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 […]
Author: Jennifer
Worth overwintering…hibiscus
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 reflects on the changing season and the inexorable passage of time
Fountain frog doesn’t want to talk about it.
Beneficial insects: Five banded tiphiid wasp
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 […]
Signature plant: culinary rue/Ruta graveolens
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 […]
Stumbling through design: Texture
I love when you can touch plants with your eyes alone. When changed to black and white, texture is still enchanting. I’m trying not to be driven insane that the second gallery is not in the same order as the first gallery. Forgive me, I’m trying to cut down on […]
Pollinator garden, drafts 1, 2, 3…..
One of the front pollinator beds was added in April 2020. At roughly 4′ x 15′, it contains twelve Golden Alexanders (host plants for black swallowtails and food source for a lot of the little solitary bees) and twelve Bottle Gentians, both from Prairie Nursery. There’s a birdhouse at the […]
Friends and neighbors, visitors and vagabonds
Special guest: Fountain frog
I set up a whiskey barrel water feature in the dappled shade of grove every year, using whatever found items we have lying around-old glass lampshades, terracotta pots – whatever allows for the fountain tube to pass up vertically. This year I added a papyrus along with some water lettuce […]