Birds do it, bees do it

and sometimes, hover flies show up to watch.

At first I didn't realize what I'd caught at the time I was taking these photos.  I began out front, snapping the bees working the spineless prickly pear blossoms (Opuntia ellisiana).  There were loads of flowers and even more bees, diving in to get their fair share.  [I took a deep breath and attempted my own identification efforts this time - all mistakes made here are solely my own!]

I believe this is a Mason or perhaps a Leaf Cutter Bee (Megachilidae). They carry pollen on their belly rather than in pollen baskets on their legs.

Non-native Apis mellifera - the European Honey Bee

Lots of honey bees - someone has been doing their waggle dance!  Note how full their corbicula (pollen baskets) are.

So far, so good.  I moved out back where I spotted more bee activity on a Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnifera), and in addition noted a couple of Syrphid flies hanging in the air close by.  A three-fer! I moved in to see if I could capture the action.

Capture the action? Boy, did I ever.  I almost blushed when I enlarged the photos on my computer and got a better look at everything going on.  

These are some form of Ceratina, small native carpenter bees, that nest in pithy stems.

You don't need a degree in entomology to determine what is happening here.  Jeepers. Ahem!  The Great Circle of Life!

Afterwards, one of the bees stuck around and continued to feed.  The Syrphids, better known as hover flies, stuck around too, and I don't even want to speculate as to why.    

Brings a whole new level of meaning to "busy as a bee" doesn't it?

They Bring Their Own Light

There are some blooms that seem to create their own light.  I'm not sure if that is why I'm so drawn to them, but I can't seem to ever get enough.

Bee Balm (Monarda)

Other than how they draw the light, these plants don't seem to have much else in common. They certainly aren't all a certain color or take any particular form.  The Beebalm is a native perennial, the Grandpa Ott Morning Glory is a reseeding annual vine, one of the original plants offered by the Seed Saver's Exchange,

Granpa Ott Morning Glory -  "Bavarian Style" 

and the so-called Dwarf Pomegranate bush represents the hazards of buying a plant off the back of a truck from an unknown vendor.

I'd been shopping at one of my favorite local nurseries when an unmarked truck pulled up to deliver a shipment of plants. They had several extra pomegranate trees in pots supposedly "left over" from another nursery that had declined to take more than they'd originally ordered, and I inquired if I could have any. Marked "Dwarf Pomegranate" in chalk on the side, I figured I had just the spot for two and we quickly struck a deal.

As it turns out, the pomegranate trees grew to about eight feet.  It is the fruit that is small, not the trees themselves.  Details, you guys, details.

It matters not.  Though it means I'm trimming off suckers from the base for weeks each year, I chose to clip them up into a mini-canopy where they arch gracefully over the cobalt blue birdbath.  It is a vignette that puts a smile on my face nearly year 'round, especially this year when both trees seem to have gotten whatever they needed weather wise and are putting on an impressive display of flowers.

Speaking of impressive displays of flowers - the Opuntia ellisiana, or spineless prickly pear, are pulling out all the stops this year.  These blooms are amazing - they just glow.  I didn't pay a penny for any of mine - I got my first pad off a pile curbside from another gardener who was trimming her plants down.  One pad led to another and pretty soon I was the one with piles of pads to give away.  Spineless prickly pear - the Mother of All Passalongs.

And this last one, well, I actually don't know precisely what it will look like when it fully unfurls but, look!  My very first cholla blossom-to-be!  I've had this plant for years but I'm like a child with a new toy watching it bloom for the first time.  I can hardly wait to welcome it and see who else shows up to admire it along with me.