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…
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Solomon’s Seal (genus Polygonatum), especially Variegated Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’), native Solomon’s Seal and Giant Solomon’s Seal). Rhizomatous, lankily arching, and elegant like the curves in paisley. The variegated version lives in miserable conditions along the garage. Dry, dark, abandoned. Does it distract from the concrete foundation? Maybe not, […]