BIRDS, BEES, BUTTERFLIES AND SQUIRRELS

We try very hard to provide a welcoming area in our back garden for all the creatures that might visit it.  We have a squirrel-proof bird feeder, actually two, and we enjoy the antics of the squirrels trying to access the feeders almost as much as we enjoy the antics of the birds, who are quite successful.  And to be fair to the poor, dear little squirrels, the same creatures who plant trees in every flower bed and every flower pot we have, the squirrels (and the doves) can glean from the droppings of the dear little birds, who are really quite messy.

The bees are particularly happy with our quince shrub, which is magnificent in late winter and early spring, with its glorious blooms, and sometimes again in the fall, during the fall equinox.  And we know the bees are successful because quince fruit forms, which has not yet tempted us but may in the future.  Somewhere there's a beehive or two making quince honey, but we have no idea where it is, and even if we did, it would be left alone.  We have no talents along the lines of robbing honey.

But the butterflies are another story.  Since we have an organic garden, the area is safe for all the creatures.  But although we have planted butterfly weed numerous times and it has bloomed mostly successfully, we somehow do not find the butterflies feasting on it, but rather on zinnias.  Which is fine.  They know what they like.  It's just frustrating not to be able to trust something named butterfly weed to be attractive to butterflies.  Articles recommend it, the nurseries advertise it, but oh, well.  The other thing we seem to be unsuccessful at is providing moisture for butterflies.  We have tried, and will keep on trying, to provide some moisture for them, because this summer has been horrendously, record-breakingly hot and dry and we worry for all vulnerable creatures.  The other day, however, we had watered pots on our patio and most of them are not saucered, so the water runs through and out.  A butterfly had found what it considered a puddle and we would have considered a damp spot, and was completely spread flat on the water in the shade, as if saying 'Ah'.  

There are other creatures in the garden for which we do not need to provide, our particular favorite being the green anole lizards with their red throats.  The anoles and other lizards eat crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, and flies, and the garden provides those very well.

Every creature we see in the garden, even the persistent squirrels, provides us with entertainment, sometimes pleasure, and a window into what is really the real world, not the one mankind has devised, but the ultimate reality.