ants Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Daily Perambulations

Ah, it’s so great to be back on the road. My life is immeasurably enriched by my daily perambulations.

The past two days have been especially delightful. Much as I love sunny days and blue skies, there’s something comforting when the heat and brilliance of a near summer’s day is muted by a layer of clouds so high that they just turn the sky gray-white. The beauty is in the slightly cool hint of a breeze and the chance for everything to just be, with no effort to outshine anything else.

Sometimes it feels like everything is trying too hard when the sun shines. Flowers burst forth in colors that tantalize the buzzing class, including us, vying for the attention of anything and everyone.

Clematis – Photo: L.Weikel

Blooming Clematis

In just the few days I couldn’t manage a walk, whether because it was pouring out or I was distracted by other responsibilities, our neighbors’ clematis bloomed.

Every year I say I want a clematis of my own, climbing our mailbox. While Karl finally planted one last year, it was ground up and spit out by the pickup that mowed down our box this winter. We’ll have to plant another. Soon.

Bees Know

No matter how pale the day may be under that stratospheric layer of overcast shielding us from the brilliance and blazing heat of the sun, the bees know where the good stuff is.

I could’ve stood for hours beside the wildflowers taking photos of them as they lured the baby bumblebees with their nectar and other sweet wares. “Come hither,” they teased, and the bees complied, probably just as happy the sun wasn’t glinting off the petals of more brilliant blossoms just down the road.

It wasn’t until I started looking at still frames of the live shots I took of the bees making love to the blossoms that I realized the bees were crowding the game of other creatures. In one shot an ant triumphantly climbed to the lip of the blossom, staking its claim and kicking the bee out of that sweet spot. Was that ant courageous or crazy? Hungry or simply living its biological imperative?

The bee had to be ten times the size of that ant. And yet the ant prevailed in staking its claim. Or did the bee just decide to bag it? Hard to say, I guess. We all pick our battles. Some days we want the flower we know; the sure thing. And some days we realize there are a bazillion other wildflowers out there just waiting to be loved.

“This Tastes Good” – Photo: L. Weikel

“Ew! Wait. What?” – Photo: L. Weikel

“Umm, no thanks. I’m outta here” – Photo: L. Weikel

“That’s right. I’m the boss; this is MY flower!” – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-166)

Practically Luminous Tree Peony – Photo: L. Weikel

Tree Peony Festival

As you know from my posts over the past several days, last weekend we visited Linwood Gardens, in western New York, for their Tree Peony Festival. We were especially keen to visit because we knew first-hand how beautiful the estate was back when Sarah and Sage were married there. As beautiful as it was that month, everyone who was familiar with ‘the Farm’ told us again and again that the place becomes even more exquisite when the tree peonies bloom.

The caretakers of the premises do their best to have the Gardens open to the public when the peonies are peaking. It sounds like this year was particularly challenging with the fluctuations in temperature. They kept having to shift around the weekends they were open because it would appear as though the peonies were on track to ‘pop’ a certain couple of weekends only to have a cold snap hit, significantly slowing down their final approach to launch.

Given the state of the gardens last weekend, I can only imagine how spectacular a treat visitors will be in for this weekend. While there were more than enough plants, including peonies, blooming last Saturday – there remained at least quadruple that number waiting in the wings for just enough more warm days to fully fledge into a bloom extravaganza.

The colors of these tree peonies were ethereal – Photo: L. Weikel

Ants and Peonies

I’ve always loved these flowers (and been fascinated by the big ants that swarm the buds on our version – which are not ‘tree’ peonies). There was some debate over whether ants hang out with tree peonies as much as the shrub version, but it turns out ants are equal-opportunity nectar lovers. Supposedly. But it sure seemed like they found the shrub version tastier.

I learned last weekend that my belief/assumption that the ants were somehow essential to the pollination of peonies was erroneous. Actually, the love affair between ants and peonies are an example of biological mutualism. And while the ants may not be essential to the pollination process per se, they can be considered the peonies’ protectors. They’ll take out other bugs that come sniffing around their peonies (bugs that would harm the flowers) and ask questions later – if ever. Wink wink. Survival of the fittest.

Given that Ant is often associated with the strategy of patience, maybe those who love peonies are cultivating their ability to exercise this virtue when they need it most. Certainly those who exercised patience this year and scheduled their visit to the Gardens later than they might have otherwise were (and will be) amply rewarded.

If you doubt that, just look at these photos and remember, it still felt just a few days ‘early’ when we were there.

Some of these blooms were simply breathtaking.