u/Key-Treacle3384

BEHOLD! Hope the silly picture story entertains

I have the same screen name on YouTube as here but I'm trying not to promote tooo too much because I also like just sharing.

1. Tahoka Daisy (I think)

2. Seminole pumpkin reaching for the other side of the trellis (the pumpkins are really taking over.

3. Coreopsis

4. A cute pink cosmo stands out among the other plants (it stands out because I say it does)

5. Either autumn beauty or chocolate cherry sunflower from saved seed.

6. Gecko.

7. Lovebird perched on a sunflower head (obscured by my cheap flower trellis.

8. Queen butterfly. I'm calling him the dude in charge because he isn't letting anyone else near that plant.

9. A white winged dove launches from my birdfeeder (AI disclosure: I used AI to remove the water spots that were are all over my window, otherwise the photo is dumb luck.)

Edit: hommie is a queen.

Hommie has control of the yard. Mostly camps out on Gregg's mistflower visits some milkweeds but spends a lot of time running off other butterflies and even flew to my neighbor's roof to run off a sparrow, makes me think male. The mistflower apparently has alkaloids that help with male pheromones. The little skipper in photo 5 is the only critter more aggressive right now. (And everyone hates the sulfur butterflies? Why? Like everything in the garden chases them)

Danaus gilippus

I hope it's okay to share here, I'm trying to get it going specifically for the Arizona low desert.

I wasn't even thinking about camera orientation when I started, then I accidentally cut myself off halfway. I'm going to blame it on what I'm pretty sure is an ear infection.

Part 2 is on the way.

I'd love likes and comments on YouTube! And then if there are thumbs down 👎 put them here 😅 because likes and ALL comments on YouTube are good for the algorithm, but dislikes not so much.

No instructionals yet. I have some footage I want to get voiced over on a sunken bed, but I'm having technical issues with my ear and computer. 😵‍💫

I don't know why, but this one pumpkin flower is super spicy 🥵🔥 if you're a digger bee. They fell out and... tussled in the mulch a bit before moving the party back to the flower. I even gave the flower a shake and menaced it with my hand and they were quite focused on their activities.

There were other male flowers open and activity there was quite mundane. I just hope there's a female flower open somewhere I didn't see and they moved this pollen party over there.

EDIT: the bee community has informed me these are likely squash bees different genus but also ground dwelling, and similar in appearance to California digger bees.

Working backwards from tonight to earlier this month.

1, 2 so far my only bee balm

3 a variety of carrots from tiny, to rather large, to "is that a demon?" Cherry and "slicing" tomatoes, dark colored peppers, and broccoli

4 purple dragonfly pepper growing "butts up"

5 coreopsis growing from a patch of wildflowers going out of season.

6 a chocolate variety bell pepper shows off its deep reds when sliced (also it smells and tastes delicious! I'll try to find the tag)

7 the first cuts into chocolate bell peppers reveal a tomato-like to.

8 lovebirds pick at black oil sunflowers with multiple heads the long distance zoom from my phone reveals how much I really should take the screen off and wash the windows.

9 sunflowers rise above amaranth and other dense foliage.

10 dense foliage shows a variety of plants left to compete for sunlight. May the odds be ever in their favor