Bees that make me go SQUEEEE!

Okay, yes. I am getting excited over bugs again, but yesterday I saw some native bees that I have not seen in a while. And I even got a picture, although not a very good one.
While watering my borage yesterday, I spotted a blue banded bee.

The are another solitary bee and the females dig burrows to live in, while the males hang out in plants at night. They are really had to photograph because they are very fast moving. They apparently do have a sting (Didn't know that we had native bees that did.) but they are non aggressive and probably would only sting if you tried to catch one.
If you want to read up on these little guys, you can find more info here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amegilla_cingulata

http://scienceillustrated.com.au/blog/nature/backyard-bugs-meet-the-blue-banded-bee/

I am now planing to plant more blue flowers in my garden, as they seem more attracted to blue. I am so happy to see these little guys making a home in my garden.

Cacti Explosion

Some of my favorite things in the garden are my cacti. I used to have quite a collection of them in pots. Unfortunately a large infestation of mealybugs decimated a lot of them. I still have a few and some were saved by planting them in the garden, where the mealybugs were more exposed to predators.

One of these has proved to be truly spectacular. From one small plant in a pot I got five very tall plants.

We had a very good winter here and they are absolutely covered with buds.

And just before Christmas the first of them opened.

I have more in the garden but none have been as dramatic as this one. Kind of gets me enthused about my prickly friends again.