Monday, May 27, 2013

Bugs

When you live in a climate like ours where it is warm and humid most of the year and where the winters are mild, bugs of all sorts are a part of daily life. But right now I am fascinated by the variety we are seeing on our plants and flowers and I tried to take some pictures for you (you can click on them to see them bigger, which might help with some of the smaller bugs).
Of course I always love to see ladybugs in our garden taking care of aphids which seem to like certain plants. In the picture below it's hard to see the ladybug as it blends in perfectly with the flowers of the beautiful tropical milkweed.
The reason we planted these plants a couple of years ago was not for the pretty flowers, but to attract the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. We were so happy to see a few of them chomping down on the leaves this year. As far as we are concerned, they can keep on eating.
Here's a new bug for us (on our fig tree) and I had to do a bit of research, but I found out that they are Kudzu beetles and were first spotted in our area 2009. They eat not only kudzu (which is a good thing as this plant is invading the south), but also legumes, which may be a problem as they multiply. They won't hurt our fig tree or the figs, but will soon fly on to find food elsewhere.
This little guy below I have no idea what it is but I found his colors so pretty, I had to snap a picture.

All the flowers right now are attracting all sorts of bees, wasps and flies. (If you click on the photo above, you can see the bee's perfect yellow and black stripes.)
The yarrow especially is abundant with all kinds of flying creatures.

I love seeing the bees so busy!

I have lots more garden photos which I'll share with you in other posts. Don't want to overwhelm you...

In the meantime, I wish you a beautiful Monday!

Silke

7 comments:

  1. Liebe Silke,

    heute kommen sonnige Grüße aus
    Bochum

    Elisabeth

    ReplyDelete
  2. love seeing your garden and all the little creatures there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. They are very welcome to be in the gardens, on the fields and in the woods - I just don't want them in the house and always try to help them find their way out rather than kill them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Liebe Silke,
    danke für die schönen Bilder. Bei uns hat der Regen endlich nachgelassen.
    LG Sabine

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Silke, your photos are so fantastic when viewed in the full size! Lots of life going on in your garden.

    I sent you a private message back on FB to your message, but not sure that you got it. I no longer have the other email, just COX, which I know your server does not connect with. Just wanted to make sure you got it.

    Lovelovelove, Deb

    ReplyDelete
  6. that red bug is a mystery to me too and i find it unsettling when i encounter it in my garden!

    do you know sharon lovejoy, silke? you can find her on my sidebar and she is not only learned but she LOVES bugs and worms and anything everything in her garden.

    i'm glad to know you are enjoying yourself!

    love
    kj

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Silke,
    Your flowers are so beautiful and colorful! I love ladybugs as well and we get plenty of them here in both the spring and in October when they are returning to nest over for the winter!
    We are having such freaky weather here in New Hampshire that I have given up on my garden already for this year. All of the new plants I just put in were killed off by a freak hail storm - then we had a cold snap that damaged the few flowers that were just about to bloom so my garden dreams are on hold till next spring. I used all my money on the new plants that were destroyed so I am just going to put down mulch and get some big terra cotta pots and fill them with some pretty annuals *sigh* So, my dear friend, keep taking pictures of your garden and be sure to share it with us! :D
    Hugs and enjoy the week,
    Beth P

    ReplyDelete