Winter is a great time to experiment because even if it turns out to be a failure, at least it feels like forward motion in the universe. Yesterday I added two indoor water features for the novelty and the potential to increase humidity among the plants nearby. The background plant […]
Amaryllis, Colocasia, Black-eyed susan vine, returning houseplants, orchids, and overwintering tropicals… Most of the houseplants and tropicals have made it indoors at this point. Caladiums, canna, calla, dahlias, gladiolus all still keeping on until the first frost and will all be stored in the basement or garage. I sometimes […]
So much beauty so late in the season…
We’ll assume this story is apocryphal because I can’t source it beyond Jeff and I talking about it. If it’s not apocryphal I’m likely mangling details so we’ll just consider it an illustrative ‘maybe’: When architects were designing sidewalks at UC Berkeley, they observed the natural paths made by students […]
Fountain Frog appears to be a green frog (Lithobates clamitans). I’m unsure whether our original Fountain Frog is male or female, but I’ve referred to him as He up to now which is rude, maybe, I do not want to misgender anyone. Original Fountain Frog is significantly bigger than New […]
Two unnamed hibiscus in their second season and doing well. They had a bit of a tangle with spider mites over the winter but otherwise did okay, and probably would have bloomed longer if I had kept them under grow lights instead of an east-facing window. They have achieved the […]
Fountain frog doesn’t want to talk about it.
Seen today on a black eyed susan. If I’m correct about the ID, it’s a female (the red legs are the tell apparently.) From the link: “Females of some species of Thynnid wasps are wingless. Males find them on the ground and carry them into the air on a nuptial […]
I love culinary rue* and use a lot of it around fruit trees (supposedly it repels Japanese beetles but I have a plum tree with some thoughts to share on that point.) The smokey blue color is astounding, the shape of the leaves is weird and elegant and unlike anything […]