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Lady Bug, Lady Bug Fly Away Home

The Russian Olive in our backyard has been so annoying. We have lived here in The Garden Spot for nearly two years, all the while mulling over whether or not we should cut it down. In Colorado these trees have been declared nuisance trees and are no longer sold. This one seems to have sprouted volunteer at the base of the patio, displacing the stones that form the patio. Previous owners just let it sprout and grow. Now it is a fully mature tree. It is a dirty tree. The leaves clutter the patio and blanket the flowerbeds, while the olives drop all over the place too. I go from being quite annoyed with it and begging my husband to cut it down to enjoying it’s fragrance as it blooms, until the blooms fall, cluttering the patio.

On a positive note, the blossoms perfume the air, the bees pack away the pollen, and it provides the only shade for the patio. It provides a resting spot and smorgasbord for a plethora of birds, from the robins that nested in it this summer—giving it a reprieve from the chain saw—to the tiny warblers that migrate through that pick the bugs from it. Last winter I hung my suet cakes from its branches, which the chickadees and downy woodpeckers enjoyed. I promised that when spring came, it would be cut down. But no, not until the robins had fledged.

And now this week, the Russian Olive is full of ladybugs. Dozens. Hundreds. My aborist/horticulturetist daughter says they may be getting ready to hibernate or they may be laying eggs. We will know next spring, I suppose.