Strung between the camellia bush and the herb shelf is a sort of haphazardly made web. In this web is one of the prettiest spiders to call the place home. We have dozens of these spiders around the place but this one is a favorite because she is literally right in the midst of my garden work area. She watches me work and I watch her help keep the place pest free. It is often an overwhelming chore for her as the bugs love the herbs.
The friendly herb garden spider goes by several names. Her real name is spiny-back orb weaver but a lot of folks seem to think that is plumb silly so they have piled many different names on her according to her appearance. Some folks call her a jewelbox spider because her type can come in many different "jewel-tone" colors. (Mine is yellow so I guess she is a yellow topaz.) Other folks call them crab spiders because they have "shell" on their back that (possibly) resembles a crab shell. Then, there are those who will call them smiley face spiders because (admittedly) the yellow ones do look sort of like that happy character (emoji).
My little spider friend won't be around much longer as she (just like the golden silk orb weavers) will make her egg sac then die. Hopefully, her little ones will live to carry on their mom's duties in the garden. I have become accustomed to having the spiders add their beauty to the herb garden and it would seem mighty strange to not have at least one nearby.
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