Tiny Guardians of Our Humid Garden

As the rainy season rolls in here in Japan, the garden transforms. The air thickens with humidity, plants burst with wild growth, and the buzzing of insects returns like a seasonal chorus. Amid this lushness, there’s one tiny creature I’ve come to appreciate more than ever: the dragonfly.

At first, they felt like background decoration — zipping silently through the air with their shimmering wings and quick movements. But as I’ve spent more time out in the garden pruning overgrown shrubs and shaping hedges after heavy rains, I started noticing something amazing: the dragonflies weren’t just graceful — they were purposeful.

I learned that dragonflies are natural mosquito control agents. Both their underwater nymph stage and their airborne adult form feast on mosquitoes. And during these muggy, mosquito-prone days, it’s no exaggeration to say they’re the real heroes of our backyard. While I’m out there with a shears in one hand and a sweat towel in the other, they’re silently patrolling the air, taking down those pesky biters before they find me.

What I love is that they do all of this without any fanfare. No buzzing, no swatting — just quiet, agile flight. Watching them hover and dart like aerial dancers above the garden makes the whole space feel alive in a new way. They’re not pests. They’re part of the balance. And they remind me that even in the smallest parts of nature, there’s harmony and support — if you’re willing to slow down and notice it.

In a season when everything feels heavy and damp, these dragonflies bring a lightness. They’ve taught me that even the most humid days have their moments of beauty and grace — and that sometimes, the best helpers are the ones you don’t even realize are working for you.

So this rainy season, as I shape shrubs under cloudy skies, I’ll keep an eye out for those dragonflies — my tiny, winged companions in the garden.

And I’ll smile, knowing they’ve got my back.