It is definitely beginning to feel like autumn. The leaves are already beginning to turn on some of the maple trees.
It is so nice to have the windows open and the fresh air coming in. I love this time of year! The cosmos and zinnias are beautiful...
painted lady butterflies are all over the verbena.
Of course, not everything is wonderful; there are late summer pest too. Just like last year, the praying mantis are trying to catch the hummingbirds. I knocked this one off the feeder three times. Each time he climbed back into position, and would swipe at the hummingbirds while they drank. Thankfully they were quicker than the mantis.
I'm seeing a lot of grasshoppers too.
While watching the butterflies and hummingbirds, I saw this little rabbit next to the house in the butterfly garden. It was so small and so cute. I wish they weren't so destructive. I sure hope it doesn't take up residence here this winter and eat the rest of my burning bush. They feasted off them all winter and are still working on the smallest one. I definitely need to somehow cover them this winter.
I love zinnias...
especially close up! They are so interesting and beautiful!
35 comments:
Robin, the Praying Mantis tries to catch the hummingbird? Wow, that must be some Mantis. Ours must be smaller and less nasty. I think I'd feed that guy to our chickens.
Your photos are stunning.
We are having very fallish type weather also, gorgeous blue skies, clear, cool days, I love this time of year.
Wow, the praying mantis trying to catch the hummingbird?! I would have never thought it would try to do that...maybe it thinks it is a bug - maybe it could catch a baby hummingbird. Sigh - now I like praying mantises slightly less. :(
Who knew that PM was one of the beasts. Can you remove it to another yard in the neighborhood! Far away from your beauties?
The Zinnias and cosmos are looking wonderful in your photos.
Robin, your pictures are beautiful. So bright and clear, they jump off the screen at you. Who knew mantis would go after humming birds!? I have a big brown one like yours that resides in a container next to my back door. I leave him there to take care of the nasties that may try to come in. The painted ladies are everywhere this year. I don't ever remember seeing so many. I love the cosmos-such a glorious color combo.
Like you, I love this time of year! This morning when I went out with my dogs, the sun came out and the air was so fresh...
You sure have a lot of living creatures in your garden - I had never heard of the Praying Mantis before... The world of blogging is great - you learn new things every day!
Have a nice day!
/Katarina
Like everyone else who has commented before me....Mr. P. Mantis trying to catch hummingbirds??!! Love, love, all of your garden reports. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, all I have are slugs and a few grasshoppers. I'd love to have bunnies and moles although my husband would have something to say about that!
Wow, I've never heard of a mantis stalking hummers! Bad, bad mantis. :c) Your flowers are exquisite as always Robin.
Your blooms are still quite lovely Robin. Our weather is quite cool today, it's been raining since yesterday which is wonderful. I can't believe the Praying Mantis was targeting a Hummer! That is strange behavior.
Robin,
Your photos of the Cosmos are amazing! They look alive on the screen.
Beautiful!
Karrita
beautiful photos-
that must be one hungry PM!
Hooray, Robin, you back on blotanical! You were smart to wait it out, even though I know it was hard. I think the PM needs to be relocated very far away from the hummer feeder. Bad PM!
Frances at Fairegarden
Your photos are great Robin. I love the cosmos. I hope Lilly will keep the destructive bunnies from feeling too at home in the garden.
Your flowers and critter friends are so beautiful! I found THIRTY Black Swallowtail Cats on my bronze fennel this morning! I was beginning to worry about the butterflies. My Monarchs (Monarch Waystation) haven't been as plentiful this year and I added so much more milkweed this year. Cameron (Defining Your Home Garden)
That's quite a menagerie you have in your garden! I'd forgotten just how pretty cosmos were - my Dad used to grow them years ago. And zinnias have always been a bright favorite.
Whoa - I didn't think a hummer could be caught by a mantis until I followed the link through your post from last year. Gruesome picture! And really really amazing too... another good example of "nature, red in tooth and claw"
Gorgeous photos, and thank goodness we don't get PM here. I think that we actually saw a painted lady butterfly today. That is a rare occurance.
By chance do you know the name of the cosmo? Stunning color.
Jen
Robin -- Your pictures are amazing. I was trying to find out if hummingbird moths exist when I stumbled onto your site.
Would you be interested in allowing me to occasionally use a picture on my web page, if I caption it as yours (I think I can do that in Squarespace) and give you a trackback link?
This is the web site:
http://patkashtock.squarespace.com/
It is titled, Take It for What It's Worth, which is explained on the first page.
Any chance you are a worship leader as well as an accomplished photographer?
My zinnias I planted from seed were a no-show this year. So disappointed. So last week, feeling the last flowers of summer were fading, I broke down and bought one in a pot from Lowes. I am enjoying the yellow and orange colors as I walk about my garden.
Brenda
I know that everyone said this, but YIKES! I had no clue that praying mantises liked hummers as their supper! I went threw your blog and the pictures are absolutely stunning! These are amazing, I found you on Blotanical's web site and was glad I did. You welcomed me to the site! You are defiantly amazing...Good luck with the bush the bunnies like!
~Zach
vioboy.blogspot.com
Hi Robin, I am trying to picture a praying mantis going after hummingbirds. The poor things! Once again another post by you that is just breathtaking. I love the little bunny, so sweet even if they do have huge appetites.
Simply beautiful!
Nice photography! I almost completely missed the bunny he was so well hidden. The zinnias area great, the insides look like little crowns.
Debbie, for some reason the praying mantis go after the butterflies and hummingbirds at the end of the summer when they have gotten larger.
Stacy, I like this less now too. I always thought they were great to have in the garden but at the end of the summer they are more of a pest.
Gail, I don't think I could bear to touch them. They are so creepy looking. I usually just knock them off the feeder with something.
Beckie, thank you. I have a lot of painted ladies too. They love the verbena.
Hi, Katarina! We do finally have more little critters around here. It was a new neighborhood when I moved in and there was nothing then, only a few sparrows.
Rowena, listen to your husband, those bunnies are cute but so destructive.
Thanks for stopping by, Jayne!
PerennialGardener, I thought it was strange last year when I first noticed it. I saw another one yesterday on the other feeder. It must be fairly common, or maybe it's just these Hoosier mantids.
Karrita, thank you for such a nice comment!
Tera Rose, during early summer they are content to feast on the smaller insects, but they do get quite large by summer's end.
Frances, I'm so glad to be back on Blotanical. I sure didn't want to change from Blogger.
Lisa, I hope Lilly will keep the rabbits at bay. She never goes in the flower beds though, so that one was safe and snug.
Defining your Home, wow that is a lot of cats on your fennel! Mine keep disappearing. I'm thinking the birds are eating them.
arythrina, wasn't that amazing? People have told me that they don't catch hummingbirds, but they do. Thankfully, I've only seen them try and haven't witnessed an actual capture.
Jen, the cosmos was either Candy Stripe or Picotee, I can't remember which. I definitely want to save some of the seed. I've really enjoyed it.
Pat Kashtock, I',m honored that you would think that I could possibly be a worship leader. I'm not a worship leader, just a worshiper. I'm also honored that you would want to use my photos and I give you permission to use them on occasion if you give me credit.
Brenda, I'm sorry your zinnias didn't grow this year. I had some that did well and others that were a huge disappointment.
Zach, welcome to Robin's Nesting Place. I'm so glad you stopped by. You made my day with your kind comments.
Wow, Cynthia, thank you so much for your kind comment!
Thank you, Crisss!
Hi, Dave. I almost didn't see the little guy either. I love the zinnia center!
Robin, I had no idea that praying mantis would try and catch hummers! I had a neighbor once that would feed the mantis chopped meat from her hand. What strange little creatures they are!! I love your cosmos pictures. My grandmother was a lover of cosmos so you just brought back some wonderful memories of her and I thank you! Love the little bunny picture too-they are so cute even though they eat so many things! Keep up the wonderful phototaking!!
I love zinnias, too! The colors are so vibrant and the patterns amazing on some of them.
I didn't know praying mantids would try to eat hummingbirds! We've watched them capture and eat cicadas here and that's bad enough because the poor cicada buzzes the entire time and then goes silent. :-(
Definitely fall here, too. The dry weather really sped things up.
Great photos as always, Robin! And yes, I *did* know that mantids would eat hummingbirds if they could catch them. They'd eat *us*, if they were just a little bigger! I'm so impressed that you were able to see the little bunny. That was excellent camouflage!
Those are some mean PM! Who knew? Love your cosmos pictures and zinnias are gorgeous!
Lovely vibrant photos, Robin.
Thank you, Robin. What copyright info do yo want me to put with any picture? In Squarespace, I have figured out how to leave an address inside the picture, and attach information to the picture, but I have not figured out how to leave a trackback, yet. But I'll contact them to find out. Not that you need more traffic to your site, lol! You have one of the most active I've seen -- congratulations! It says a lot for your content.
Worshiping is wonderful, isn't it?
Hi, Robin--Thanks for your message on Blotanical (which I am still figuring out, which might explain why I'm so slow). So I finally made it over to your blog and what a treat--it's wonderful. My husband is from Fort Wayne, and when we visit I fall in love witht he conifers and hosta (we have both, but they don't flourish). I'm looking at a bunny as I write--Liquid Fence helps--ever tried it? Thanks for writing--I'm glad I found your nesting place.
That last zinnia photo is spectacular, Robin - you and your camera are a good team.
I saw a video of a hummingbird taken by a mantis a few years ago on a GardenWeb forum. Very creepy. Does the mantis walk up the iron hook to get to the feeder? Although you wouldn't want to put in on the parts where the birds might perch, I wonder if a vaseline jelly barrier on the vertical surface of the pole would do anything to slow him down?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thanks to you and Kylee I love Zinnias now too and they are doing wonderful in my garden. Brrrrrrr, I don't like those praying mantis at all. Yuck!
It's very autumn-y here too with temperatures around 16 C during the day.
Thanks for faving Garden Vines!
Your site is very pretty. Your Lily looks like a great dog.
I, too, didn't know that praying mantis' go after hummingbirds. I do know that they will bite me if I'm not careful.
P.S. Sorry to hear about your camera battery in the previous post. So frustrating!
WOW! Your photos are amazing! I've NEVER heard of mantis trying to catch hummingbirds, Robin. That's a new one on me. I've always rather liked and been fascinated by Mantis, but from now on I'll watch them with a critical eye. Hmmm....
I love Autumn too! It was good to be in your garden today. Your pictures are the very best quality and entertaining. I think it's a nice reflection of your personality.
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