When it comes to my flowering plants...
one of the hardest things to do is pruning them...
especially when they are blooming
this duranta plant continues blooming and it had become a mess of unruly long branches
it had to be pruned
it's a warm weather perenial of the verbena plant family
sometimes, the blooms look a bit like orchids with their sprays
sometimes, the blooms clump together
this particular duranta plant in front of Pilgrim's Cottage...
is home and food to many creatures
the doves practically live under it and if I'm not mistaken...
seem to be eating the berries that fall from it
the tiny maribone wasps drink the dew and rain drops from it...
and the nectar from the flowers
the hummingbirds feed from these tiny flowers...
and they are often seen from my verandah
the butterflies come for their share of the sweet nectar from the duranta
and look like flowers themselves, blown by the breeze...
as they wing their way around the blooms
they light on the plant just long enough to drink but...
not long enough to for my camera to "catch" them clearly
looking at the sprays of berries...
one can understand their other name, "Golden Dewdrops"
of course, there are the very tiny creatures that use the duranta as home...
I have no idea what this tiny white creature is...
but, it's pretty
when I snipped the flower stems and took them over to the outside sink...
out popped a tiny white spider, no bigger than my fingernail
I never throw away the blooms that get pruned off a plant...
no, no!
too pretty to throw them out...
and they look just fine in a pail on the sink for an extra ooomph near the water faucet
and watching over a few sprigs...
my lion sleeps tonight
and the elect church of Christ says of the Lion of Judah...
His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
as sweet as flowers:
His lips like lilies,
dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
His mouth is most sweet:
yea, He is altogether lovely.
This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.
Solomon's Song 5:13,16
May your day or night be altogether lovely by God's grace.