Another Motley Monday in September - 9-9-2024

 Good morning.  I dropped my car off at the shop down the street earlier today.  It's very convenient since I can walk back home, and back to pick it up.  It's another of the little things that break on older cars.  The hood release cable broke, so I couldn't open the hood.  It's a lovely morning for a walk anyway.  

It took these garden related photos recently.

A friend had some trees cut down and she was kind enough to share the chips. 

I discovered some ferns growing between my back chain link fence and the wooden one at the far back of my yard.  Or, under the fence it looks like.  I think they are volunteers, as there isn't a garden bed on the other side, it's drainage rocks.  Which, now that I look closely, I see escaping under the board.

I was collecting four o'clock seeds and mistook this little cuddle of bees for a seed!  There must have been five asleep on top of the seed.  They are male long-horned bees, which are known to sleep together, curled up in groups, in flowers.  Long-horned bees are solitary nesters, each female digs her own nest with multiple chambers, and lays one egg per cell.  The males are aggressive when mating, using their long antennae to hold onto the females.  

Narrow-leaf milkweed just waiting for a breeze. 

Orange mint is my latest mint bloomer.   It's doing a great job taking over the lemon balm area!  The lemon balm is still out of hand, but the orange mint, woolly apple mint, and yarrow I planted is overpowering a lot of it.  Still, a little lemon balm is too much when in the ground.

The honey bees are still enjoying the blanketflower.  This is Mesa Red.

The bronze fennel is blooming again and the paper wasps are thick on it. 

The wild grapes are ripening.  They don't taste bad, but the seeds are so large I am not bothering with them. 

Here they are with Virginia Creeper berries.   Pretty fall color. 

Speaking of fall, the autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale, is up.  Not crocus, they are in the lily family. 

Not in the garden, but something that makes my Monday better!  Yes, he's making a face at me for disturbing his playtime with "Monkey."

Hope you have a nice week.  I have an oil change (good thing I'm getting the hood release fixed!) and a missing filling filled.  It's in back of one my front teeth, and noticeable since coffee etc. have stained it.  The dentist said she'd make it white again.  Well, maybe just as white as my teeth!