Faerie Garden

Faerie Garden:
Butterfly house made from a cigar box (photo).

I've always loved cigar boxes. I used the cigar box above made of wood with an aromatic scent to make a butterfly house. Inside the box is a strip of bark for the butterflies to make their habitat. The tree stump is a stand for the box as well as a habitat for small insects and frogs that hide there. A hummmingbird feeder hangs from the opposite side and a ceramic mushroom rises from the bottom of the stump to provide an umbrella of shade for small guests.



Looking at the garden center plants on Saturday morning I stumbled upon a bumble bee among the perennials. He was drinking deeply from the pink chalices of the Summer Romance variety which seems to be filled with sweet god-like nectar. His wings were glistening in the softened sunlight filtering through the mesh netting, his colors bright and vibrant. His wings fit like a vest sized too small for his bulbous body which lifted him from chalice to chalice in an almost clumsy effort that seemed to defy gravity. Although the flapping of his wings could not lift his heavier body, the bumbblebee has discovered the secret of vibrating and creating enough lift to get the job done, which has the added effect of producing his buzzing sound.

This humble bee was even patient enough to allow me to watch him close at work, or at his leisure, for he was sipping delicately from the top of each blossom and seemed to be enjoying each goblet down to the last drop, tipping them to reach their core before going to the next. According to some sources, not all bees behave as well, some rob the flower by drilling straight into the core from the bottom, draining the flower without the flower benefiting from the pollination. Ahh, such a gluttonous little bee! And I, such a voyer of nature.