A Good Week

This has been an exciting week in the backyard - new butterflies and bees were discovered.  The cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is going to bloom soon, and I found buds on the marsh milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) that I have raised from seed.

Newly planted were a new cultivar of highland blueberry (Vaccinum corymbosum 'Blucrop') and two joepye weeds (Eupatorium purpureum maculatum 'Gateway') that I look forward to blooming in the fall.

And to top it off, the blunt-nosed minnows (Pimephalus notatus) that we put in the pond to keep mosquito larvae in check have bred - we now have fish frye swimming in the pond!

The new header image is of an at-the-moment unidentified hoverfly (it may be Toxomerus geminatus) sitting on a purple coneflower petal - as is the case with all images, courtesy of my wife, Nicole.