Amazing what a little rain can do

My blooming perennials seem unusually vivid and early this year, don't know if it's my imagination or real. The pasque flower (lower left) and basket'of'gold (upper left) had great displays, and the latter is still blooming. We had about an inch of rain over a two-week period in late May/early June which may be the reason. I love going outside and hearing all the little pollinators zipping and buzzing around. I saw a beautiful bumble bee today - searching for an ID site I came across http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=10749, which is a USDA site that advertises a wallet-size bumblebee ID card. Unfortunately, I didn't get a close enough look at the bee to be able to ID it - all I remember is that it was big & yellow, with an orange band in mid-body area.

At the end of last year I realized it was short-sighted NOT to plant some pollinator-attractor plants in the vegetable garden, so I put three Russian sages in a corner; realized this spring that wasn't the best place because they were outside the irrigation system I'd set up. I moved them more into the thick of the vegie plantings and on a drip line, but now they're being slow to grow because of the adjustment I've forced them to go through. Maybe by next growing season they'll do what I have asked them to (bloom & attract bees/flies)!