say that I was charmed.

Counting 1-2-3... 13

Baloo would have found this walk particularly exciting. The chirp of an alarmed thirteen-lined ground squirrel sounding a warning for all its friends always caught his attention, sending him on a wild squirrel chase. He was usually frustrated by these little teases, which it seems can reach a top speed of about 8 miles per hour - zigging and zagging to avoid capture as they dash for their tunnels.

 

So, first there was one checking out the area for danger before venturing out into the field for more food.

At this time of year, they're fattening themselves up to burrow in for a long winter's nap. I looked up a few facts about these guys and it seems they eat far more than just seeds and fruits. They're true omnivores, munching on everything from the aforementioned seeds to insects, mice and even birds.

Then, there were two monitoring my progress along the trail and scoping out the predator situation.

It's no wonder they're so alert all the time - I also learned that about 90% of each year's young get eaten by the predators they watch for before they go into hibernation for the winter. Hawks, snakes, weasels, foxes and other hunters depend on these prolific little creatures for their food.

Finally, three watchers kept me in view as I continued on my way.  My favorite collective name for these guys is "scurry" - it's perfect. A scurry of ground squirrels! Baloo would certainly have agreed, as they definitely scurry in all directions when threatened.

Precision Proboscis Probing

Hummingbirds weren't the only butterfly bush lovers visiting the flowers in my back yard. This monarch (full disclosure: these pictures are a couple weeks old, but I didn't get them onto the blog in a timely fashion) took great delight in sipping a little from each bloom.

I enjoyed watching the play of light and shadow on its wings.

I was also fascinated by the accuracy and dexterity of the proboscis. The picture above shows an almost ninety degree angle from the butterfly's face to the flower blossom.

And, of course, I love the action photos, even if they're a sometimes a little bit blurry. Once again, the flexible appendage made me smile, as it's all curled up for traveling safely to the next nectar receptacle (which, incidentally, is the proper word for the stalk that bears the floral bits of a flower head - who knew??). 

As always, if you want to inspect the smaller details, you should be able to click on the pictures for a closer look.

 

Spotted Bees?

Sometimes, I take pictures of things I want to learn more about to remind me to do a little research. I have noticed these plants for a number of years and wondered about them, so it was past time to become acquainted. 

Monarda Punctata. The proper name of this plant sounds rather regal, don't you think? It's also known as Spotted Bee Balm, although I can't remember ever seeing a spotted bee - they usually wear stripes! Levity aside, I don't tend to notice these unobtrusive little plants until the pink blossoms start to creep upward along the stem, making them suddenly stand out against the surrounding greenery.

The flowers surround the entire stem with dusty pink petals and purple spotted yellow centers. It seems they are fairly hardy plants in the mint family and are quite popular with pollinators. 

I also learned that, while bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are fond of these flowers, deer and rabbits tend to find them unpalatable. I'm thinking I might need to introduce some of these in my gardens, since the bunnies and deer have ravaged the poor plants this year and I need to reconsider the landscaping a bit!

The flowers remind me of miniature orchids (click on the picture, if you want a close-up look). 

So, there's my new friend for the day with a formal (and informal) introduction - I'll just have to keep my eyes open for the spotted bees.

Humming Along

An absolutely beautiful butterfly bush grows rampantly right next to the back of the house. I'm not sure it was intentionally planted there, since no sane landscaper would have chosen that spot, but since it is flourishing, I just try to keep it healthy. After all, it's very popular with favorite backyard visitors. I have often wondered if I could take a cutting and get another one established somewhere more open. Are there any horticultural green thumbs out there that can give me a few pointers?

I kept trying to capture a good picture of this female ruby-throated hummingbird as it inspected blossom after blossom. Needless to say, she was almost always a blur of movement, probing each tiny flower in every cluster she visited.

The speed with which she collected nectar was a little dizzying and often, by the time I started to get focused on her position, she moved on to the next course of her meal.

I did manage to get a few pictures that were at least recognizable, which was something. The hummers are traveling through on their way south again and the ones I am seeing now are the last stragglers of the season.

She does look a little bit frazzled from her long flight, doesn't she? I like to keep the feeders going until October, just in case somebody got a late start or got blown off course by an unexpected storm. Birding experts say that they are usually gone by mid-September, but this sweet girl was still refueling today.

Prior to the Pesto Project

I posted about the kitchen portion of the pesto project a couple days ago, but I forgot about the little beauty I discovered while harvesting the aromatic leaves.

  

It wasn't a moth I was familiar with, but I thought the rusty orange coloration against the brilliant green of the basil was very striking. It was pretty unperturbed by my taking cuttings from the plant it was resting on, so I took a couple of pictures while holding the harvested sprig before resettling it on another plant.

The second picture has the antlers extended, since I had disturbed it when I moved it to a new resting place, but it seemed happy enough to stay put.

It took some time to discover who had taken refuge in the herb garden, but I was finally able to identify it as a scalloped sallow moth. Their host plants are deciduous trees like poplar or cherry, but they apparently rest in leaf litter (or basil patches) during the day. I always enjoy meeting someone new when I'm out in the world.

Culinary Capers

I am finally out of quarantine, caught up on a couple of Stampeaz orders that came in while I was down with the evil plague (thank you for your patience!!) and have gotten busy with some of the garden's bounty. 

My brother and I planted two different kinds of basil this year and, while it had sort of a slow start, it finally caught on to the whole growing and flourishing concept and gave us a pretty good harvest.

Quite a lot of the basil has been used for fresh caprese salads, featuring home grown tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and balsamic vinegar. However, we were falling behind with the basil consumption and something had to be done!

Pesto to the rescue! Sadly, my whole family suffers from pine nut induced dysgeusia syndrome, so we can't use the traditional recipe, but toasted walnuts are a very credible substitute and are delicious in their own right. So, here are my before and after pictures.

 

A two ounce container is about perfect for making one of my pizzas or a lovely side dish of pasta (we can break out more than one, if we need to dress a full pasta dinner!). 

I also had a little basil left over and I'm trying an experiment. I read somewhere that you could simply blend it with plain olive oil and freeze it. I made a few containers of that, too, just to see - sometimes you want plain basil instead of pesto - I'm thinking Thai food here.... I'll let you know how it goes.