I'm Ready for My Close Up

Working with my new Macro Lens is both fun and challenging. Fun because you get up close and personal with the garden (I'm sure the neighbors think I'm weird when they see me contorting to get the lens at the right angle that close to the ground) 

Aqueligia fragrans (columbine) against the sky -  a fragrant variety I grew from seeds I had to order from Plant World Seeds in the United Kingdom. Shot from BELOW.

and challenging because I live about 2 miles from the ocean as the gull flies and there is almost always a breeze blowing. This is nice on warm afternoons and miserable when you're trying to photograph plants.

Here's my latest stuff.

Hope you don't mind insect photos. I really enjoy all of the invertebrate life my garden attracts and now I can take pictures of all the little guys and gals!

I don't know what this is. Looks kind of like a small crane fly. I'll have to hit BugGuide.net.

Pansies (Viola tricolor var. bigboxus) are still looking good. I suspect they'll be done after this week of temperatures in the 80s.

A friendly Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) wanting to know what I'm doing down on the ground by the pansies. She eventually turned around and went back in her hiding spot. I have at least three that are frequenting my front garden this year and helping me stay slug-free!

A Petunia (Petunia lgc) that was planted around the pansies that will hopefully replace them as the pansies die from the heat.

So many of today's shots are from the area by the fireplace because that area is somewhat protected from the breezes. 

And this Hymenopteran (bee or wasp) is what really makes my new lens exciting. It was crawling across the petunia as I was photographing the bloom and I just caught it.

Favorite Plant of the Week - Pycnathium muticum

My favorite plant in the garden during late summer is Pycnathium muticum, a type of mountain mint.

This plant is actually, really and truly native to my area (and most of the states east of the Mississippi, except Florida). I see lots of plants for sale locally that are called natives but really didn't used to occur here until the nursery trade brought them in on the wave of let's-plant-natives craze. That's why I like the PLANTS database. It's a good place to double check those sorts of things if they're important to you.

Pycnathium muticum gets to be about 3 foot tall and as wide as you will let it. You can control it by pulling, the new runners don't have deep roots, but it is quite an aggressive spreader. Perfect for that Hell Strip.

According to the Missouri Botanical Garden plant finder database this variety of Mt. Mint tolerates full sun to part shade and medium water.

I don't water mine, ever, and it's in relatively poor soil. I would suggest that natural rainfall is sufficient in areas except the extremely dry ones.

The flowers are pale and small and the bracts are a paler green than the foliage so not showy flowers. Not fragrant blooms, either. I'd like to see them in a photo that shows the ultraviolet range because the bees and wasps and occasional beetle pollinator have no problems finding the blooms so there must be something I can't detect that's attracting them.

This plant is Hymenoptera Heroin (Hymenoptera is the scientific name for the order that includes bees, wasps and ants).

Amazingly neither The Husband nor myself has been stung while admiring or working around this plant (knock wood) despite the fact that for over a month is it practically crawling with bees and wasps.

And that's why I love it and why it's my favorite plant of the season.

thanks to Danger Garden for this meme