Monday, April 11, 2011

Red Wasps Visit Honeysuckle Blossoms

When I walked down to have a look at the honeysuckle vine which has just come into bloom on my back fence, a red wasp brushed past my hair on its way out of the foliage. I don't know whether these wasps pollinate honeysuckle or not -- have never seen one on a honeysuckle blossom.

When I used to have a vegetable garden, they would be thick on the blooms of the black-eyed peas.

Honeysuckle, April 11, 2011, 2nd View

Honeysuckle, April 11, 2011, 1st View

Saturday, April 9, 2011, had the hottest temperature ever recorded for that date in Nashville, at 92 degrees F. (33 degrees C.). And Sunday was almost as hot. The abundant sunshine encouraged all the deciduous trees to leaf out and the blue iris near my old flowering crabapple stump to venture to show its tight little buds, as if not to be outdone by the honeysuckle, or by the dogwoods which are still in full white bloom everywhere.

Blue Iris Buds

Crabapple Stump, with Iris

The tall shoots near the roots of the stump are leafing out, too. I'm hoping they are suckers off the old tree. It used to be covered with lovely pink blooms every spring, before it had to be cut down a couple of years ago, because it was dying. The leaves are still too young for me to identify the species definitely. These shoots may just be the offspring of the invasive golden raintree at the corner of the driveway.

4 comments:

  1. Lovely images of spring. I adore honeysuckle.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Celia. I adore honeysuckle, too. This blooms on the back fence all spring and summer long.

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  3. Do you remember how we used to pull the blossoms and suck the nectar from them?

    Ariel's song:

    Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
    In a cowslips bell I lie;
    There I couch when owls do cry.
    On the bat's wing I do fly.

    After summer, merrily
    Merrily
    Shall I live now
    Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

    from "The Tempest" Wm. Shakespeare

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  4. Sis, I do remember that! And also the wonderful little song from The Tempest -- especially appropriate, considering the tempestuous storm that blew through Nashville yesterday afternoon.

    Now the rain's all gone, and the wasp and I, ourselves, can keep on living merrily, merrily.

    ReplyDelete

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