BEAUTIFUL LITTLE THREE WEEK OLD LEOPARD CUBS

 BEAUTIFUL LITTLE THREE WEEK OLD LEOPARD CUBS

 

"A week ago there were lions in this area. When they left the mother leopard brought out her 3 week old cubs for the first time."

(Todd Gustafson on Facebook)

LOVING THIS TIME OF YEAR ~ MIGRATING BALTIMORE ORIOLES VISITING MY GARDEN

LOVING THIS TIME OF YEAR ~ MIGRATING BALTIMORE ORIOLES VISITING MY GARDEN

 Lots of hummingbirds are buzzing around my flowers.  I think a lot of them are passing through on their way south.  Usually, I see them chasing each other away from the feeder and nectar sources.  But, two of them were getting along just fine and I wonder about that.
 Are they family?

This year, September has been an easy work month with a lot of artwork at home, instead of going to my clients' homes.  Because of that, I have seen the most beautiful migrating birds visiting my yard.  I have lots of pictures and will share them with you soon.  It's mostly orioles and little yellow birds I haven't identified.  One was a yellow warbler.  Other tiny yellow birds come in flocks and stay for a while then move on south.
Last year, I was very busy working away from home and missed a lot.

I've seen a couple of monarch butterflies around my butterfly weed that I grow just for them.  I'll check for eggs.  Last year this happened on their way to Mexico.  I found out that the butterflies hatching from those eggs would not be heading to Mexico.  They would stay here and wait for spring.  Their plight is so interesting.  There are lots of videos if you google monarch migration.  There are lots of other butterflies in my yard, too.  I find that when all of the birds are finished feeding their young, butterflies are no longer a delicacy for them.

I just looked out my kitchen window and there is a monarch butterfly fluttering around the butterfly weed.  I can always tell a monarch because they flutter their wings differently.  I don't have a lot of them, yet.  Soon there will be more because their migration south started a few weeks ago. 

This is such a good time of year for nature.

The weather is finally cooling off.

Have a great week!

THE GREEN HONEY BEE

THE GREEN HONEY BEE

I saw this green honey bee moving around on the hot walk and it's wing was hurt.  I got two envelopes out of my purse, picked it up and moved it a short distance to some green foliage.  I googled green honey bees and didn't find anything.
Maybe it's not a honey bee, but it looked like one.

I know!  It's a fuzzy picture.  I cropped it to show you the green.
It was a metallic green and really pretty.

The next day on Facebook I saw these words and thought,
 "yep, that's me".  

MY NEW FABRIC FLOWER POTS

MY NEW FABRIC FLOWER POTS

Do you know about Smart Pots?

This flower bed has been a problem for years.  I just cannot keep the weeds out of it.  Because of several perennials and reseeding plants, I didn't want to completely dig it up and put new soil in it.  

On Sunday mornings, I listen to The Dirt Doctor, organic gardener (dirtdoctor.com) and he talked about these pots.  I ordered four of them.

They're fabric.  They have good air flow and in the sun they do not get soooo terribly hot like my other pots.  I still have to water every day or so.  They come in a darker color and this tan.  I prefer the tan ones.  I was concerned about squirrels chewing on them and this is the response I got from smartpots.com:

~

Thank you for being a Smart Pot customer. It is a fact that our fabric is a rodent deterrent, in regards to burrowing rodents such as moles or gophers, they will try to chew through the fabric, but aren’t able and generally leave them alone. I have no first-hand knowledge or feedback regarding squirrels, but I would assume it is the same. If you do notice an issue, you might consider chicken wire or fencing of some type. I hope that helps and feel free to submit any other questions or concerns. Thanks again.

Happy Gardening,

Sounds good to me! 

 Honestly, my plants in direct sun seem to be doing better, now.  It will not be easy, but I am determined to get rid of those weeds and have a nice flower bed, again.

Punkin loves sleeping on these rocks in the shade.  Look at her pretty green eyes.  

She's such a good cat.

Hope your week is good!