Coexist

Bee and wasp on Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, near Magdalena, NM, July 2012

As always, a change of scenery spurs me to do some photography, and a friend's mountain garden provides endless inspiration. After a typically hot, dry June we've have almost a week of good rain, which not only lessens the fire danger but also brings out the flowers and wildlife. This stand of Rocky Mountain Bee Plant (Cleome serrulata) was buzzing with countless different kinds of bees, wasps, flies, moths, ladybugs, and other winged creatures after Friday's gentle rainfall.

Even a giant tarantula hawk wasp made his way across several flowers, and the other bugs seemed unphased. This stand of flowers seems essentially wild, not connected to any irrigation system or otherwise "artificially" tended, so I've collected a handful of seedpods to sow around the drier edges of my own garden. More pollinators means more fruits and vegetables, after all, and some of these critters are also excellent predators of the various pests currently plaguing my ornamentals and vegetables. Far better to cultivate a balanced mini-ecosystem than to try to poison the pests and end up poisoning the rest of us in the process.

Tarantula hawk wasp and beetle on Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, near Magdalena, NM, July 2012