Busy as a bee

Been canning and harvesting for the market garden this week, so I'll leave you with some pictures from the garden.

Bumble bees are in abundance this summer, busy pollinating the garden. This one was snoozing in the Meadow Sweet, beauty rest.

Some of my favorite predators. We have had more aphids this year than normal, never to pest levels, but it has kept the Lady Beetles eating and breeding in the garden. We have about 4 distinct Lady Beetle species, and each look distinct in their larval stage as well.

I think this is the Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle larva, the commonly recognized red beetle with seven black spots.

The blooming of the carrot flowers always seem to hearald the first Tachinid flies of the season. Welcome.

And this is the first Green Lacewing I've seen in our garden, probably due to the attractive numbers of aphids this year.

Syrphid Fly, again in the carrot flowers. A welcome parasatoid.

We also have a family of Garter Snakes in the hay bale shelter, originally left for the toads. Still plenty of toads in the garden, but there was one particularly fat Garter Snake that probably didn't get fat on slugs alone. Hopefully the snakes don't get all the toads! Both the snakes and the toads have been keeping the numerous slugs in check this wet summer.

Our very own Fritillary visited our garden. Too bad it picked a rather ragged looking Cosmo flower for it's close-up shot.

The Hollyhocks are blooming, and were buzzing with Bumble Bees this morning.


As are the poppy flowers. Gorgeous to grow, and delicious seeds for the kitchen as well.