Martha's Backyard Blog

Here we are in October already. Back in the Spring, we saw many little flowers, and a substantial part of those were Crocuses. Now that we are into Fall, we don't expect Crocuses and Crocus-like flowers. But guess what! All of these are Crocus or Crocus-like. What is actually happening is that either these new Crocuses or Crocus-imitators are the same species of Crocus as the ones we saw in the Spring or they are Fall-blooming Crocuses. So which is it?

I don't know for sure. But while you're considering that question, here is another one for you. What is this huge tangle of petals? I have been calling it a Crocus Tangle. The individual petals resemble Crocus petals, but there are so many Petals!

Whatever we decide to call these flowers, we are seeing them in the Autumn. Maybe they are one species that blooms both times, and maybe they are different species. One kind of Flower that we are seeing a lot of right now in the garden is the Aster. Now there are many many kinds and colors of Asters. They are all highly attractive to Bees, like the one on the left below. We get Honeybees (one of the most frequent is the Western Honey Bee, Apis mellifera) and Bumblebees, often the Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Bombus impatiens.

In these pictures, you will notice that blue, bluish purple, and pinkish are very common colors. I did not plant these Asters - rather, they appeared on my walkways. I thought that the above were very common colors, and again - I did not specify the colors. These Asters came to visit ME. It turns out that they are common New England Asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) , and that one species comes in several colors, mostly pink and purple.

The Goldenrod, which came in in such an explosion of yellow, is fast fading now. I'm sorry to see it go but I'm thinking that the pronouncement that Goldenrod is not really an allergen is not totally correct. My nose is driving me nuts! Well, that Goldenrod is fading fast now. Soon it will be time for the Ragweed, lucky nose! I haven't seen it yet though. I believe this third picture is of a Bee called Ectemnius arcuatus.

Here is an exotic Striped Sweat Bee, Genus Agapostemon. Those Asters really attract snazzy customers! Second is a

Western Honeybee. And third is a Common Eastern Bumblebee.

Here is a Locust Borer (Megacyllene robiniae ). Then one of the Sulfur Butterflies. And finally, probably one of the Pearl Crescent clan..

Well, people, here we are on a Sunday afternoon, just putting the last little touches on our little finds. In a couple of days they are saying the Midwest will be beginning its slide into Autumn. Please do your bit to keep these lovely creatures alive and well, and enjoy your environment so that next year will be another gorgeous one! Love, Martha