Posted on June 26, 202206/25/2022 mysterious new friend Abby kindly identified this new sprawling but small plant as green carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata). It reminds me of bedstraw but is not sticky. According to Wikipedia, it is a spreading annual, but has been found in North America for at least 3,000 years. So its status is a bit mysterious as native or invasive. So, for now I think I’ll let it grow and see if it suits this patch of the garden. Two Sachems were resting on dayflower leaves. You can just barely see the back one’s face. Three sharpshooter plant hoppers on a giant ragweed stem at night.
Posted on August 14, 2021August 14, 2021A day off for errands Bisbee cowpeas flowering more I liked the contrast on this one. “Stubby” variety of okra. An okra flower with a little sweat bee flying by! This is the first okra flower I’ve seen in person here since they seem to keep banker’s hours. A little green-striped cushaw squash! Leaf of the squash is looking a bit rough. Found another Madhu Ras melon! This one is bigger. Salvia greggii “Diane” purple cultivar has bloomed! Now only waiting on the orange part of rainbow garden to bloom. Whoa. I did not realize this cushaw squash was here! A male Sachem on a Peruvian ground cherry. There is a flower in the background so I hope it’ll start producing soon. Two immature fruits on Amish Paste tomato. I think this is one of my stratification butterfly milkweed that I planted directly! Very excited! A doodlebug (also known as an ant lion) trap waiting for some little critter to walk by! I feel very good about the predators in the garden right now, keeping plant-eaters in check, as I also saw a little brown snake slither away. We had a Dekay’s Brown Snake last year so it was probably that. May it be fat and happy on earwigs! One of the rosemary bushes is blooming!
Posted on August 11, 2021August 11, 2021Signs of life Okra one Okra two A baby Madhu Ras melon! Excited for cantaloupe season. A skipper, to be identified. Three skippers on ironweed! The right two are female (middle) and male (right most) Sachems. Frogfruit is really taking off! There were at least two skippers like this so it might be a different individual than the first picture. Good helper.
Posted on August 8, 2021August 11, 2021More from today After their 30 days of cold stratification in the fridge, three butterfly milkweed are sprouting. Female Sachem skipper on ironweed. Briar is bored by garden examination. She likes the buffalograss to lay on though. Bigger view of ironweed. Briar was warm after the midday walk so I gave her an ice cube. I pulled some Euphorbia from driveway and have put it in potato bag dirt over cardboard. See if it could work as a ground cover since it seems to be native.