It’s only the first week of August, and anyone who lives in Florida or south Georgia knows, this is NOT fall. When you wake up and make your coffee and see that the windows are clouded with humidity and perspiration, you know that the outside world is going to be a formidable steam room. Daytime temperatures are in the mid 90s. Sometimes the temperature approaches 100. Days and possibly weeks of this are still in store for us. Working outdoors in midday is almost impossible. You must drink water almost non-stop (this is not the time for Pumpkin Spice Lattes). The thick air presses down on you and clothing uncomfortably sticks to every inch of your covered body. This is NOT fall.
But it’s coming. Besides the obvious calendar evidence, I can tell autumn is on the way. It’s trying to peek its head into this packed steam room we call summer. In Florida, fall comes in with a bash, bang, a windy tempest. This is when hurricane season truly ramps up. These are the days when we see one tropical storm and hurricane after another, lining up in the Caribbean waters like kids waiting for a school bus.
How do the insects respond to all of this? Much like the line of hurricanes, the insects are queueing up at the blooming Coral Honeysuckle, Tropical Sage, and Firecracker plants. I’ve seen Red-banded Pachodynerus wasp, the Thread Waisted Wasp, the Cicada Killer wasp, Poey’s Furrow bees, Honeybees, and a host of Herpetogramma moths. I think the insects will be busy eating away at any flower they can find for the next 3 or 4 months. December is their slow-down time.
I am ready for the end of the 95 degree days. I am not ready, however, to see the end of wasps and moths and bees floating about the garden, enjoying the flower feast. So I will enjoy and relish September, October,and November. I’m counting the days.
Buzzing Blossoms 