Category Archives: Home Garden

Bumble Bee tip toeing on Lavender

06 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by in Backyard Garden, Bumble Bee, Bumblebee, Garden, Home Garden, Lavender

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Since we are still sheltering in place, I spend lots more time in our garden. I position myself in our yard waiting and watching the bees, hummingbirds or butterflies enjoy the flowers. I take my big Canon camera and lens to see what interesting sights I can shoot.

I photographed this Bumble Bee in our backyard garden landing on our Lavender plant. I love the flurry of its wings in action. It’s amazing how fast the wings can go to keep the bee up in the air. It is also interesting to examine the long thin legs of the bee approaching the lavender flower to collect the pollen and nectar.

This pandemic has allowed me to spend time to tend to my garden. Before the pandemic, I did start planning out what to grow in the garden to attract birds, butterflies and bees. But the pandemic provided me a reason to go to the garden since I am not venturing out of the house except for groceries.

Even though the pandemic is a terrible occurrence in the world, it is teaching us valuable lessons.

The pandemic is teaching me about solitude in fellowship with nature. It is showing me how bees can dance on lavender and other flowers. I am learning patience as I wait and watch to capture images of the natural occurrence in nature.

Lastly, blessings are possible in all circumstances of life even in a pandemic. It is a blessing to the beauty of a bee encroaching on the pretty petals of lavender.

Photography teaches me to be patient.

Bumblebee dancing on a Dwarf Sungold Sunflower

19 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by in Bumblebee, Dwarf Sungold Sunflower, Home Garden, Sunflower

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Here’s one of my Dwarf Sungold Sunflowers with a bumblebee gathering pollen on its legs as it dances around the circumference of the flower.

I shot this video with my macro lens. Notice the detail of the bee’s wings as well as his bright yellow stripes.

I tried to use my tripod initially. But it was hard to be mobile to quickly catch the bumblebee move from flower to flower.

I am just starting to learn how to enjoy my garden environment which I have been designing, so I can shoot photos and videos safely at home.

It’s amazing to watch how the bumblebee jumps around the flower and naturally collects the pollen on its legs as it is also getting nectar.

I have been observing the bees come to the flowers under certain conditions. We need bees to pollinate the flowers to create the pretty blooms. The bees are wonderful to use the nectar to make honey for their hives. They are so productive in the creation of beauty and sweetness.

Stay tuned as I continue to share my shots from my garden and more bumblebee dances.

We can be inspired by this bee that we need to create beauty and sweetness to help others during this pandemic period of staying at home.

Photos Inspire!

Dwarf Sungold Sunflowers are Big!

10 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by in Garden, Home Garden, Sunflowers

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I started growing these Dwarf Sungold Sunflowers from seeds back in March 21 of this year. I received the seeds from the Sierra Club in the mail. Thank you Sierra Club! They started growing fairly fast, and they love water and sunlight. I planted the seeds in the sunny part of the yard, and these plants have taken off in growth.

The flowers are about 5 inches in diameter, and the plants are about 3 feet. These flowers are quite striking with the many facets of petals. The leaves are about 10 inches long and possess a little bit of a wrinkle. The flowers which have not bloomed do resemble the sun in shape. The flowers that bloomed resemble the sun in color.

These plants are considered dwarf since they will not get much taller than 2 to 3 feet.

In the third picture, there is a small ladybug crawling on one of the spikes of the sunflower. I bought lots of ladybugs from SummerWinds Nursery in Palo Alto to fight the pests eating my plants. My niece works at the nursery. Thank you Tori for showing me around the nursery! It was interesting to release the ladybugs in the garden and watch them enjoy my different flowers and plants.

Once upon a time, I took a career aptitude test to find out what career I would be interested in. One of the careers I scored high in was a farmer!

I never thought much about these tests. But actually, the results are accurate.

As I have been researching what kind of plants, flowers and trees to grow in our garden, I discovered how much I enjoy maintaining and creating my garden.

My hope is to create my environment to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to photograph.

It is never too late to explore and discover new interests and abilities.

The bees are enjoying the different flowers in my garden, and I hope to video and shoot photos of the bees moving around the flowers. A hummingbird is coming around, and is slowly getting to know me.

This garden has been a blessing to retreat to during this pandemic. We do not go out much other than to buy food. So we are mostly sheltering in place.

When the stress of our world’s pandemic and racial strife seem overwhelming, I now can retreat to my garden and focus on God’s creation to get a better perspective.

My hope is to capture the beauty of these flowers and creatures and maybe assist others to get a better perspective about life.

Photos can change our Perspective!