State agricultural-resources worker scans Public Garden tree for beetle signs as a Channel 4 cameraman records the action.

Experts from the state Department of Agricultural Resources gave volunteers a lesson in spotting signs of Asian Longhorned Beetle infestation this afternoon - then led the first ever survey of trees in the Public Garden for signs of the tree-killing pests.

Boston Police report three armed holdups around the Public Garden within a span of a few minutes Thursday evening. In all three cases, the victims were robbed of iPhones by Hispanic males in their late teens or early 20s.

In one case, a man reported he was approached by four or five Hispanic teens who showed a gun, demanded money, got away with his iPod. In another case, a man reported he was talking on his iPhone when approached by four Hispanic teens, one of whom ripped the phone from his hand and ran in the direction of Beacon Street.

In the third case, a man walking down Public Alley 421, near Beacon and Arlington, was on his iPhone when approached by two young Hispanic males, one of whom showed a gun and demanded his phone. In that case, police say one of the suspects was about 5'7," clean shaven and with a long dark pony tail, dressed in a gray hoody and sweatpants.

Encounter in the Public Garden:

Mike Mennonno tiptoes through the allium, well, OK, near the allium, along the Comm. Ave. side:

... I love the austere palette, which is perfect for the times. And the whole display manages to seem both economical and exotic -- think of the onion domes of Eastern Europe. ...

Bill C captures a tender moment on the Public Garden Lagoon.

Copyright Bill C.

There is just something irresistibly cute and quintessentially Bostonian about little kids dressed up like ducks for the annual Make Way for Ducklings parade through Beacon Hill. And every year, there's always one kid dressed like a giant ball of feathers.

A newspaper photographer asked the cop below for his name. "Officer Mike" he said. No, really, she replied. Officer Mike will do, he told her, as he continued to pose with the ducklings crossing Beacon Street.

This cat really knows how to blow that thing.

Penny Cherubino photographed Copley Society artists painting in the Public Garden on Sunday. Their works are now up for a silent auction, she writes.

Jen Stewart watched an artist in the Public Garden.

Copyright Jen Stewart.

It's a tale of loss and redemption, and it would make one helluva video game.