All beautiful shots, Janos!
Did the goose get his handout?

These are birds of different feathers from what we usually see here! I hear they're really hogs at the feeders, too.
Nice shots, Streets.

Beautiful image, Linda!
The one teasel has leaned away from the others and raised his arms high to feel the unobstructed warmth of the sun along the entirety of his being.

Thanks, HOT! The mum was an impulse buy at Costco last year. No blooms were open when I bought it and I didn't realize it was a miniature. But, through a macro lens they look pretty BIG!

Thanks for looking and your kind comments, Janos!
Flowers don't last year round here, but we do have a long season. This year NOTHING in my garden did well due to the excessive amounts of rain we've had. I think it's been a week or so since it last rained and the plants are starting to look healthier than they have all year. I actually had to water a few of them. But it is getting too close to the end of the season to expect much from them.

Thank you, Angela. There were plenty of bees at the platters - they sucked up all they could and then went crazy licking. Their tongues are surely gonna be raw tomorrow!

Reminds me: years ago when my kids were kids, I fixed fudge one night (I make a mean fudge - Hershey's old fashioned). The next morning I got a piece of fudge to have with my coffee. The kids came in the kitchen and told me not to eat it; there was something really wrong with it. They had each gotten a piece when they got up to watch cartoons and licked it to make it last longer. Their tongues were RAW from licking that sugary fudge! I told'em I was sorry, but evidently they had become allergic to fudge and couldn't eat it anymore. That worked for a pretty long time. (Chocolate was not made to share!)

Thanks, Carol! I appreciate your taking the time to look and your kind comment.

Thanks for looking and your kind comment, Sue.
Many of them made their final home! I thought bees were supposed to be smart but I guess when you're all strung out on sugar the brain don't work so good.

There was a lot of buzzing. They thought they'd hit the honey bee jackpot. I'll bet there's not a carpenter bee in the bunch.
It does look gross, it won't be fun
But I gotta git-r-done.

Thanks for looking and commenting, CathyAnn. I think Joe's friend made a promise he couldn't keep - those bees are really packed in there. Sometime before sunrise I have to give them a funeral.

A couple of blooms from 2017 Garden of Disappointment and a couple of bees that didn't climb into the Hummer's Reservoir of Nectar.
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This is maybe the 5th bloom I've gotten from this Gerber this year.

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A Mum has finally blessed me with this bloom, one other, and a bud that might make it. whoopee

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A bee that was lured away from the death trap of the hummingbird feeder, but still hasn't kicked the sugar habit.

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Another bee that just can't get enough of that sugar fix.

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Thanks for looking, Bob. I hope I can avoid a bee attack. They let me get really close yesterday while shooting them, but I wasn't trying to take their food away! Got to lure them away from the traps - hope they don't have any killer-bee genes.

Thank you, merry! Yes, I must clean the feeders. Poor bees, all they wanted was a little sugar.
In the past we have had many bees on the property making hives in the hollows of trees, but other than the occasional one or two, these are the first I have seen in several years. I understand their populations have greatly declined everywhere. Guess I'd better get out there and save them from their gluttony.

Thanks for looking and commenting, Janos. I forgot to go outside last night and remove the death traps. They are back at it now and I will offer them a non-lethal method of dining. Hopefully, trough-style will lure them away from the feeders before any more of them buy the farm!

Thanks, merry! More buds had bloomed yesterday morning and started dropping petals last night - so it's looking like they are very short-lived.
Still awaiting the berry formation!