Bees and Chinese/garlic Chives

Nearing the end of summer, the Chinese/garlic chive begin to flower in my herb garden.  Chives are extremely attractive to bees and have plenty of pollen in their flowers. What a joy to watch these bumblebees flit from flower to flower gathering pollen.

This lady is filling her pollen basket (orange mass on her leg) with pollen.

Hard working bumblebee feasting on the white flowers of my Chinese/garlic chives.

Monarch butterflies and Milkweed

I have enjoyed visiting this small stand of milkweed this summer near the edge of the garden to see who might be dining.

A monarch butterfly feasts on milkweed nectar

Milkweed is the only plant the Monarch Butterflies use to breed and is the main source of food for their developing larvae.

Common milkweed with Monarch

The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem "Mamma Mia" Cast

Sophie Sheridan – Graham Harrington

Ali – Becky Koza

Lisa – Meredith Brown

Donna Sheridan – Jennifer deCoste

Tanya – Jean-Marie Buckley

Rosie – Ruthie Tutterow

Sky – Andrew Duggins

Pepper – Dru Billings

Eddie – Nick Zayas

Harry Bright – Glenn Otterbacher

Bill Austin – Mark Flora

Sam Carmichael – Troy Hurst

Father Alexandrios – John Foltz

​

Ensemble

Shelly Beard

Destiny Boyd

Elissa Brannan

CJ Brewer

Sean Browne

Cessily Evans

John Foltz

Devante Goolsby

Stephen Gunter

Angela Hodges

Elizabeth Lopina

Matthew Monroe

Lora Mouna

Anne O’Brien

Talley Sugg

Richard Talbot

On a small Greek island, Sophie dreams of a perfect wedding — one which includes her father giving her away. The problem? Sophie doesn’t know who he is! Her mother Donna, the former lead singer of the 1970s pop group Donna and the Dynamos, refuses to talk about the past, so Sophie decides to take matters into her own hands. Sneaking a peek in her mother’s old diaries, she discovers three possible fathers: Sam, Bill, and Harry. She secretly invites all three to the wedding, convinced that she’ll know her father when she sees him. But when all three turn up, it may not be as clear as she thought! Told through the legendary music of ABBA, Mamma Mia! has become a worldwide sensation that has audiences everywhere dancing.

Chasing Butterflies

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail female butterfly attracted to the milkweed plant.

Using it's proboscis, this butterfly drinks nectar from a milkweed flower.

These two Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies are swift fliers and didn't stay long.

This Pinepevine Swallowtail  on my butterfly bush proved difficult to capture a photo.

Lovely Lavender and Bees

Lavender is at the top of my list for a great bee-attracting plant and my lavender plants have been very popular among the bees this summer. Not only does the Lavender plants smell heavenly but they can be used to make Lavender tea and other baked goods. 

Bumblebee enjoying the Lavender

The Honeybee has discovered my newest Lavender plant just beginning to bloom.