This Used To Be Lawn

“Now it’s all covered in flowers.”And grasses. Good riddance! This hillside in Green-Wood, near the 5th Avenue entrance, has been converted into meadow. From turf, fertilizer- and chemical- warfare dependent turf, nasty turf, to this riot of life. Yes, it’s “messy,” gloriously so! It’s only a tiny portion of the cemetery, of course. Too many people still want sterility around their dead, on the theory, I guess, that death is best for the dead?I hope that when they see this, pulsing with life, they’ll start thinking about remembering their loved ones with thoughts of life, of the future.

Great Golden Sand-digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) here on Spotted Beebalm Monarda punctata, a plant a-riot right now with pollinators. Some adult wasps, like this one, eat nectar.

Note, by the way, how heavily this Golden Sand-digger is pollen-dusted. Most wasps are hairless, or nearly so, but this species has golden hairs on the thorax.