We have these all over the gardens--in the flower beds, hanging around the tomatoes, suspended from water barrels, and even a large one outside the kitchen window. They are argiopes, also known as the gardener's friend because they capture so many destructive insects. They are very gentle, non-poisonous, and shy. If you have argiopes in your garden, count yourself lucky! Leave their unique zig-zag webs alone, and they will repay you with lots of dead "baddies". moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic Argiope, aka gardener's friend ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden )
I love having writing spiders in the yard, I call them all Charlotte after the E.B.White character in Charlotte's Web. I had a huge one out back strung between two tall Cannas a few years ago, she left two large egg sacks but I wasn't out there to see the babies fly away the next spring.
I don't know if we have the argiope/black and yellow garden spiders here in Scotland. We do however, have wolf spiders (among others) that do a great job of eating all the nasties for us. Spiders are always a welcome sight in the garden and I'm happy to leave them alone to do their work in peace. :-D
I had one too. I had named him Boris after a John Entwistle/Who song. But unfortunately a couple of weeks ago I accidently disturbed/distroyed his web. I thought he'd come back... no sign of him though. :'(
Sherrye, Your hummingbirds should be safe--they are smart enough to recognize a spider's web and avoid it. The argiope's web has a zig-zag pattern, and the only thing we've ever seen caught in it is grasshoppers!
