Of Bumblebees and Lilies

I've had hardy water lilies in a pot for several years now. They moved with me from the old house. Each year they send up lots of pretty green lily pads, and nothing else. This year, they signaled their approval of the new house by giving me a bright, beautiful water lily blossom!

That weird sticky thing next to it is a limb off our old corkscrew willow tree. We'd cut it back in preparation for selling the house, and we'd thrown the limbs in a pile to use in backyard projects. Lo and behold, some of them sprouted leaves, so we stuck two of them into our pot of water lilies, and they've rooted. As soon as we figure out where to put them, we'll plant them and have beautiful new corkscrew willows!

And completely unrelated to the lily, I took some photos of our bumblebees at the entrance to their home. I'm still not telling where they're located, but they seem to be busy and happy and fat and beautiful, so we're just leaving them alone. I checked my bumblebee field guide, and I believe they are Bombus rufocinctus. They are listed as liking to nest in walls and buildings, and as being testy around their nest (hence my husband being stung when he bothered them.) I can't be certain about that without consulting an entomologist specializing in bees, but it's close enough for my tastes. Beautiful little guys, they are!