I stepped out into our front garden this afternoon and was treated to a Monarch butterfly circling a patch of sunflowers, occasionally landing and sticking it’s tongue into the tiny disk flower that actually produce pollen, nectar, and ultimately, sunflower seeds.

It seems as if we haven’t had as many bees this summer, which is very concerning. I’m sure that the weather switching cool-hot-cool-hot-cool all summer long has been hard for them.

I’ve left prairie coneflower (above) and sunflowers (below) for them to visit. I hope the bees are able to come by frequently and pack on the pollen before cold weather comes in earnest.

On the other hand, the hummingbirds seem to be thriving — we’ve had at least two female broadtaileds in the backyard all summer, as well as this handsome male.

All are welcome, anytime!