I plant ground cherries for my chipmunk, Stubby. He enjoys climbing the plant and picking his own snack. Stubby leaves the wrappers under the plant, so I know he has been there.
Tobacco Hornworm has a red horn at rear
I spied someone else snacking on the ground cherry this morning. A Tobacco Hornworm is devouring the delicate ends of the ground cherry limbs.
The hornworm leaves his grenade-like frass under the plant, so I know where he is.
Someday this green caterpillar will be a lively Sphinx moth that pollinates the Four-O’clock blooms at the corner of the vegetable garden.
I finally hobbled down to my vegetable garden. I wanted to investigate what was ravishing the zuchinni leaves.
This was not the usual culprit. Instead of finding the golden eggs of the squash bugs, I found a cluster of yellow eggs. I hoped these were ladybug eggs, so I left them.
Squash lady beetle eggs
Then I saw things that looked like corn kernels with whiskers hooked on to the leaves like ticks on a dog. These were not moving, so if they had eaten the holes in the leaves, they were finished.
I did find elongated, yellow, spiky larvae which moved quickly to get away.
This is my first infestation with these whiskered- corn critters. I am a pesterer of pests, so finding any new insect is of interest.
I fear I should not have let that volunteer butternut squash vine take over my small garden.
Big ole butternut squash vine
The shade and lack of airflow cannot be a good thing. There is a lot going on in my tiny plot. Stay tuned for birds, butterflies, snakes, squash and pumpkins.
It is an unusually wet July here in North Carolina. All the rain has kept plants green longer, but the flowers are transforming.
Lablab purpureus blooms
Flowers are not the end of the garden. There is one more phase before the life leaves it.
Lablab purpureus pods
Flowers have a purpose you see. They are more than pretty faces. All that flash is for attracting pollinators. Then the petals fade and fall and only the seeds are left.
Blackberry lily bloom
Sometimes seeds are in fruits and other times they take the form of nuts or pods.
Blackberry lily pods
That is where my garden is now. The colorful curtain has closed. Transformation abounds.
Magnolia macrophylla bloom
Not having flowers is a bit sad, but a future is being left behind.
Magnolia grandifolia pod
Those fruits, nuts and pods hold promise. They are the gardens of the future. They should not be ignored just because they are not big and bright.
Those seeds are the most valuable part of the story. They are the gardens of tomorrow and next season and forever.
I have faith in those seeds.
My beautiful friend, Sandra, left us last week. Sandra has transformed from being a beautiful mortal.
She leaves behind two girls and two grandchildren. It has been quite a shock to the people who love her. I will miss her being here with me, but she left things behind for the future.
Treasured memories of laughter, love and grace; as well as two more generations…a beautiful past and a beautiful future.
I just finished this fascinating book investigating the possibility of plant intelligence.
It is written by a curious reporter who left her job to follow leads all over the planet so she could interview botanists in the field and in their labs.
What a dream, to mix a passion for writing and plants into a grand adventure.
It is older than I am. There are mud dauber nests in it. There is rust. It should have been tossed while cleaning out the house on Enwood. I even placed it near the trash cans several times. Every time I moved it around I thought of sand and waves and the green Cox camper. In the end I just couldn’t let it go. It was such a loyal guardian on all those beach trips. I can still see my daddy pushing it around and around to get its point deep into the sand. So here it is now, in my garden, protecting the fish from cooking in their pond on these hot days in July. It still has a job to do. It is no longer pretty, but still sturdy and useful. It still has value. I am grateful for this umbrella and the memories it holds and the protection it gives. My daddy is still helping me in so many ways.
floweralley 