Photo Caption: These assassin bugs were babies together on the Bidens alba in the straw bed all spring. I was happy to catch these three visiting with each other on a squash leaf. Their arrangement and varying maturity, though they were the same age, their maturity varies. Need I say more?
Insects are a wonderful sort of wildlife to enjoy in the garden.
Photo #2: Ant Pile
Photo Caption: Fire Ants are a reality and sometimes they build mounds where they shouldn’t. Overall, ignore ants, but if you have an ant pile you can’t ignore, mitigate the mound and kill the ants with DIATOMS. This picture is one example of a situation I where I couldn’t ignore the ants. They built their mound in the wall of my garage. Half the mound was outside, half was inside. This photo was taken after the first treatment of DIATOMS when I was stirring the mound.
Photo Caption: This photo has many little things I want to share with you. First, the bee, so happy, look at those calm wings. The flower the bee is visiting has the look of a daisy and is in the same family. Just behind the flower you can see an inflorescence that is growing seeds. The two tines at the end are the Bidens (Bi-two, dens-teeth). In this photo the tines are in focus and green because the seeds are still growing rapidly. Soon the seeds will be full grown and then the inflorescence attains a spherical shape, similar to a dandelion, except for in a dandelion the seeds shape allows wind dispersal, compared with the Bidens the seed which maximizes mammalian dispersal. When mature the Bidens alba seed tines will be dry, strong, and hooked at the end. There is a mature seed head in the background to the right, although it is not in focus. Finally, out of focus in the background is some swirly metal. Garden art can add much appeal and interest to a space.
