Hello Nicole, welcome. This is a great group of orchidholics. We enjoy sharing our orchid highs and lows. Glad you're joining in. Marci

Great pics, and I love to watch the little critters that visit the gardens! I spend hours contorting myself into strange positions to get pictures of the pollinators and other visitors. At first, the bees or butterflies seem skittish when I first appear, but after a few minutes, they seem to get used to this big human creature with a camera. They let me get very close sometimes. Here are a couple of the assorted bees that come to pollinate - Yesterday was very exciting, a female Monarch was alternating between nectaring and laying eggs on the Asclepias tuberosa and incarnata. Here she is nectaring - And here she is laying an egg - Can you spot the butterfly in this picture? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oh, here she is!

So it is a girl!!!!! I wouldn't have guessed yellowthroat but now I see the females lack the mask. Yellowthroats seem especially vulnerable to window crashes.

Jen. Seems that there is a glitch in the system thinking our names have been taken. Go to the upper right hand side of the page. See ' your houzz' click on that. Go to ' your profile' Then you will see a place for you first name. ( profile information) Type in your old username and zone. Under last name I used my city and state. This is what wil a opera it the main page like before. Just use your other user name for singing in and out. My name was taken too like others. This way you can change it back!! Hope this helps! Be back later.. So happy to see you all I can't tell you all how happy I am to see you guys!! Love ' sister' Maverick! They are so beautiful!! I can't wait to see your other blooms , Jen ! Nicole. We need to catch up too!! Metallica is a great price at FC now!! Half of what I paid for a cutting and it's grafted.. Just saying!! ( enabling at its finest)