Mutt Monday: Guest Species

We had quite an unusual event here at the WatRanch. Joe and I have joined a playgroup (hence the drop-off in blogging time) and we hosted a play date here on Friday. As the kiddos ran around in the backyard, we noticed an usually high number of bees loitering over the garden, but didn't think too much of it. Until we saw this:

Yes, that is my beloved peach tree, but see the weird-shaped mass in the center? You got it; it's bees.

Is your skin crawling yet? No? How about now?

I have no idea where these buggers came from or why they decided to set up shop in my peach tree. There aren't any blooms left on the tree and no fruit to speak of. The strange thing is that they were not there in the morning, but literally buzzed in around midday and took residence both in the peach tree and a shrub in the front yard. Why the split group? Who knows, but they only stayed through Sunday morning and were gone. I hope they got in plenty of pollinating while they were here.

The dogs are pretty boring these days, so you can have a bunny update instead.

There's my lovely Raleigh. She and her partner, Durham, decided to make life interesting for themselves this past week by taking some adventures outside of their cage. I'm not sure it if was wind or bunny ingenuity, but somehow their cage door was open 2 days in a row and they made a break for it. The first day was so beastly windy that they only got as far as under the shed before I noticed they were out. Fortunately, my babysitter saw them by the shed before the dogs did, otherwise it would have been curtains.

The second day our neighbors sent us a message to check the drainage tunnel under our driveway because they saw a bunny-like shape dart under it. Sure enough, both bunnies were hopping happily around in the mud. There is a LOT to be said for socializing pet rabbits, because I managed to retrieve them on both occasions, and for the most part they came hopping up to me when I called them. But then again, I am recognized by all of the creatures at the WatRanch as The Source of Food, so that's not a huge surprise.

Could It Bee?

I was just taking a break from my pile of work (which is what has been keeping me from blogging...money) and I took a quick stroll around the grounds to check on the crops. I found 2 surprises that I was definitely NOT expecting to find. The first was this:

Last summer I bought a few bags of bareroot peony plants from Lowes on a whim and then left them to bake in the garage for a few weeks. Not smart. If there was such a thing as Child Services for plants, I'd have been hauled away long ago for neglect and abuse.

Anyway, we finally got around to planting them sometime in late June or so, I think, which with our heat was WAY too late. Live and learn. I thought for sure they'd just decompose in the ground and we'd start over someday with new peony plants and actual forethought and information. I was stunned to see these little peony shoots popping out of the front flower bed. Maybe they'll be fluffy pink flowers for us to enjoy this summer, after all!

The next surprise, and by far the most thrilling (in my opinion) was this little guy:

Now, I'm no insect expert, but I think that's a bee. Albeit a skinny and slow-moving bee, but what can one expect in mid-March? Here he is hanging out on my pear tree buds, and I found another hanging out in the blueberry patch. YES! THAT IS EXACTLY WHERE I WANT YOU! I'm nervous for the little buggers, considering we may get another dose of the white stuff this weekend. But I've learned that bees in the garden can only mean good things. I just hope they stick around.

Gardening readers, please feel free to weigh in on my mystery visitors to confirm or correct me.