Silene Vulgaris (Bladder Campion) 白玉草（シラタマソウ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Something was bothering me, so I couldn't enjoy a morning walk as much as I did. Then I found these bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) flowers. They flowered in early May, then disappeared and came back! I photographed them and without realizing it, I was smiling.

Bladder campion　白玉草

Silene vulgaris　シラタマソウ

Sweet Autumn Clematis 仙人草（センニンソウ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora). The pure white flowers are so pretty but that's not it. The achenes are so pretty, too! I saw them last November. I'm already looking forward to seeing the achenes in autumn! 

Sweet autumn clematis　仙人草

 

Female Sponge Gourd Flower (Luffa Aegyptiaca) ヘチマの雌花

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I wrote about sponge gourds in early July, but the focus at that time was the fruits. The flower in the 1st photo is female. I can tell that because the flower center is not yellow but yellow green. The garden has many flowers (2nd photo), but I was able to find only one female flower. 

Female sponge gourd flower　ヘチマの雌

Horsefly アブ

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I was looking for London plane flowers when I noticed something landing on a grass stem. Then, I found it. So cute, isn't it? Luckily, it stayed where it was for a while, so I was able to take these photos.

 

Horsefly　アブ

Pumpkin Beetles Like Gourds, Too! 黒瓜葉虫はヘチマもお好き！

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

At the beginning of this month, I wrote about pumpkin beetles (Aulacophora nigripennis) on flowers of Trichosanthes kirilowii (Chinese cucumber) and today, I found the beetles on sponge gourd flowers. These pumpkin beetles are known to be harmful to gourds and cucumbers, but not that so compared to red pumpkin beetles (i.e., Aulacophora femoralis).

A pumpkin beetle on a sponge gourd flower　ヘチマの花の上の黒瓜葉虫

Coprinopsis Lagopus (Hare’s Foot Inkcap)? 粗柄一夜茸（ザラエノヒトヨタケ）？

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It's less hot but still humid in Japan and that's why I found them. These are hare’s foot inkcap mushrooms (Coprinopsis lagopus) or so I think. Mushrooms usually attract me for their shape but hare’s foot inkcap mushrooms intrigue me with their color, i.e., translucency.

Hare’s foot inkcap　粗柄一夜茸

Coprinopsis lagopus　ザラエノヒトヨタケ

Blue Passionflower (Passiflora Caerulea) 時計草（トケイソウ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The plant is supposed to flower in April and May, but it still has several flowers. They're blue passionflowers (Passiflora caerulea). Their Japanese name is "clock plant" after the appearance, which resembles a clock.  

Blue passionflower　時計草

Passiflora caerulea　トケイソウ

Japanese Wisteria (Wisteriopsis Japonica) 紫夏藤（ムラサキナツフジ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I noticed that they were not Japanese bush clover (Lespedeza) when about to delete these photos. They're Japanese wisteria (Wisteriopsis japonica) in the Hasedera temple, Nara. It was so hot that day that I was able to take a couple of photos of the flowers. The wisteria produces white flowers, too. 

Japanese wisteria　紫夏藤

Wisteriopsis japonica　ムラサキナツフジ

Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa) 熊蜂（クマバチ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is a carpenter bee (Xylocopa) having breakfast on sponge gourd flowers. I've been seeing the bee for the last couple of months and wanting to photograph them but they move from one flower to another so quickly that they flee before the camera focuses on them, so I decided to take @zaungruen method, i.e., focusing the camera on a flower and waiting for the subject to come and it worked😀!!!  

Carpenter bees are large, i.e., 2 to 3 cm, flying so quickly, so I assumed that they're aggressive but they're relatively gentle. I love the giant bees😄

Carpenter  bee　熊蜂

Carpenter bee　クマバチ

Beach Vitex (Vitex Rotundifolia) ハマゴウ（浜拷）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

It's been two weeks since I last took a morning walk in my neighborhood and in the two weeks, things have changed, such as the beach vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) starting to flower. 

Beach vitex　ハマゴウ

Vitex rotundifolia　浜拷

Two Types of Stink Bugs - Green Stink Bug and Yellow-Spotted Stink Bug チャバネアオカメムシ＆キマダラカメムシ

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The stink bug season has come😅! I found these two bugs this morning, i.e., a green stink bug (Plautia crossota) and a yellow-spotted stink bug (Erthesina fullo). The green bug (by a one yen coin) started running when I started to photograph it, which was so adorable!! Ten minutes later, I found the yellow-spotted stink bug on a leaf of the Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera). I know stink bugs are stink and harmful to some plants, but still, stink bugs, especially the small green one, are so adorable! 

A green stink bug　 茶羽根青亀虫

A yellow-spotted stink bug　黄斑亀虫