This colorful 3-inch grasshopper paid a visit to Mike Reynold's back patio in Green Valley, showing off its lovely turquoise patina.

This is a good time of year to pick these sweet and crunchy, seeded berries. Most only know it as an ornamental. As you pick, or more properly, as you whack the branches to cause the berries to drop, you may be surrounded by hordes of Asterocampa leilia, the desert hackberry butterfly. I picked this past weekend, just grabbed a piece of pvc pipe and some poster board to catch. Watch out for tarantula dens, clean holes in ground about the size of a 1/2 dollar.

Blow off the debris and dump into whatever bag you have on hand. And pick off the caterpillar larvae with their little horns, let them grow to adults.

I've uploaded photos 3 times, but they disappear once I hit the submit button, sorry.

A hungry bee cannot resist the enticing pollen inside these lavender blooms photographed by Stan Znamierowski. 

The setting moon appears to rest on the tip of one of many arms on this tall Saguaro cactus east of Green Valley in this photo by Steve Piepmeier.