June 11, 2004
my birthday treat
is being able to spend the day not in the office but in my garden. Where the recent installation of bush beans, tomatoes, strawberries and marigolds has put a happy face on my hillside once again. Again this summer I'm opting for the short-time-to-fruit Siberian tomato variety, Moskvitch, and surrounding it with the beans to replenish the tiny plot with nitrogen-bearing bean roots. The strawberries are an experiment and already one has disappeared (and a tell-tale hole was left, probably the squirrels).
The gift dahlia from Rich--Angel Dust--struggles on but the lone Bishop of Llandaf got mauled by small mammals (or, I suppose, it could have been one of the crows that has taken up residence nearby).
I am very curious about the bees this year. I noticed European honey bees swarming on the blooming lavender (variety "Provence") while California native bees seemed to prefer the verbascums. Then in early evening I noticed the California bees at the lavender while the honey bees had disappeared. Hmmmm..........
Honey bee
garden spider lunching on California (yellow-faced) bumble bee