Butterflies and fudinites

To be able to love a butterfly…
We must care for a few caterpillars.
(author unknown)

We have a weed vine I call Honeyvine. It is Cynanchum laeve (perhaps more frequently known by its old scientific name, Ampelamus albidus); commonly known as honeyvine, honeyvine milkweed, or climbing milkweed. It is a milkweed although it does not have milky sap, but the seeds and seedpods are typical of the milkweed family. It can grow to ten feet; the blooms are loved by butterflies and insects, and have a wonderful sweet, honey scent that floats around.

I used to keep it cleared away, but as I have gotten older and less productive it gets filled out before I can catch up with it. After that point, I leave it for the butterflies. It can get quite tanglely and messy, but I’m more tolerant these days. When I have help in early spring I ask them to pull it. Later when we come across a missed plant, I explain that from now on, the vines should not be pulled for there may be butterfly eggs on them. Once they go to seed, to keep them from spreading, we remove the green seedpods, and send them to the landfill tied in a plastic bag before they ripen.

When one of my helpers a few years ago kept calling it fudinite vine, I finally said, “What?!” He replied, “That’s what my dad calls it… fudinite, because you pull it today and by morning it has grown a foot, a foot a night.” Ah… a-foot-a-night. Then I understood and had a good laugh.

You may recognize it. It is the heart-shaped leaf among the holly leaves.


It starts out as a young plant that looks like this:


Next thing you know, it is sprawling over other plants.


Then it climbs like this one climbing old evening primrose stalks in a scruffy area. (Enlarge photo to see it better.)


The blossoms are very fragrant with the honey-like scent. Here it is on top of the ground cover Gold Moss (Sedum acre).


I found this entry in my journal notes:
August 10, 2007: found 4 Monarch butterfly larvae, 3 on Honeyvine Milkweed, and 1 on dandelion!

It was the one on dandelion that surprised me.

Monarchs enjoy the nectar and lay eggs on Honeyvine.
(You may have to enlarge photo to see them.)

The first summer the vines got ahead of me, I soon noticed that every vine had eggs and babies. I called a halt to the pulling of the vines.

I took the next two photos.
Honeyvine was climbing into the holly tree.

Upon closer look, here is what I found,
a beautiful Monarch larva!

Newest and Best Gardening Tool

June 2006

I consider the www (World Wide Web) my very newest and best-ever gardening tool and accessory! It's replaced my cell phone as the top best tool. Have to admit, I do better with the computer than that cell phone: never have learned how to retrieve my messages on the thing.

How much I've learned right here in this chair before the computer! Hours and hours spent in front of the computer reading, learning, and communicating about plants with people all over the world. It's amazing how much one can do with THIS tool.

Spent January and February planning and ordering plants over the Internet - much planning and much ordering. A flurry of new catalogs arriving, led to many mysterious looking boxes appearing; for weeks, the "box man" came.

To: <info@selectseeds.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 5:45 PM
Subject: catalog cover

Hello,

I received your new 2006 "Select Seeds" catalog and immediately fell in love with the plant combination pictured on the cover. Please, what is that ravishingly beautiful plant in flower behind the poppy??

I looked all through your wonderful catalog, and those of others, trying to find something that looks like it, because that is the color scheme I am attempting to achieve in my garden. But, I found nothing that was even close. I thought perhaps it is a Baptisia or maybe a wisteria, but I've failed in my quest. Can you help me?

Sincerely, B........, Lexington, Kentucky

At 07:41 AM 1/19/2006

Good morning,
I can help you with the plant on the cover. It is not something we carry. It is Galega 'Lady Wilson'. I could only find one source for it.
It is:Joy Creek Nursery
Scappoose, OR.
503-543-7474
webmaster@joycreek.comhttp://www.joycreek.com/
Good luck!
(Name withheld by author.)
Select Seeds- Antique Flowers
180 Stickney Hill Rd
Union, CT 06076 USA
860-684-9310 phone

Reply to: Saw cover of...
"Thank You!!! Thank You!!! It's ordered, thanks to you. Oh, how I appreciate this.
Sincerely, B........"

(Gardening people are such nice people!)

I saw a photograph in "Horticulture" magazine of a lovely planting I wanted to duplicate. I managed to locate the owners in California via the Internet and we communicated back and forth a few times by e-mail. He identified plants for me and made some suggestions.

Two women in England, partners in a specialty nursery selling iris exclusively, turned out to be the only source of a dwarf bearded I was looking for. I had tracked down the hybridizer, a woman here in the states: hmmm, was it Ohio, Indiana, or Missouri, I forget which. But, she said green irises just don't sell in the USA and if one of hers isn't selling well after a few years, out they go. (I thought: Even if it has splashes of blue and bits of brown?!) She had no more stock of it; the little dwarf named "Sea Monster".

I checked with every business in the country I could think of that might still stock some. No luck. Last time I heard from the woman in England, she was waiting to hear from the American Embassy regarding necessary certification. She said everyone over there was busy getting ready for the Chelsea Flower Show.

*ADDENDUM*
July 2008

The women in England decided they didn't want to start shipping to the U.S. So that was the end of that. No 'Sea Monster' could be found.

Several months later, someone discovered my web site and read this post. She left the following message in my guest book:
"Are you still looking for Sea Monster?

I carry it below.

I enjoyed your site."

Snowpeak Iris and Daylilies
http://www.snowpeakiris.com
38956 Lacomb Dr
Lebanon, OR 97355

Now, see what I mean? Wonderful gardening tool!
And, a happy ending for this story.

Games We Play

The Tag Game
This is a good way to get to know other bloggers, but it has been around (and around) for a long time so it is difficult to find anyone who has not already been tagged. I have been tagged four times in about six weeks. What I am doing, and will continue to do in future, is updating my old post and re-using it, but not on the front page of the blog.

We have new bloggers daily it seems, and I think it is only fair to give them an opportunity to read what has been written already, so what I plan to do is a little post something like this one with a link to the Tagged post.

On that post, I state that I will not be tagging anyone, but if someone reading the post would like to play, they are to consider themselves tagged and to run with it and have fun.

If you are playing and do not know if someone has been tagged already, you might check their sidebar for a labels list. Look in there for a label called "tagged" or "games", or something like that. I know, not everyone has a list of labels, though.

So if I am new to you, and you want to know more about me, here is the link. Barbee's Tagged Post

I was tagged most recently by Sunita at THE URBAN GARDENER. I want to give her recognition and opportunity for more exposure for her fairly new blog. She is a new member of Blotanical, too. She lives in India, and I enjoy her posts very much. A recent one was about the maidenhair ferns that grow lush for her during the monsoon season. Nice photos of the ferns and an interesting post.

The Awards Game
If you want to be sure to be permanently ensconced in people's blogs for others to see and possibly click through to your own blog, a good way is to create an award and present it to friends. It is a fun thing to do for both awarder and recipient. And, because it is a compliment to the blog owners who receive the awards, how could one refuse!

My most recent award was presented to me by Lucy at Loose and Leafy. I, and others, were presented the Esther Montgomery Memorial Blue Flowers Nosegay Award for a memorable photograph. Of course I cannot claim it for myself, for you know, I am not the main photographer for my blog, therefore, I accepted the honor for Husband/Best Friend/Chief Photographer who took the photograph that stuck in her memory. See the blue flowers nosegay in the sidebar. Thank you, Lucy.
Loose and Leafy is fairly new. It was begun after Esther disappeared. If you want to know what is going on go to Esther in the Garden, click on Day 1, then enjoy a fun story.

These are ways to stir up traffic to blogs and increase readership and interaction. For readers, it is a good way to surf from blog to blog. If you have an alarm clock or a kitchen timer that can be carried to the computer, it would be good idea to set it for an hour. If you don't, first thing you know, half the day will have vanished!

For ME?!

The Patient Gardener at the patient gardener's weblog sent word that she had awarded my blog the Arte y Pico award. What a nice surprise! Thank you, Patient Gardener. I had no idea my modest offering could be of any value to others. But, the feedback has been wonderful. Thank you for the encouragement.

I understand that along with the honor go some responsibilities such as abiding by these five rules:

1. Choose 5 blogs you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogging community, regardless of the language.

2. Each award should have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner should show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented him/her with the award.

4. The award winner and the one who has given the award should show the Arte y Pico blog so everyone will know the origin of this award. Translated, it means "the peak of art."

5. Show these rules.

I had to think about this for a few days, because there were so many I wanted to name. It was most difficult to choose so few, and even so, I have cheated and named 6 instead of 5. I could not cull them down to any fewer.

I tried to choose only those who had not received the award before, as far as I could tell, in hopes of spotlighting blogs and their creators who had not enjoyed the recognition they deserve.

Some of you may not want to play, and that is OK with me. Still, I wanted each of you to know that the results of your efforts are appreciated.

Thinking of Beauty, these are my final selections:

First of all there is Kerri at Colors of the Garden whose inner beauty, plus sweet spirit, shine through her lovely, and friendly, blog: Colors of the Garden.

Karin in Sweden and her blog, Ute och inne. Even though I cannot read the Swedish language, it doesn't make any difference. I can recognize enough words to understand enough and the photographs are gorgeous! My visits are always enjoyable. Sometimes she writes in English, which must require additional effort and dedication. A beautiful blog. Ute och inne.

Esther... Esther In the Garden for her talent, delightful originality, entertainment, and all the beautiful smiles and chuckles she sows among her readers. But, she has to share with Lucy (whose eye-of-an-artist's is apparent in her outstanding photography), because Lucy has been such a good friend and helper. esther in the garden

Philip Bewley... Philips Garden Blog
I miss my classes in History of Architecture, History of Interiors, Art History, European History, etc. I feel at home in Philip's beautiful blog. Subjects of his posts display the range of his eclectic interests from river restoration to fine art; plants that are special to antique-style tools and flower pots; gardens all over the world from deserts to roof-tops; maybe not poets' ivory towers, but there are famous writers' huts; from cottage gardens in California to an Edwardian garden on the windswept grounds of the castle on Holy Island, England. And of course, the overall quality includes his photography: excellent. Philips Garden Blog

Phillip Brown has amassed photographs of his own and others in his two blogs, Golden Age Gardens, and Houseplants.

A family member once said of me: Barbee' "is a romantic in the old sense of the word." Interesting to be seen through the eyes of others. So, that is what is wrong with me, is it? I knew no one else around me shared whatever it is I am. Finally, I have found someone who, perhaps is not a romantic... or maybe is, but someone who has pulled much of it together into a blog or two where I may visit and steep in visuals dripping with romance.

I would never have found all these heart-meltingly beautiful photos if Phillip had not searched and gathered them all together for me. Where does he find them all! Ah, the Victorian and Edwardian gardens and gardeners, Gertrude Jekyll, William Robinson and many more... He brings them all into his Golden Age Gardens as one would bring plants into a walled garden.

Houseplants: Should be named Houseplants and more. I learn things there, such as: Dicksonia antartica plants were brought back as ballast on packet boats in the 1880's. He describes this blog as: Houseplants, conservatories, glass houses. I add that it is also:
Houseplants to container gardens; Alpine troughs to Carnivorous plants. Photography of his and others.

His work is not without humor. One Ann Geddes style photo of large flower pots each filled with a baby, he has labeled: "Need plenty of light and good drainage!"

His blogs are no longer showing up in the Picks lists of Blotanical, because they need to be updated with Feedburner, but, they are definitely worth seeking out... especially if you are a romantic. Houseplants
Golden Age Gardens I could (and do) get lost in this one for hours!

And finally, a couple in the subtropical mountain rainforest around Nimbin, Northern NSW Australia, and his blog Wholistic. I add him to my list for the beauty and elegance of their lifestyle. I am reminded of Swiss Family Robinson, and Tarzan and Jane. Reminded, also, of Jon Franklin who wrote in Writing for Story, "Simplicity, carried to an extreme, becomes elegance." I scrolled all the way down to the bottom of his archives list and started with his first post: "A nice opening thought" Sunday, February 18th, 2007. If it had been a book, I would not have been able to put it down. Wholistic

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

While we are on the subject of bees, this is a good time to write this post as a follow-up to the last one.

Lest readers think that it is all strawberries 'n cream, and wine 'n roses at Crocker Croft, I have decided to show the seamy side. First there are two photographs of Epimedium that show how the leaves have been eaten. For a few years, I have wondered what did that. I really didn't mind, because I thought it looked so cute and interesting. Besides, the plants showed no suffering at all. It just looked frilly.




Now, thanks to recent chit-chat among the gardeners who blog, the mystery has been solved. It is the work of a native wild bee, a solitary bee, called the Leaf Cutter Bee. I read about it on the blogs of Kylee's and Robin's. The most complete information I found about them is here at the Colorado State University Extension's web site.

There are many species of leafcutter bees alone. Overall, it is estimated that in North America there are about 4,000 species of native wild bees. The disease carrying mites that are killing the hives of honeybees does little to the wild bees because many are solitary and do not live in a group or form large colonies. But, the use of pesticides and loss of habitat is just as devastating.

Wild bees are rarely kept in hives, although there are some people who do practice wild bee culture and management. These bees do not make surplus honey so they are kept for the purpose of pollination only. The information I read about keeping and managing wild bees left me believing it was extremely complicated and tricky.

The needs of wild bees can be met by land owners including gardeners of large gardens. The bees nest in thick grass, wood, and soil (70% nest in the ground). By making nesting sites available it is not too difficult to help them increase their populations. They also need natural habitats for foraging. That can be anywhere that can be left to grow wild. We have a small woodlot that is pretty wild. Not far from us is a stream where the Giant Blue Lobelia blooms among the weeds and grasses. I remember years ago farm fencerows were allowed to grow wild, but not any more. All of those are conducive to wild bee survival and reproduction.

In California it has been found that, where farms are surrounded by wild vegetation, the native bees and feral honeybees can do most of the work. But most of California farms are huge and grow only one kind of crop with clean verges; in that kind of environment, with no natural habitat, the wild bees can not live and will never fulfill the pollination needs of those farmers' crops.

Our honeybees are not native to North America. They are native to Europe and were introduced here to help the farmers' production. Their pollination work is a critical part of our agriculture. I have read that they pollinate more than 130 kinds of crops in the U.S.A. That means an estimated annual value of $15 billion in crops.

News out of Cornell University is that the mite diseases and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) have killed 95 to 98 % of our feral European honeybee colonies and more than half of hobby beekeepers have lost all or most of their hives.

Commercial beekeepers are suffering, but are still managing. The government has a research action plan. The research on bee diseases has made it possible for the commercial keepers to furnish the 1.2 million colonies that are needed to pollinate the fields to provide the food we eat. So far, so good, but I wonder if this might be too little, too late. So far there is only one registered chemical (Apistan) available to beekeepers to control the Varroa mites, and in Europe the mites have already become resistant to it; the same thing is expected to happen in the U.S.

Ever read in the newspaper that a truckload of bees turned over? I have, more than once. One just a few weeks ago. How would you like to have that job to clean up! Local beekeepers (apiarists) were called in to help. Bees are hauled around as the seasons change. Crop pollination is a migratory business. The keepers follow seasonal crops as the trees and crops bloom. Many keepers take their bees to Florida for the winter and then haul them about on trucks that can hold up to 500 colonies and 10 million to 15 million bees.

The apiarists charge growers a fee for pollination services. They place their colonies near the crops that need pollinating. Those fees are their main source of income with a little on the side for the honey and beeswax they sell.

One almond grower in California said they are importing honeybees from Australia and if they couldn't get those, there would be no almonds. And, as we have read, CCD is already in New Zealand, will Australia be next? And what will that mean to our dinner menu?

So, yes, the evidence that those little leafcutter bees are living here and cutting Epimedium leaves to roll up to line their tunnels and nests, oh, yes, that is Good!

Next comes The Bad.
My hollyhock foliage starts out looking like this:

Before long, it looks like lace.

Really bad!

There are tiny little caterpillars with white fuzz eating them up. I do not know what the adults are. So far I have not used any remedy, I'm just waiting for the natural cycle to kick in, I guess; I wish it would hurry up. In the meanwhile the hollyhocks bloom away. Has anyone had this problem?

I did find some information about little caterpillars eating hollyhock, but I am not sure it is the same critter, mine are fuzzy, theirs are smooth. The result is the same, however. If anyone else is having the problem here is the link that I found: Wuv'n Acres

Now for The Ugly.

I have shown many photos of Dame's Rocket, blooming en mass, usually. It is a short-lived perennial, which, in order to keep it going, I let go to seed in some areas. Birds love the seeds, but enough escape to make the garden pretty in springtime.

The first problem is: When it goes seedy, it is really seedy looking... even weedy looking. Some areas we cut the bloom stalk back to the low plant near the ground. Here it has gone seedy and weedy looking. These will be cut back.

Next is an example of another problem. Barely visible are small white spots where powdery mildew is getting started on these slender bean-like seedpods. All of it will be cut down, bagged, and sent to the landfill. Our climate is so humid, mildews are an ongoing problem.

The next photograph shows what happens if left unchecked, and this is The Ugly! I wonder if what we call Powdery Mildew is the same one the British call American Mildew? This poor plant is way overdue to be banished, bagged, and carted away with the garbage.


I hate to leave you with this ugly image in your memory. I will try to find something more pleasant. Now, let me see…. What can I come up with?

POPPIES!

I almost titled this post "Trouble in Paradise". Glad I didn't, because I since discovered that Mr. McGregor's Daughter had already titled one of hers that way. I still like the name, though. You can find hers here:
Mr. McGregor's Daughter Trouble in Paradise

Cracked Teapots

You might ask: What do teapots and bumblebees have in common? Read on to find out.

The past several years I have read with concern numerous articles about the declining honeybee population. It appears to be a complicated, serious, and challenging problem for beekeepers, researchers, and especially farmers.

From a list of causes mentioned, I recall: insecticides/pesticides, environmental stressors (such as habitat loss), disease, and parasites found all over the world.

Even the nectar of Buckeye trees is said to cause the death (or deformity leading to death) of the juveniles being fed the nectar by the workers.

Since finding that information in two references, I have not allowed the wild buckeyes in this garden to live to flowering age. I had all the trees taken out (they were scraggly anyway). Neighbors have them, though, and the squirrels bring the nuts over here and plant them all over the place. The seeds sprout into young buckeyes whose new spring growth is colorful and attractive, but once they turn green, they get whacked. I keep them cut back that way.


There was a front page article in the Wall Street Journal about concern for our pollinators and the loss of bee populations. The average person does not realize the seriousness of the problem (probably never even thinks about it): no pollinators -> no seeds -> no crops -> no food for people and animals -> famine -> wide spread rioting -> anarchy -> and death.

The mystifying Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is spreading all over the world. Something is causing the hives of honeybees to die. Hopes are being pinned on bumblebees taking up the slack as pollinators. When CCD reached New Zealand, bumblebees were introduced, and they co-exist with the native bees.

There are no bumblebees in Australia. The Australian Hydroponic and Greenhouse Association's concern about the industry's future has led the group to petition the Federal Government to allow them to introduce bumblebees into their greenhouses for pollinating purposes. If CCD has reached New Zealand, it is only a matter of time until it shows up in Australia. When it does, the United States will be in even deeper trouble. More about that in another post.

In England there is evidence that some species of bumblebees are extinct and others are in decline. It is believed to be due to the lack of consistent availability of food and water now that weed and wildflower cover has diminished in fields, towns, and cities. The bees enjoy nectar from many sources, but are much more selective when it comes to plants they visit to collect pollen. Pollen is essential for it is the food of the queen as she produces the different sets of eggs.

At some point, after numerous eggs that become worker bees, the queen produces eggs that will become males and a few new queens. Come autumn, after the young queens have mated, all the bumblebees die; all but the new young queens who have been fed that nourishing pollen. That rich pollen is important for keeping them alive during hibernation; through early spring while they find a safe place to make their new nests; and while they lay eggs that will become the workers. Then the cycle starts over. There is an active movement to protect and nurture bumblebees, for if honeybees are disappearing, bumblebees become even more important.


Some bumblebee species nest underground. The size of the nest is somewhere between that of tennis and soccer balls. In this garden we have had a few bumblebee nests. The queen tends to select a location under something that is protective such as a tree root, or stone. They burrow in there by making a small hole for their entryway, one so small it is not noticeable. They sometimes use the runs and burrows of rodents.

The Wall Street Journal article gave an interesting tip for helping bumblebees find good nesting sites. The writer suggested burying old teapots with the tip of the spout sticking up out of the ground. What a clever use for old, cracked, chipped, and broken teapots!


For more detailed information, this is a good article to read.
The Plight of the Bumblebee

The Three-Color Flag System

If I forget to explain, sooner or later visitors always ask, “What are the flags for?” You may have wondered the same thing when you noticed them in photographs of the garden. The flags appear in three colors: white, pink, and florescent orange.

The plants here are in two categories either weeds or “Keepers”. Keepers are plants I do not want weeded out and thrown away.

A few years ago I voiced my concern that my inexperienced helpers would weed out certain plants I had planted in the Woodland Garden. I could not think of any way to mark them so the students would know they were not weeds.

One helper, a little older than the others, had previously worked for a survey crew. He suggested I mark them with surveyors’ little flags. He even told me where there is a surveyors’ supply store that stocks them for about two cents each.

In the beginning I selected white flags to mark the Keepers. White is easy to notice and see. Then I learned he was using them to mark where he had sprayed or dug poison ivy. That way he could find the exact location in later weeks when he wanted to return to see if the plant was growing back or if gone for good. I thought that was a good idea and decided a different color was called for. That is when Florescent Orange flags arrived to the garden.

For a while the bright orange flags were used solely for marking poison ivy. Now that the poison ivy is a little less rampant, I have set aside a few orange flags and am marking them with “P. IVY” in large black letters using waterproof markers. They are reserved just for that purpose.

The rest of the orange ones have a new use: When I weed all over the property including the large steep bank, I frequently find weeds that are beyond my ability to dig or pull easily. Those are usually perennial weeds with large roots and young, seedling wild trees and shrubs with tap roots that have gotten beyond my ability and strength. When that happens, I place a bright orange flag into the earth right next to the weed plant. Later, when the young men are here to help, they go about finding the flags, and use a strong, big foot and shovel to dig out the weed. They collect the flags as they go for me to use again. That system has worked out very well. They like it and so do I.

Now regarding the third and last of the three colors: pink flags, and Lycoris squamigera. L. squamigera is known by several common names (or nicknames as I like to call them). You may know it by: Resurrection Lily, Magic Lily, Naked Lady, Surprise Lily, or another I have not heard. I just refer to it as Lycoris, because squamigera is the only Lycoris I have here.

I expected to be adding more shrubs and perennials into the garden last summer. So, when the Lycoris sprouted in the spring I knew I needed to mark where their bulbs are, because of the nature of the plant. Their habit is to put up large strap foliage in the spring that is easy to find. Here it's completely covering the much shorter Liriope.

But, it dies down in a few weeks...

Dries out...
and disappears.
Now we can see the Liriope once again.

By then there is no way of knowing where the bulb is until late summer when up pops beautiful pink lilies on tall stems. Also, the bulbs are very expensive, around $10.00 each, so I certainly do not want to be slicing into one while planting in something new.







I visited the supply store for about the fourth time. (I had not bought enough bundles of flags on a previous trip and had to go back for more.) This time I chose pink for the pink lilies. These I carried all over the property and placed a pink flag behind each clump of bold foliage.

Now they were all marked, however, circumstances prevented me from getting newcomers planted. So, we still have pink flags everywhere a year later. Sometimes they trick my eye and I think I am seeing a pink tulip. To tell the truth, I am getting more than a little tired of them, but they were cheerful during the gray days of wintertime.

The flags have come in handy for other uses as well. I cannot remember everything we have used them for, but they are in use almost daily. One example is when we start a new project; flags are used to mark out the lines and boundaries, which makes it much easier to visualize and to explain to one another. Another use has been to mark off sections of the lawn I did not want mowed quite yet. And, when I kept tripping over a metal property boundary marker that is only about an inch high that is in the middle of Cliff Walk, I stuck a flag next to it. Now, I can see and remember that it is there and hopefully will not trip again and possibly roll down the bank. If I had been a cussing person, believe me there would have been blue language in the air more than once as I tried to keep from falling due to that bit of metal stub sticking up in the path.

I recommend the flags to gardeners, because they are inexpensive, easy to see, and have many uses. The ones I bought came in bundles of a hundred costing $2.00 plus tax. Like everything else, they may have gone up in price recently.

Two references for Lycoris culture and source for yellow ones:
plantingflowerbulbs.com and shieldsgardens.com.

Summertime Has Arrived

June 21, 2006:
Today is the first day of summer; with humidity level at 67% and predictions of 91 degrees F., it definitely feels like summertime. The hot, muggy days deplete my scant store of energy more than the activity of gardening. I would consider that a sign of my age, but a fatigued young helper said, "The work isn't that hard, it's the heat!" So, maybe it isn't my age after all... I tell myself.

June 26, 2006:
Here I am, about to perish from the heat when I read that on Monday, June 12, New Zealand had about a foot of snow the heaviest and wettest in 50 years. New Zealand spawns serious gardeners. They are having a tough go of it now with broken trees, shrubs, and broken just about everything. I have deep empathy for them. The last big one they had was in June 2003. That was the year we had our extremely damaging ice storm in February - then they caught the weather in June. Wild Weather!

July 1, 2006:
My attention deficit problem is acting up today - thoughts and ideas splattered all about, can't get into the groove. Must be the heat. Will pull myself together here and get at it. Much needs to be done with the weeding!

Reminds me of the sign one gardener had in her potting shed that read something like this:

"Gardening is doing:
what should be done,
when it should be done,
the way it should be done,
whether you feel like it or not."

She's exactly right. And, I wish I could remember what magazine I saw that in so I could give her credit here.
Maybe a glass of nice strong iced tea will set me right.

July 2, 2006:
Today I discovered the Fahrenheit and Celsius conversion formula by which I can translate today's punishingly hot 95 degrees F. heat to approximately 35 degrees C. Whew! That sounds much better.
(I found the information here: http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/weather/fahrcels.html)

Wish I could bundle up some of it, and send it to gardeners in the Southern hemisphere who are worrying about the possibility of frost tonight. I do have difficulty getting used to the concept of their winter in July and August, and preparing for December holidays, such as Christmas, by mowing their verdant lawns.

Eastern Black Swallowtail on Lantana

July 3, 2006: Parsley in the whiskey barrel.

I like to start parsley from seed in order to have a large number of plants. Then I set them everywhere in all the beds for the baby Black Swallowtail butterflies. The females lay their eggs on plants of the carrot family which includes parsley. Also, I like to have some up close so I can watch the babies' development... thus the ones in the half-barrel.

At first, they look like tiny bird droppings, then morph to look like larger bird droppings; that is nature's way to protect them from the bird predators who might eat them. Before long, they are lovely, slick, and colorful black, white, yellow and/or green larvae. We usually call them caterpillars. If disturbed or provoked, as in being tickled with a blade of grass, they will show their beautiful orange antenna that emits an odor that surely sends the message: 'I'm not good to eat!'


The following photo shows two different stages of larvae. In the lower left-hand corner can be seen one younger than the large one on the right. The younger one does resemble a bird dropping, but at first they are much smaller than this one.

The Above Photo:
Black swallowtail larvae (Papilio polyxenes)
Used with permission from:
Hannah Nendick-Mason
Copyright © 2004

Above: Notice its little feet.

The larvae are little feeding machines, munching and munching away, so soon they are plump little things that remind me of our four babies when they wore pajamas that had feet. These fat little butterfly babies eat for days and then go off to make their cocoon.

The first time I cultivated some where they could be watched, I thought they were falling out of the large planter, so I kept putting them back in. Then they would "fall out" again. I finally realized they were through entertaining me, and were trying to go find a good place to attach to, where they would make their cocoons. They were ready to move on with their lives so they could become beautiful, graceful flying creatures.

This summer I have watched them eat the parsley totally up leaving nothing but a ring of little short stubs of stems.

Now the parsley is growing back again! Hmmm... Second crop of parsley? Second crop of babies? Will have to wait and see.

Addendum 2008:

Parsley grew, but there were no more babies in the whiskey barrel.

July 4, 2006:
A few years ago when an old black locust tree that stood in the back yard fell, I planted a small butterfly and hummingbird garden around the stump.

Several things including four Butterfly shrubs (Buddleia davidii) were planted on top of the many spring bulbs in the soil. The shrubs were planted approximately north, south, east, and west around the stump. There were one each of white, pink, lavender, and dark purple.

When I bought them, the woman assisting me said the dark ones are not as hardy and do not survive the winter as well. I wanted to try anyway. But she was right, the dark one did not come back the next spring. The others have done well. This year I noticed of the three, the pink butterfly bush bloomed first. Could that be because it is on the south side of the round bed? That would be my guess.

July 21,2006:
Humidity hangs thick and heavy. When I step outside it feels as if we could cut it with a knife. Even the birds are quiet... means storms are brewing.

July 22,'06:
Yesterday it stormed at six o'clock p.m., then in 30 minutes the electricity went off for ten hours. Rough weather.

Tagged Again

Tagged again... fourth time in approximately six weeks. This time by Sunita at The Urban Garden.

I fear I am boring readers, so if you have been here before, there is nothing new. For new bloggers here is the dirt... read on.

I will not be tagging any more bloggers, but if you want to play, consider yourself tagged and have fun. One way to know if someone has been tagged: If they have a labels list in their sidebar look for the label "tagged". If it is there, then you know they have already been tagged and might not want to play again. Click on the label and it will take you to their post about it. There you can enjoy what they wrote about themselves.

Third time tagged in three weeks: You folks are going to get tired of me.
This time I have been tagged by Linda at Meadowview Thymes

Let me see if I can come up with six more things about me.
1. I do not like to drive another person's car.
2. For my own, I do not like a new car. Give me old ones I can haul stuff in and don't worry about getting it scratched or banged.
3. I have owned and driven two pick-up trucks. First was a full size Chevrolet (no air conditioner), second - a smaller Toyota (with air conditioner).
4. I was a Realtor for ten years. Big mistake! Cost more than I earned.
5. I have always been far-sighted. Great for identifying birds.
6. I need to lose about 40 pounds... that'll be the day!

Ok, now I am off to alert Linda that those six (not so fascinating facts) have been published to the world's view.

Second time tagged:
Yikeees, tagged again! OK, I know the post a few days ago (June 11) got quickly buried among the others, so now that Our Friend Ben has tagged me I will brush it off and run it again.

And, just to be fair, I will add six additional random things about me.

First time tagged:
I have now joined the ranks of those who have been tagged. The Patient Gardener drew me into the fold. It is hot and humid out doors. I should be out there working, but... It is nice and cool here in the basement. (See number two below.)

These are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things about yourself.
• Tag six people at the end of your post linking to their blog.
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I do want to play once, so will 'expose' six unknown (to you) facts about myself. However, I do not think I will spread it farther, because I am rather new to the blogging world and don't really know the rest of you well enough to give you the tagged message.
I don't know who has already been tagged, maybe multiple times, and who would want to play.

But, I will surly go this far without fear, or flinching.

You asked for it so here it is.
Six (plus six more) random things about me:

1. I like winter.
2. I am a procrastinator.
3. I can wiggle my ears.
4. My first college major (2 years) was biology; I should have stayed with that.
5. I went back to college at age 40; I majored in Housing and Interior Design. Loved all the support classes, e.g., art-history, history of architecture, history of interiors, art studios, etc. Graduated with honors - at 40 I had been worried I could not learn and keep up.
6. I have an heirloom houseplant of my mother's that is older than I am. It was a wedding gift to her in 1931. I don't know what it is, so I may do a post about it someday to see if anyone can identify it.
7. I am a hopeless romantic in the old sense of the word.
   
8. I once traveled to England and found it to be the storybook country from my childhood books.
   
9. Two women I greatly admire: Beatrice Potter and Tasha Tudor.
   
10. Married 51 years to Husband/Best Friend/Chief Photographer, two sons, two daughters, and six grandchildren - two girls, four boys.
    
11. I was born and reared on my grandfather's farm and would not take the whole world for that experience. I get my love of plants and gardening from my grandmother's family line.
12. (This is going to be a long one - getting you back, Our Friend Ben)

During that trip to England, (a working trip for my husband) my classes in "history-of"-several-things paid off.

In 14 weeks we visited:

• 7 countries
• slept in 47 beds (Averages out to be a different bed every other night for 14 weeks.)
  
• covered over 7,000 miles by car, plus a few train rides, and numerous ferry trips
• visited 41 of England's 46 counties, plus 5 in Scotland, and 2 in Wales
• visited 3 islands
• visited 7 national parks or famous areas
• 2 monumental historic sites (Hadrian's Wall and Stonehenge)
• 7 abbeys, minsters, or other places of worship
• 2 art galleries (in Edinburgh and Paris)
• the Glasgow Flower Festival
• the flower market in Bruges, Belgium
  
• the Aalsmeer flower auction in Amsterdam
• the flower fields and dikes in the Netherlands during the flower festival
  
• 15 cathedrals (the first Gothic cathedral I was to see was the Dom in Cologne, Germany. It took me hours to inspect it. By the time we visited the 15th cathedral, I had it down to 45 minutes. I visited all of them with textbook and class notes in hand.)
• 10 castles
• 11 historic or famous houses and palaces
• and, to keep me happy - 23 gardens! Including Keukenhof in Lisse, The Netherlands, and Claude Monet's garden in Giverny, France.
  

And, my body has never been the same since!
That is more than enough about me. Thanks for reading. Now, I will let Our Friend Ben, and The Patient Gardener know I have tagged back.