I dunno. Everyone is always saying how smart I am but I'm a total idiot half the time. Maybe they're being sarcastic and I'm just to dim to catch it.
It's not that people are dumb really, they've just been sold a bill of goods about what a lawn should be. This marketing ploy has become so ingrained that many just can't resist the social pressure to conform and with home owners associations they may not even have a choice.

We actually have a ton of early bulbs and even a few tree-shrubs that keep the bees happy long before the dandelions even wake up. And truly, it doesn't matter how many other choices they have--they love dandelions and clover. Weedy lawns for the bees! That's my excuse and I'm stickin' with it

I'm so with you Dirt! There are some places out here with vast expanses of lawn where they don't take action against the dandelions. They get completely covered with those beautiful yellow flowers each spring. It's absolutely gorgeous!

I live in a condo complex so I don't have a choice. The lawn is managed by the board. It boggles my mind how much money and work goes into maintaining the lawn. It just doesn't make any sense to me, especially when there are so many options for ground covers.

I know it's not politic presently, but I really like lawns. How they look. Smell. Feel under my feet.

When I want zero-scape (as many around here call it - ha!), the sagebrush and goatheads and their pals are only a block away.

Oh, Asa, I'm with you on that! I love the look, smell and feel of lawns, but in today's climate (literally and figuratively), there are better things people can do.

This is the first time I'm hearing the term zero-scape! Love it! Personally, if I had acreage that included lawn, I would have sheep to mow it!

Going through some of last summer's shots. July. Grabbed me.


Here's a crop of it.

Wow Asa, Now that is super duper close. Great shot.

Some grasses are nice but not Bermuda grass. Lucky for some, it won't tolerate cold but down here in the south, it will take over any garden!!! It even snuffed out the mint! If it would somehow disappear, it would never be missed around here!!!

wildflowers said:Some grasses are nice but not Bermuda grass. Lucky for some, it won't tolerate cold but down here in the south, it will take over any garden!!! It even snuffed out the mint! If it would somehow disappear, it would never be missed around here!!!

So after the nuclear holocaust, the only survivors will be Bermuda grass and cockroaches?

joannakat said:

So after the nuclear holocaust, the only survivors will be Bermuda grass and cockroaches?

Don't forget ants and mosquitoes.

A bumble on my Salvia

Nice shots!
looks like a carpenter bee though--probably made holes at the base of the tube to get the nectar, they don't have long enough tongues to get it otherwise

The bees were buzzing today!

Beautiful!

Love this thread, Christine.

Earlier this week I found two creatures which I thought were Daddy Long Legged Spiders, at a passing glance. When I looked again, a couple of minutes later, they were still there, so I snapped them, wondering if they were doing a strange mating ritual. Today I enlarged the photos and discovered that they have wings. Their bodies were about an inch long, and I don't ever remember seeing them before.

Does anyone recognize them?

evermorelawnless said:Sometimes I cannot help myself.

Absolutely stunning! Fantastic closeups.

HemNorth said:Love this thread, Christine.

Earlier this week I found two creatures which I thought were Daddy Long Legged Spiders, at a passing glance. When I looked again, a couple of minutes later, they were still there, so I snapped them, wondering if they were doing a strange mating ritual. Today I enlarged the photos and discovered that they have wings. Their bodies were about an inch long, and I don't ever remember seeing them before.

Does anyone recognize them?

Are they mosquitos?

Not mosquito--crane fly maybe?

Thanks, Dirt - you nailed it. Wikipedia gave a good account of Crane flies, with a photo of a Limonia nubeculosa, with its wings folded along its back, as in my photos. I appreciate knowing what I took a picture of, so again - Thank you, Dirt!

Dirt, thanks for letting me know my bee was a Carpenter Bee, I had to Google it. Yes I've seen them go into a hole in one of my trellises. Now I know the difference and leaned something new today.

I see those Crane flies, I thought they were big mosquitoes, they get in our house sometimes. Now I know what they are...another new bug ID.