Weeding the gardens is the time when I get up close and personal with the miniature world that lives amongst the plants. When you start to garden, you realize there’s a who fascinating world in there that has nothing to do with humans.

This little guy is a Crab Spider. They are a common sight in my garden – though I mostly see them on the daisy like flowers – coneflowers, black-eyed susans, etc. This one is on my coral peony while still in bud.

They are ambush predators, and fun fact, they can (slowly) change their colours to match the flower they are hiding on! That’s something new I learned recently. I always wondered how they managed to match so well.

Now this little beauty with the seed bead little eyes.. is a jumping spider. Jumping spiders aren’t rare by any means, but this is the first time I’ve seen on my flowers. I have one that lives in my bedroom window (her name is Janice… don’t tell Dave about her.). Like the crab spiders, they aren’t very big. Some people even keep them as pets!

This one was on the red peony. A few days later I saw one on the cone flowers in the catio. Maybe this year will be the year of the Jumping Spider.

Last, we have not a spider, but a hornet. A Bald-Faced Hornet to be exact. They are a very large hornet, and I’ve heard people say they are aggressive. I’ve never found them to be so – at least in my garden. I imagine near a nest it would be a different matter. Personally, I love their markings, and like the bees… they are pollinators too so are quite welcome in my little corner of the world.