Our backyard...03/2016

When we got back from the Tin Can Tourist meet ..I put the catfood that was in the "feral" cat feeder out for the Racoons. I have 4 that come in regularly..I put them to work by tossing dog food in the weeds...when they get done most of them are trampled down.

 The African Blue Basil has bloomed all winter...I can always tell when there is nothing in the area...the bees are all over this.

 The Zebra Longwings have been laying on the Passion Flower vine all winter...Here are a bunch of caterpillars.

 Spotted this weird looking bee.  black and yellow like a Bumblebee but had lime green eyes.

 The Painted Buntings have been here since late October...I have at least 6 Painted like these and 5 greenies...the greens are either juvenile or female.

 When Jim cut down this tree he took the top part and put it on the stump....a Racoon is checking it out.

 The Squirrels and Birds are not the only animals that use the birdbath....even though I have a "frog" pond at the end of the deck that has water in it from the condensation dripping...2 use that and 2 use this.

They climb up and down this branch of the Bottlebrush Bush.

 My "Pink" hive had a lot of bees on the front. I've seen several very nice orientations and lots of pollen going in ...so I removed the robber screens and one of the reducers...looks like I need to remove the other one.

 This area behind the bee hives was a big tangle of vines. Jim cleared it out. He then built 3 4'x4' boxes. We put a Bottlebrush bush in the center of each and 4 milkweed plants....one in each corner....Bee food and Caterpillar food.

 One of the boxes...the Bottlebrush will be awhile before it blooms. More African Blue Basil in the the 2 pots.

This Palm tree must have blown down ...started to grow again and blew down again....it curves around the box.

This is our wetlands....there are several Needle Palms and a milkweed bed around the birdbath...they are in boxes because it has standing water after a big rain. The one with the white flowers on the top..to the right of the feeders...is a Butterfly Tree....at least that is what I was told.

Everything we plant is food for the bees and butterflies and caterpillars.We use no pesticides or herbicides so there is plenty of insects for the bats..birds..armadillos..possums..raccoons...we have a few holes in the lawn and lots of weeds...that weird skirting around the feeder pole keeps the Racoons out. I also have a squirrel feeder on a pole.