🔊 SOUND ON! 🐝 Bumblebees buzzing through pink-purple catmint blooms while a red-bellied woodpecker calls from the feeder in the background. He likely sees me nearby! 🌸🌿 #Catmint #PollinatorGarden #Bees – at Georgetown, KY
One camera. Squirrel enjoying sunrise ☀️🐿️ and later the raccoon is out eating at 7:30pm 🦝. Make the days longer. 😩
#WildlifeCam #Wildlife #Squirrels #Raccoon #Autumn – at Georgetown, KY
Bluejay taking a sip while side eyeing the bees on the Dragon’s Breath celosia. 🐦💧🐝
#BlueJay #BirdBath #DragonsBreathCelosia #GardenLife #BackyardBirds – at Nicholasville, KY
Our front tree bed has grown so much from 2024 to 2026! This year, I expanded the landscaping another few feet, adding perennial sweet alyssum, Dragon’s Blood sedum, and divisions of phlox. When the marigolds die off, the groundcovers will take over. More flowers, more groundcover, and more resources for pollinators! 🐝🌸 #Gardening #PollinatorGarden #Perennials #GardenProgress #Halloween #OctoberFlowers
My Dragon’s Breath celosia are showing their fiery blooms! 🔥
The goal is blooms spring to fall, so I collected seeds from a plant I purchased off a @Lowes discount rack last year (pick #2). Today was the rewards from that thought. Those seeds were started in cups and now in full flower cycle, lighting up the garden everywhere. Celosia thrives in summer heat and will bloom throughout fall. The bees love it. The seed heads can provide food for birds. Save seeds, grow more, and keep the garden rolling with color! 🌱🐝 #Celosia #SeedSaving #PollinatorGarden #WildlifeGarden – at Georgetown, KY
I was walking the edge of the tree line when I spotted this bright flower. At first it looked like it was part of the weed it was climbing through.
It’s some of the morning glory seeds that escaped last year's plants. I didn't plant those this year, but apparently they didn't need my help.
#MorningGlory #VolunteerPlant #SelfSeeded #GardenToWoods #BackyardNature #KentuckyGardening #NatureFinds – at Georgetown, KY
A female carpenter bee is settled in for a little rest on the sedum. 🐝💤
Then a male carpenter bee slowly crawls over to check on her.
The garden has its own stories if you stop and watch.
#CarpenterBee #NativeBees #Pollinators #PollinatorGarden #Sedum #BeeWatching #Kentucky – at Georgetown, KY
Arizona Shade Blanket Flower showing the whole cycle on one plant. Fresh blooms, fading flowers, developing seed heads, and fully mature seeds all happening at the same time.
#BlanketFlower #Gaillardia #ArizonaShade #NativePlants #PollinatorGarden #PollinatorPlants
Garden-to-sauce transformation 🍅🔥
Today's cherry tomatoes are on the grill with onion, garlic, carrots, olive oil, Italian seasoning and Aleppo pepper. Roast until blistered and slightly charred, then into the pot to become a fresh marinara with Parmesan.
Nothing beats turning a garden into next weeks foods.
#GardenToTable #CherryTomatoes #HomemadeMarinara #TomatoSauce #Gardening #Homegrown #FromTheGarden #GrilledTomatoes #KentuckyGarden #FoodFromTheGarden – at Georgetown, KY
One of my first-year Swamp Milkweed plants produced just ONE seed po. I’m definitely saving it. 🌱
Inside are mature seeds packed tightly together, each attached to silky strand that will eventually help them ride the wind to new places. This single pod could give me dozens of new plants next year.
There’s even a caterpillar using the pod! 🐛 Another reminder that milkweed is more than just a flower. It’s habitat, food, and the next generation of plants all in one.
#SwampMilkweed #AsclepiasIncarnata #Milkweed #MonarchButterfly #MonarchHabitat #NativePlants #PollinatorGarden #WildlifeGarden #KentuckyGarden – at Georgetown, KY
Mid-September results are pretty great for the space I created. Grass benefits few, but this small change has brought a lot more life to my yard. The Bubblegum petunias gave me quick groundcover, while the goal is blooms right into winter. And I get to log the cool finds on X along the way.
#BubblegumPetunia #BlanketFlower #Coreopsis #Yarrow #Catmint #Milkweed #Coneflower #Sedum #Phlox #Marigold #Celosia #Sunflower #LittleBluestem #PollinatorGarden #WildlifeGarden – at Georgetown, KY
My son just gave this little ninja a first-class escort back outside.
Chinese praying mantis (Tenodera sinensis). Nature’s patient assassin.
Glad we got it back to the garden.
#PrayingMantis #BackYardNature #KidsAndBugs – at Georgetown, KY
Wasps get a bad name, but most of that reputation comes from defending their nests. Away from the nest, many wasps are simply busy doing what they do best, hunting other insects or feeding on nectar.
#Wasps #Wasp #Sedum #PollinatorGarden #GardenWildlife #BeneficialInsects #NativeInsects #BackyardWildlife #InsectPhotography #KentuckyGarden #NaturePhotography #Gardening – at Georgetown, KY
This is a male European wool-carder bee, Anthidium manicatum, on Autumn Joy. I have been watching him for 20 minutes now.
Not a hoverfly. Not a yellowjacket. No stinger. He’s got spines on the tip of the abdomen and he uses them like a battering ram, hits other bees, knocks them off the flower, then patrols the patch like he owns it. They come right back or ignore him altogether.
Males in this species are bigger than the females. They’re holding the flowers so the females will show up to forage, and so he can mate.
#WoolCarderBee #Anthidium #BeeBattles #NativeBees #SolitaryBees #Pollinators #AutumnJoy #Sedum #GardenBees #Entomology #BeeID – at Georgetown, KY
How does a Blue Jay get a caterpillar?
Just crash into the milkweed and knock one loose! I need put some mealworms back out for a distraction.
Nature isn’t always graceful. With all those Monarch caterpillars feeding on the milkweed, there wasn’t enough food for everyone anyway. 🐛💙🐦
#BlueJay #MonarchCaterpillar #MonarchButterfly #Milkweed #WildlifeGarden #PollinatorGarden #Nature
🐿️ This squirrel is still making use of the trace mineral block I put out last year.
One of the best $8 investments I’ve made for the wildlife in my yard. It’s a trace mineral block from @TractorSupply, and apparently it’s still getting the job done.
You don’t have to spend a fortune to make your yard a little more wildlife friendly. 🌿
#BackyardWildlife #Squirrel #WildlifeWatching #Nature #WildlifeGarden #Kentucky – at Georgetown, KY
