may 16, 2018

posted in: photography | 0



small and mighty


When I bought my house there was a near dead flowerbed in the backyard under a shade tree. Once I figured out what everything was, I set about redistributing the bounty where it was most likely to thrive. I moved the white peonies to the front garden with plenty of sun. I always heard peonies do best when ants are present. I even heard that they wouldn’t bloom at all without ants. Neither tale is true of course. They do fine with or without ants, it’s just that the peony secrets a kind of nectar the ants love, and in return, the ants eat other bugs that could harm the bud. It’s a win-win. When I enlarged this image, I realized that the butt of these ants are virtually transparent. I don’t recall ever seeing a transparent butted ant, but here they are. I think I’ll plant more peonies. They’ll be like little ant restaurants. It’ll need a catchy name.