Wisteria to Drool Over

The wisteria is loaded on the pergola.  Every afternoon, the bumble bees are bouncing around loaded with pollen.  The spent petals float to the ground littering the pavement with sweet smelling purple confetti.  Ajax, our English Mastiff, has many water bowls.  That's because they get very slobbery.  In an effort to conserve precious water, his bowls are dumped regularly onto his lawn or various flower beds and baskets.  The wisteria benefits from Ajax's drool (gross).  Nonetheless, his drool helps.  This year especially we all need to be very creative in conserving water.  Thanks Ajax.

You Think Your Legs Are Hairy!

Helen B knows her bees!  This IS a Valley Carpenter Bee.

Xylocopa Varipuncta (male)

They are the largest bees found in California and are about 1" long when they are full grown.  The males are yellow and fuzzy.   They are commonly found in unpainted hardwood and telephone poles where they tunnel in and build nests. Those tunnels can be up to 10" long. That's where the adults spend the winter.  The gals look much different. 

They are shiny and completely black.  They mean business too.  Unlike the males, the females have stingers; but they aren't supposed to sting unless you deserve it.  You've probably seen loads of these gals when the wisteria is in bloom. 



Robin Waayers' Flickr photo (cool image!)

These are good guys; so leave them alone and encourage them to hang around to help pollinate your garden.  They can't fit into tube-like flowers and steal the nectar by cutting right through to get what they want.  Keeping bigger flowers around for them might reduce that nasty action.  Wisteria seems to be a favorite; but I've seen them enjoying lavender too.  Maybe they will help with all the berries currently blooming.

If you're in the San Joaquin Valley, let me know if you've seen many buzzing around this spring.

Thanks, Helen B, for telling me about the bees.




Perserverance

Over the past few days, the weather has been marvelously abnormal.  Wind, rain, hail, snow.  Delightful.  It's still sweet pea season around here; so regular harvesting of the blossoms is necessary to try to encourage more blossoms to develop.  I was out collecting a bouquet for a work associate's birthday and thought that one of the stems cut was too old.  It had yellowed from its vibrant purple.  I was just about ready to put it in my pocket for later disposal in the composter when I noticed that the yellow wasn't part of the flower.  It was a yellow bumble bee.  I don't think I've ever seen a yellow one before.  Typically, they are completely black around here.

Yeowee!  This guy was very alive and had been stunned by the quick drop in temperature I guess.  I gingerly placed the stem down amongst the vines.  The guy didn't move for about 3 days until the weather heated up and he moved on.  Glad I didn't heat him up in my pocket.