This has been an amazing spring and we owe the abundance of blossoms and in particular wisteria to these past wet winter months followed by warm spring days. The variety and scent of the blossoms in the Hollywood Hills is almost over powering and I wonder if the local bee population has a weight problem this year as the bee legs are laden with the weight of pollen making their bumbly flight even more miraculous.
In the photograph below I hope I have captured the size and weight of this cascading wisteria blossom and the bumbling carpenter bee that hovers in the foreground. The long running California drought motivated Martin and I to replant our garden with drought tolerant plants and the wisteria creeper was a prized addition. While our wisteria plant took at least two years to become established we are hoping that it will continue to thrive and attract bees, cactus flies and both resident Anna humming birds as well as migratory black-chinned humming birds.
The Carpenter bee is so named for the nests that they excavate in the dead wood of trees and man-made power poles though they are also known to opportunistically hijack and improve upon the holes left by other insects.
The bumble bee is part of our Netsuke collection of animal door handles which includes a lizard, a frog and rabbit. All of our work is made to order and designed and manufactured here in Los Angeles.