Shady Discoveries

Discovered another recently emerged Black Swallowtail fighting its way out from the leaves.  It was not yet able to fly, so I helped extract it from its leafy prison so that it could catch some sunshine.  This is likely one of the naughty ones that had been feeding on my parsley.

Every year I have a red-tailed dragonfly that lays claim to my small pond.  It darts about, snagging mosquitoes and wooing any female dragonflies that happen to wander in.  Wings blurred as he hovers, he slowly moves closer to a visiting female, but it was not to be.

Later, he settled on his favorite perch (the narrow leaf of a Red Yucca).  Here he will sit for long periods, standing watch over his little domain.

One thing about gardening under the trees, you will occasionally receive fallen limbs.  This limb likely bounced off the roof, miraculously missed all the potted plants, and landed across some deck chairs.  Moved to the side, it measured over twelve feet long.

Sometimes nature creates a scene that looks inspired.  A small red oak leaf had fallen squarely in the middle of one of the large leaves of a banana tree.  The variations of leaf size and green colors made for a fun discovery.

What discoveries have you made in your garden this week?