Yoda... Bumble-bee in Plumbago larpentae... October, 2010

The rear view image of this fat bumble-bee, wings upraised, immediately brought to mind Yoda, from the Star Wars movies, when I saw it appear on my computer monitor after uploading it. I hope this sight amuses you as much as it did me and that you are having a wonderful weekend wherever you are! (The very next image I tried to capture had no bumble-bee because he had taken flight.)

Bumble-bee in Plumbago Larpentae... in my garden!

It is so intriguing to watch the bumble-bees gathering pollen from the tiny blossoms of Plumbago larpentae... an excellent ground cover with a spreading habit that will quite literally take over your garden if you let it. The bumble-bees wrap themselves entirely around the blossoms as they make their way around gathering pollen. (A bit more about the spreading habit of this plant... ONE tiny plant put into my garden some years ago has now spread over half my front garden and well down the way toward the back of my house in my side garden. If it does grow where you don't want it, it's quite easy to yank up... but it grows by underground runners and spreads everywhere as long as it has enough sunlight.)

Plumbago Larpentae Blossom...

Trying to get the hang of using extension tubes with my 18-105mm lens because I don't want to take my macro lens on my next trip... tricky business but think I'm beginning to get an idea how to make it all work. Must do a bit of post processing and upload this again... too late and too tired to do tonight! (it's a bit darker in the browser than on screen in my photo management software)