Monthly Archives: November 2013

Bumble bees are doing the strangest thing on the ginger lilies. They will rest for hours in a catatonic state on the flowers. I wrote earlier in the Summer about this behavior on passionflowers.

They don’t move when you touch them and don’t hold their wings up in the normal manner when they feel threatened.

The temperature is in the low 70s so I know it is not too cold for them to fly.

Bumble bees do have a different life cycle than the introduced European honeybee. Only the queens survive the Winter and hibernate in protected locations.

Maybe these are worker bees who are dying? Maybe they are young queens who are looking for drones to mate with before beginning the Winter hibernation? I will have to do some additional research!

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Around my office in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Crepe Myrtle

Eastern Red Maple

In my garden in Raleigh, North Carolina

Asian Magnolia

Lady Fern

And a tea rose: Christian Doir

I love the color and Maple-like leaves of Boston Ivy:

I love the colors of a Fall!
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So I was over to Kim’s house helping with some Fall clean up. The ornamental sweet potato vines had grown to kudzu proportions! They must have been 7 to 8 feet long! When she pulled the vines up they were attached to large, white sweet potatoes. I was not sure if they were eatable so we tossed them with the vines anyway.

Our day began at Cup-A-Joe for a latte. We then stopped by a local garden center to purchase a few mums and pansies for some Fall color.

While working on cleaning the yard we were carefully watched!

Underneath him this white euphorbia (Euphorbia hypericifolia) was beginning to bloom.

Her begonias were still blooming strong.

The nights are continuing to cool with temps in the upper 50sf but the days still reach into the 70sf. Plants will continue continue to bloom as long as we do not have a killing frost. Many blooming plants may make it to Thanksgiving!

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