We had a lot of rain this past Monday, which was a relief, but since then it’s been dry and pleasant, until today, when the humidity shot up again. But, given how much rain, this weekend, is falling further south thanks to Hurricane Florence, or in the far east thanks to Typhoon Mangkhut, I’m not going to complain about the lack of precipitation any more.
Instead I’ll talk about spiders and bees, and cherry tomatoes. If you’re interested in seeing Six photos from around the world, check out the comments on The Propagator’s site.
1 – here is what a ripe Amethyst Jewell cherry tomato looks like. So sweet and tender. The photo at the top of the blog is what they look like when they are NOT ripe – they start out a shiny deep purple before fading to this orangey shade then to a near white. I started two plants from seed four years ago and now I have them all over the place – they spring up as volunteers year to year, either from where they’ve fallen the previous summer or from the compost.2 – I don’t generally but chrysanthemums but couldn’t resist this one because the price was definitely right. It’s been in the ground nearly two weeks and has just started to open – I’m glad I like this colour!3a – there’s a lot of these large garden spiders out and about this time of year. This one was amongst my cherry tomatoes! I’m glad I spotted it before plunging my hand in to pluck an early morning snack!3b – This one was in the back amongst some milkweed stalks – found it enjoying its own snack!4 – I’ve long forgotten the name of this Aster — it’s a native variety and shows up in the fields, at the edges of the gardens and alongside roads and ditches too. I love it because the tiny white flowers are so tightly packed together and, of course, the pollinators love them too!5a – Two of my giant sunflowers toppled over in the storm last Monday. I cut off the seed heads and stuck some of them in this old twisted iron patio torch holder, The yellow finches seem to appreciate it!5b – Of course, the finches appreciate any seed – including Echinacea purpurea.6 – Another bee shot – sorry! I always wonder, when I go out early in the morning, when the dew is still shimmering, and not much is stirring, what these early bees are doing. They aren’t moving, their wings aren’t furiously flapping…have they been there all night? Are they in a pollen stupor? Did they get caught out after dark forcing their bodies to shut down until the sun hits them and warms their tiny muscles? I see bees like this frequently. Any ideas???
Beautiful Argiope bruennichi (wasp spider) or it looks like . About the cherry toms, you eat them when they are almost white, right? That is weird. I thought the black purple color was a sign of ripening.
Those tomatoes are pretty interesting. I may have to see if we can get seed over here. Love the mum’s colour, too, & those asters . . . just wow. The bird photos are great & the torch idea for the seed heads, pretty nifty. A great Six all around. (I’m having the same problem w/spiders crossing all my paths.)
It WAS interesting! Thanks for sharing and for confirming my guess that the bees need warm sunshine to get their joints moving in the morning. Kinda like me and coffee!
That is so strange about the tomatoes. I too thought the purple ones would be the ripe ones. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Lovely closeups of birds and bees this week.
What a great post, Chris! So much interesting stuff here. The tomato that gets lighter as it ripens, the stunning birds snacking on seeds, and more. I always call it Spider September since it’s impossible to walk through the garden without brushing through webs.
Thanks!! I was on a run this morning as the sun was burning off the morning’s fog — dew was highlighting thousands of spider webs on the shrubs (dreaded buckthorn mainly) by the road. Amazing!
Great finch pics Chris. How is the training going? I cut my long run short yesterday said forgotten to take water. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
Ha! Had a great 21 km run early yesterday before the humidity made it feel like 40!! Now I’m thinking I’m be lucky to break two hours…☹ At least the long range forecast is for only 15 on the 30th!!😊
Sounds like hard work. Beginning to taper off now. Next week I’ll barely run at all (although the plan says I should) so I’m fresh for the race. I’m kind of sick of the training now, I’ll be glad to get the race over with.that said, I’ll look for a couple of 10k races in nov/Dec then it’s back to training for another half.
Beautiful Argiope bruennichi (wasp spider) or it looks like . About the cherry toms, you eat them when they are almost white, right? That is weird. I thought the black purple color was a sign of ripening.
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Yeah, weird eh? They start out black then turn orange…yellowy…whitish…
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I’m not a mum fan either, but I really like those orange and gold ones! Love the bird photos too!
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Thanks! I’m not great at capturing bird shots….learning, always learning….
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Well I thought you did great!
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Those tomatoes are pretty interesting. I may have to see if we can get seed over here. Love the mum’s colour, too, & those asters . . . just wow. The bird photos are great & the torch idea for the seed heads, pretty nifty. A great Six all around. (I’m having the same problem w/spiders crossing all my paths.)
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I’m normally a big fan of spiders.
..until I stick my hand thru a web!
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I found this post about sleeping bumblebees. Interesting! http://crackedpotgardener.blogspot.com/2008/10/do-you-have-bumblebee-sleeping-in-your.html
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It WAS interesting! Thanks for sharing and for confirming my guess that the bees need warm sunshine to get their joints moving in the morning. Kinda like me and coffee!
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Exactly! 🙂
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Love this week’s photos, they are stunning
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Thank you!
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Those dark tomatoes look like grapes with fuzzy stems.
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They do, don’t they?
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That is so strange about the tomatoes. I too thought the purple ones would be the ripe ones. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Lovely closeups of birds and bees this week.
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Thank you!
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What a great post, Chris! So much interesting stuff here. The tomato that gets lighter as it ripens, the stunning birds snacking on seeds, and more. I always call it Spider September since it’s impossible to walk through the garden without brushing through webs.
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Thanks!! I was on a run this morning as the sun was burning off the morning’s fog — dew was highlighting thousands of spider webs on the shrubs (dreaded buckthorn mainly) by the road. Amazing!
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Great finch pics Chris. How is the training going? I cut my long run short yesterday said forgotten to take water. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
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Ha! Had a great 21 km run early yesterday before the humidity made it feel like 40!! Now I’m thinking I’m be lucky to break two hours…☹ At least the long range forecast is for only 15 on the 30th!!😊
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Sounds like hard work. Beginning to taper off now. Next week I’ll barely run at all (although the plan says I should) so I’m fresh for the race. I’m kind of sick of the training now, I’ll be glad to get the race over with.that said, I’ll look for a couple of 10k races in nov/Dec then it’s back to training for another half.
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