I had to search for these two, but I knew that they ate banana leaves.
These are Saddleback caterpillars/Archaria stimulea.
They are beautiful. The hairs are their stingers. Their venom is painful.
I was stung by one over thirty years ago. I still remember the shock of it.
Itty bitty, greenie weanie, tiny little stinging meanie.
FLOWER
Mr. Flower brought one banana tree into the marriage over three decades ago.
Over the years this banana has multiplied.
Now, we have a banana forest.
We have learned some banana tricks.
We used to dig them all up and haul them all into the basement in the fall.
Now we enclose them in a circle of wire fence and fill around them with leaves or straw.
This is the easy way to over-winter a banana tree.
Instead of digging them up and carrying them in and out, we just enclose it and leave it.
Thus the banana forest has developed.
Each family of pup trees is circled around the dead mama tree.
I enjoy standing in the banana forest while the wind blows.
I pretend I am on an island in the tropics.
My sister jokes that we should rent it out for wedding photos.
For those folks who can’t make it to Hawaii for the big day.
ALOHA from FLORA
I found this fuzzy baby munching on some Lucifer leaves.
He looks so much like a tiny Barley bunny, that I wanted to pick him up.
Good thing I know better.
This sweet little puss caterpillar also has another name.
Asp caterpillar.
Megalopyge opercularis/Flannel moth caterpillar/wooly slug
If you must pet it, you will get stung.
He’s cute, but he’s mean.
FLOWER
We had a big day yesterday here in the USA.
A total eclipse traveled across the country from Oregon to South Carolina.
My family drove down to an empty field in South Carolina to experience it
with the crickets, cicadas and roosters.
I wanted to see what nature would do. People are too noisy.
Insects and birds reacted as if on cue. It was lovely.
The adventure did not end when we got home.
My husband’s cactus knew it was a new moon, too.
After thirty years of waiting and one “dud bud” last August,
it finally bloomed. It had one big ruffly white flower.
I saw it was about to open last night, while I was hanging laundry in the dark.
Mr. Flower and I teamed up to produce these photos at 5:30 AM.
He stood on a bucket and I held the flashlight.
We enjoy the simple things here. The sun disappearing, hearing panicked roosters screaming, hanging laundry in the dark, a flower blooming before dawn…
You know, the real stuff.
MoonFLOWER
This is NOT how I intended this to turn out.
I have been very pleased with the new placement of Colocasia escuelenta/ Coffee cups/ West Indian Kale near the small fish pond.
I intended to write a post about moving plants until you and the plant are both happy.
Well, now there is a third party involved.
The oak tree above is full of munching little caterpillars.
If you look up, you see naked limbs.
If you look down, you see feces. Now the water in the cups has the color of coffee. Yuck!
So thus the name of the post, in honor of Thomas Crapper of Chelsea. The owner of an early lavatory manufacturer in London.
My OCD self keeps flushing the leaves with water. No pun intended.
FLOW
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
make me some seeds
dust from my kind
you do the deed.
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
fly through the blooms
and make me a perfect match.
For pistil make it some pollen
For stamen we’ll need something with wings
Bee, well you bring the pollen
and I’ll give you nectar for every fling.
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
make me some seeds
dust from my kind
you do the deed
Day after day I sit here all alone
find some pollen to fert. my ov’.
FLOWER on the Roof
I have been watching this one for days.
I have been wondering how it could possibly fly with that tattered wing.
It has been feeding on the butterfly bush along with all the perfect butterflies.
I watched it fly this morning.
No bobbing, swooping or gliding like the normal butterfly flight.
It was rapidly beating its wings, no meandering.
This one was all business about staying up and going somewhere.
Thank you sister. You are today’s inspiration.
FLOWER can fly again, too.
What a lovely spot to wait for lunch!
This Crab Spider needs no web. She is waiting for her food to be delivered.
She patiently sits inside this Hoya bloom
for an unsuspecting moth to stop by for a snack.
Then the moth becomes a meal.
Seems like the moth should notice the carcass dangling below.
Sneaky spider!
FLOWER
My three passions are purple, red and wild.
These flowers are so complex.
I am fascinated by their structure.
The insects love them, too.
The Hummer loves the red.
FLOWER loves her vines.
floweralley 