The birds & the bees

I grow sunflowers because they're pretty and easy -- and useful! Near the end of the summer, whichever sunflowers have grown strong and tall stay in the ground while the others are cut for vases or pruned away.

The ones left become food for birds and bees. Bees like the pollen and birds like the seeds.

Birds will eat the seeds well into late Fall. Usually some time in November, I chop the sunflowers down and put the dry husks and stalks into the compost.

Bugs!

Something new this year was the plethora of beneficial insects in my garden. It's true I added the ladybugs early, but they liked the party and hung around all season. I saw about 5 different kinds of bees, including the teeny green jewel-like mason bees. Butterflies! Dragonflies!

And then the supremely creepy but very useful preying mantis made an appearance among the coconut lime echinacea. Not sure how I spotted it while I was watering, but lo!

I must have been doing something right to attract all these good bugs! This made me do my happy dance.