**~*~**

When we moved here I never gave Lantana a thought in my gardening plans. My reasoning was that in this environment if it would not be perennial, it was not worth my time or my interest.

I was wrong…

I had forgotten how quickly it grows, how happy it makes the hummingbirds and butterflies, or how colorful it can be. It blooms all summer and just looks nice! So, for 99 cents a plant, this color combination was worth it as a temporary color fix! These colors remind me of rainbow sorbet on a hot day.

Not remembering if it had a *scent or not I went in for a quick sniff…
and immediately jerked back! It seems that the quarter sized bloom clusters are a nice place to hang out if you are a miniature crab spider!

Consider this, if the compound flower is only quarter sized, and you are small enough to grace the surface of only one of the individual flowers, well then, you are very tiny indeed! Don’t see the spider? Click the photo for a closer view!

**~*~**

*The flowers do not have a scent, however the bush itself is highly aromatic, having a pungent, spicy aroma when brushed against.

Saturday Snapshot – Hummingbird? (abookwormshaven.com)

We set to work early to fortify the chicken run. We’d wanted to beat the heat and humidity that had plagued our days that summer. Normally we would have put it off till better weather, but something had been killing my chickens in the night so it couldn’t wait.

This crab spider was easy to spot on the green fence post. Taking a moment I studied her closely, noticing the opacity of her legs and how she held them out wide in front of her. Do you see the red stripe going along the sides of her abdomen? I find her strangely beautiful.

Now whatever your view, creationist or evolutionary, you have to wonder how a white spider fits into life’s scheme. Where does its coloration come to be an advantage, when it is not clinging to a green fence post for me to find at 5:30 in the morning? (The answer can be found HERE)

Have a wonderful weekend!

OH, and don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour tomorrow night!