July Jewels

sunflower

As July 2019 comes to an end, I want to share a few images from the last few days. The flowers here will last through green chile season, which is about to begin. Colorful skies do not occur every day, but they occur frequently! Monsoon season will be with us into September, although thunderstorms may – or may not – be less frequent.

Colorful skies are always welcome.

sunrise
Sunrise July 28, 2019

My love of the Old Garden Rose ‘Mermaid’ is pretty well known. 🙂

It is also well known that sunflowers are among my favorites in late summer/autumn. I did not plant sunflowers this year – too many distractions – but volunteers are appearing. This one is from a cloudy morning when a light mist was falling.

Sunflower
Sunflower in Morning Mist

This sunflower is a volunteer from one of the hybrid sunflowers I have grown in other years. Makes me a little sorry I did not make time to plant more this year…

sunflower
Sunflower

Just as in previous years, crab spiders seem to gravitate to this particular kind of sunflower. Although tiny and kind of cute, these little guys are vicious. From other years I have images of them eating bees they have killed.

sunflower crab spider
Crab Spider on Sunflower

This is a closeup of the crab spider.

Crab Spider
Crab Spider Closeup

Thanks for visiting my world in late July.

Darth Vader Jumping Spider

Darth Vader Jumping Spider

Jumping spider as Darth Vader? Well, that thought certainly crossed my mind when I saw this little spider jumping from leaf to leaf, branch to branch, on a rose bush.

jumping spider
Darth Vader Jumping Spider?

This was the funniest little spider I have seen in my yard in a long time. He first tried to stare me down, which is how I got this particular image. The scientific name for this spider is Phidippus audax, which means “daring” or “bold.” This one certainly was!!!

When I didn’t leave, it scurried under leaves, over leaves, jumped everywhere, looking around periodically to see if I were still there.

This spider could also be dressed for Halloween – black and orange! This was a particularly wonderful creature to run across unexpectedly in the yard!

jumping spider
“OK, I’m Leaving, Lady!”
Jumping Spider
Nice Backside!

While these are common in the United States and in New Mexico, this is the most colorful one I have seen in my yard. It was an unexpected pleasure, along with being a little humorous. Keep an eye out for something similar when you are out in your yard.

Crab Spiders

crab spider
Crab Spiders

Crab spiders have been abundant this year. They are quite tiny, but also quite amazing. This year, in my yard, I have been particularly impressed with the variety of colors I have seen. On the rose ‘Foolish Pleasure,’ I saw a pinkish one. On the leaf of datura, I saw one that was white. Elsewhere I have posted an image of a yellow crab spider on the yellow stamens of a cosmos bloom. These spiders are known to change color depending on what flower they are on. That certainly has seemed to be the case in my yard.

Today I saw a crab spider on a sunflower, and was, once again, impressed with the way this little spider seemed to match the flower.

sunflower with crab spider
Sunflower with crab spider

Notice how well the little crab spider blends with the sunflower:

crab spiders
Crab Spider

Another fun morning in the garden today!

Links:
BBC
CrabSpider.org
Wikipedia

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