From Habitat Garden Club host, Michelle Reynolds:
Habitat Garden Club meets every Tuesday from 8 am until 11 am at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center and is not just about working and weeding in the gardens. It is about discovery of new things. We like to take the time to notice the buzzing insects around us. We take pictures, post them to iNaturalist for identification, and we’re constantly learning about the nature that surrounds us.
Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) provides a pretty backdrop to this busy bumblebee as it visited many flowers, packing its pollen baskets and transferring pollen from flower to flower throughout the day.
Uroleucon aphids siphon sweet juices from stems of tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima), the carpenter ant crawled around them and drank their sugary excretions (honeydew). Yes, it is a little bit gross but mostly cool.