clay and limestone

This Post is Rated BG,

2008-09-04T06:30:00.001-05:00

Bugs Galore!

I knew they were back before I saw them. The most delicious fragrance wafted toward me; it was anise scented fennel. That meant only one thing.

The Boys Are Back!

We have been waiting for the boys of late summer to show up for weeks. The boys of course, are the Black Swallowtail caterpillars that have been chomping on the fennel at Clay and Limestone for many generations!

We saw the first caterpillar on the parsley a few weeks ago; but he has since departed to pupate some place safe in the garden. Now, the Swallowtail Caterpillars have shown in full force on the Fennel.

Black Swallowtail Female Butterflies lay pale colored eggs on the tops and bottoms of their host plants and within 3 to 6 days the eggs hatch. The instar stage looks like a small black caterpillar with a white saddle, he is very tiny. This is a shot of a second instar. They grow and morph into the final caterpillar within 6 to 8 weeks.

Isn't the contrast between a second instar and a fourth instar caterpillar astonishing!

A closer view of the the tiny guy on fennel.

Their mouth parts are constantly moving and consuming every part of the fennel, except the stalks. They are totally hungry, hungry caterpillars. The licorice fragrance is delightful.

It means that summer is nearing an end and the Swallowtail caterpillars are preparing for their winter wait and metamorphosis to a Black Swallowtail Butterfly next spring.

While observing the boys, I noticed this one particular caterpillar with a voracious appetite! The speed has not been altered!

I am very glad you stopped by,

Gail

The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity. ~Attributed to George Carlin

She's Never Late To The Party!

2008-09-02T00:01:00.003-05:00

People who know me would say I am never late to the party. But, here I am after ignoring the RSVP, arriving at Stuart's party a little late.

You see, a few months ago when every one else switched their Feedburner to sync with Blotanical, I didn't! The invitation was on the desk and I had to pass on it. It was a sad time in my life and it seemed that I hadn't the energy for one more activity.

But Blotanical caught my eye again. It started out simply enough....a few visits, finding new bloggers and having fun. But there was something missing! It was me! There wasn't a link from Blotanical to my blog! HMM? Interesting...Oh, that was it! The Feedburner party!

"How do I get my feedburner up and running?" said I to Frances (Faire Garden). She knew what to do! We followed all the instructions, but ran into a snag. Help was needed! Enter Stuart! What a nice guy! He gave me clear instructions and then, offered to set it up if I couldn't. The instructions worked! Blotanical regulars could pop over to see me, What fun!

So Stuart, thank you! I have been having a ball. I have met new bloggers and have read their fantastic posts. It has been a delightful experience! It is easier then anyone can imagine to get involved and participate at Blotanical. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am totally hooked...there are bloggers I've yet to meet!

But there's one more thing Stuart.

Why Don't you hit me with your Fire Away! (please click!)

Gail

"You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
- Yogi Berra

*clipart

The Fall of the Golden Empire

2008-08-31T09:40:00.003-05:00

All hail Susan.

She has had a glorious reign. She has smiled upon her subjects.

She was adored by all.

She has provided food and joy for her visitors.

She has been a most benign empress.

Her subjects bowed before her.

All hail Susan.

The Decline of the Golden Empire officially began in the land of Clay and Limestone with the browning of Susan. Her most loyal subject worked tirelessly, but nothing could turn back the decline of Autumn. Soon she will be a memory. Birds across the empire will flock to celebrate her life and and feast.

Her most loyal subject has written of her tales. She has celebrated her life with daily visits to the court. Please join her in honoring Susan.

All hail Susan.

Susan and I thank you for joining us.

Gail

‘Adieu!’ she cries; and waved her lily hand.

'Black-Eyed Susan' John Gay (1685-1732)

Have You Ever Wondered How Blogs Got Their Names?

2008-08-26T21:45:00.002-05:00

Well, I have! Some bloggers have told us... not everyone, but some of you have shared. Since, I am a relatively new blogger (February 2008), and may have missed a post or a few explaining how you chose your blogs' names; would you please, share your story?

Here's mine and a pictorial of what makes Clay and Limestone, well, Clay and Limestone!

No, it isn't PPPP, but just in case you missed her...here's a reminder of her sweet beauty!Phlox pilosa the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox isn't bothered by clay soil.

Not being a gardener, it didn't dawn on me to inquire about the soil conditions when we bought this house and it's 1.3 acre lot. We were new parents and we wanted a house with two baths, a fireplace and a fenced yard!

If I were purchasing a home today, you would find me tramping around the yard, checking out soil conditions, listing the existing trees and shrubs and the location of water spigots. I would visit at various times of the day and watch were the sun rose, set and what it did in between. I would hope for rain to see if run off was going to be an issue. But, at that time, we just wanted a home for our son and us.

Today, we wouldn't buy that yard!

Every time, I put a shovel in the ground, there were rocks and clay. Friends would ask us why we didn't do this or do that to the yard and we would say...clay and limestone! It became easy to think of it as Clay and Limestone. When I made the decision to start a blog, it was the only name that occurred to me. It certainly fits!

Take today. An ordinary day in the garden. A nice spot in the sunny bed was needed for a new peony. Into the ground goes the perennial spade and clunk. I move the spade and clunk. Clunk, clunk, clunk.

It's a big rock, one that can't be dislodged with the perennial spade. Digging around the rock trying to find just dirt, made it clear how big a rock it was. We have been here before. Using the perennial spade to lift rocks cracked the handle a few years ago.

So I know that big tools are required! A pry bar. I have several of them! This yard requires pry bars! I get my favorite, the red one with a straight end and a curved end.

After a bit of soil excavation, their was room to push the pry bar under the rock!

Slowly, wiggling the pry bar back and forth and up and down loosened the rock and surrounding dirt! This is an important technique! It spares the back.

A nice cavity was created under the rock with just enough space for the business end of the pry bar to fit!

I used the curved end to lever the rock up.

Unfortunately, this requires some back work. Once the rock was wiggled and pulled loose, it was easily rolled up and out of the hole.

Incidentally, the gloves are mediums, if that helps you get a perspective on the size. If not, the rock measures 18" X 12" x 3".

It's a beautiful rock and will be part of a small wall!

Maybe like this one that lines the front walk. Every one of the rocks in the walls at Clay and Limestone came from this yard. (ed. I just dug the rocks, someone else built the walls)

The cleared and rock less space, not planted yet, but soon! It's time to take ibuprofin, do some back stretches and have a cup of tea!

But not yet, I really do want to know how you came by your blog name!

Gail

Just rock on, and have you a good time.
Duane Allman

Beauties and the Beasts

2008-08-24T21:30:00.002-05:00

It's near the end of the summer and butterflies and bugs are having a good time playing in my garden and gardens all over the known blogging world! If you don't mind, let me share with you some of my beauties and beasts. Remember this, even a beauty can look beastly! If you want a really good look at them, just click on the photo and they will enlarge.

The regulars:

Swallowtail Butterfly found 'sleeping' on Liatris spicata very early in the morning. Carrots and parsley plants draw them to the garden and phlox and milkweed provide nectar.

First or second instar larva of Black Swallowtail munching on the parsley.

Swallowtail caterpillar also on the parsley. Look at that fierce face!

Milk weed Bugs congregating on a Asclepias tuberosa seed pods. Mildweed bugs are members of the true bug family of plant juice suckers! They use their proboscis to pierce the seed pods and eat away! Their job is to keep the aggressive Milkweed population in check and are considered harmless. They've been removed several times, only to return! I want the Butterfly-Weed to survive!

The adult Milkweed bug has wings and more striking coloring than the immature nymph. His Halloween color screams to birds, "Don't eat me, I taste nasty!"

Unknown flying creature on Zinnia leaves.

Gulf Fritillary: Apparently, the males cruise for females all day long! The host plant is the Passion-Vine, so it fits! The larva is generally orange with black branched spines and greenish stripes. Thank you Frances (Faire Garden) for id-ing this beauty!

This is a giant Fly-bee; just look at those wings! It could be a fly or it could be a bee! The list of visitors to Monarda is long: Short and Long tongued bees, butterflies, skippers,moths, wasps, beetles and of course, the hummingbird. So what is the Fly-bee? You decide or identify!

Someone please name me! This is a frequent visitor to the garden.

They love the Rudbeckia hirta,

and the Zinnia and each other.

I think they are skippers; but which one? Can you see the tiny pale spiders? Enlarge for better look!

No one can mistake this frequent and beautiful garden visitor;

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail with it's face deep in the Balloon Flower plant!

Argiope aurantia commonly known as Black and Yellow Garden Spider lives her day upside down waiting for prey to come along. You can see her video here. She has moved her web several times and seems to have found her ideal space among the Rudbeckia hirta and butterfly alley!

Thank you for stopping by and checking out the beauties and their beastly friends! They weren't too beastly, now were they?

Gail

What Happens When Garden Bloggers Play?

2008-08-21T07:30:00.001-05:00

They have Fun And Accomplish A Lot!

At noon on Monday, Frances (Faire Garden) arrived at my door! What do you say when a guest arrives with her gardening gear and the way back of her car full of plants? I said, "Welcome to my home and wilderness Frances. " Then gave her a big hug!

We started talking and I'm pretty sure we broke the world record for uninterrupted conversation! We had so much to talk about and some of it was even about gardening!

We visited a lot, but in between we had good food, dug a few plants for their new home in East Tennessee, planted the plants Frances brought, like, Joe Pye Weed's Gateway. Seen below in all his wildflower beauty! Look at the size of his flower, it's magnificent! I can't quite capture his pinkish-red hues.

He has a rough look that is perfect for Clay and Limestone's Blimp. This is an area in the middle of the yard that is more wildly planted. Frances very kindly planted him near some tall Aster Tataricus. The bed looks wonderful with the new resident!

We also planted a few plants that I had in my holding area, like this Phlox Paniculata x Nora Leigh and the Baby Gold Goldenrod (Solidago) and if you look closely you can see Sedum Matrona, another plant from Faire Garden. I am already enjoying Matrona! It looks wonderful

planted in a bed of Heuchera villosa x Autumn Bride; adding another dimension to the woodland garden. That was Frances' idea!

While enjoying a tour of the garden, we found this little guy munching away on the parsley! Also, on the plant was a tiny little black caterpillar with one patch of light color. He proved to be too small to capture even for my macro setting.

But our visit wasn't all about the garden. We did have a few good meals and a great deal of wonderful conversation. While the days got hot, the mornings were cool and we could have coffee on the porch. The visit seemed way too short and Frances had to leave for home, but not before we met a few Tennessee gardenbloggers!

When A Plan Comes Together:

Frances and I have been talking about a visit for a few weeks. We knew that one of us was going to visit the other's garden before the summer was over. When Tina (In The Garden) arranged to get a few Middle Tennessee Bloggers together in Nashville, it seemed a good time for Frances to come here. We didn't tell anyone she was visiting, hoping to surprise everyone at the restaurant.

They were all surprised, especially Tina! This would have been a perfect time for photos, but I didn't take any! I was too delighted to meet and talk with Dp of Square Foot Gardening In Nashville, Dave of The Home Garden , Donna of Mother Nature's Blogspot, Tina of In The Garden and of course Frances of Faire Garden was there.

We had a delightful time and never ran out of things to talk about.

Here we are thanks to Tina.

What a wonderfully fun and energetic group. Let's get together again.

Gail

Friends are the bacon bits on the salad bar of life. from sign in a restaurant

Wish You Were Here, Part 2

2008-08-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

Dear Gardenblogging Friends,

We are having a great time and find our heads in the clouds, as we run all over this wonderful and big city! Not meaning to sound too chamber of commerce in my praise of Chicago, but this city's architecture really is spectacular. All you need to do is look up and there are any number of late 19th Century and 20th century buildings.

So, we decided to treat ourselves to an Architecture River Tour... The Chicago River forms a Y with north and south sections and the tour travels up and down and under the bridges. It was both, entertaining and informative. Our tour guide was a practicing architect and a life long resident of Chicago. With every word he spoke, you knew he loved his city! He introduced himself as Irish and believe me, this guy had kissed the Blarney Stone! He ended the tour by reciting Sandburg's poem "Chicago" with its famous description of Chicago as the "Hog Butcher for the World/Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat/Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler,/Stormy, Husky, Brawling, and City of the Big Shoulders." It was fabulous...You would have loved it!

Oh, btw, that's the Trump Tower under construction, I thought he was in NYC!

More postcard moments...if you don't mind!

The sky was beautiful and the clouds reflecting on the many glass and steel buildings was spectacular.

The Chicago Tribune Building, in Neo-classical style built in the late 20's. This was the controversial first place winner for a contest to design a beautiful Tribune building! Saarinen, who went on to design the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, came in second! Apparently, a Neo-classical choice ruffled more than a few feathers in the design world!

I am particularly fond of the onion dome on top of the Hotel Inter-Continental in the building across that delicious blue sky!

Here's a better photo of the Trib building, in all its Neo-Classicism!

More clouds and blue sky.

Sears Tower (1974) A very tall building! But a taller building is being built!

Lake Point Towers (1968) This building was designed and built by two architects who had never built anything prior to this! Now that's inspiring!

333 Wacker Drive 1983 (both photos) A beautiful building and the reflection is spectacular...Is it me or do you think~~ whales and dolphins when you see the building from this angle?

It reflects so delightfully!

I have no idea what building this is, but it is fabulously groomed!

Another steal and concrete beauty...perfect partners for the cold steel blue of Lake Michigan.

More glass reflecting the gorgeous day!

Inland Steel Building (1958)

Gardenblogging friends, there were more dramatic buildings! I would gladly identify each building, the design style and the architect, but the view was so distracting...I can't remember them all and more importantly, you probably need a break!

Here's what I remember: Each of these and many other buildings represent the best architectural design movements in the US and the world.... styles represented are the Chicago School, International Style, Art Deco, Post Modern and Deconstructionist. Architects included Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and others.

I can tell you that the steel-girder skyscraper was invented in Chicago and that presently under construction is a structure that is unimaginable...the Chicago Spire... 2000 feet tall with 150 floors! The notion of a 2000 foot tall building is incredible. It's spiral shaped* it's fluid, it nature inspired, it's revolutionary....there are other words to describe it, but gee, this is a pg blog! Follow the link, the architect is a better story teller. It's worth a look! Trust me, it is!

Wish you were here to see it all!

Gail

"We struck the home trail now, and in a few hours were in that astonishing Chicago–a city where they are always rubbing a lamp, and fetching up the genii, and contriving and achieving new impossibilities. It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago–she outgrows her prophecies faster than she can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time."

Mark Twain "Life on the Mississippi," 1883

* photo/image credit

Lying down On The Job

2008-08-17T21:00:00.008-05:00

Once upon a time, we had afternoon pop up thunderstorms and our summers were a little dry. But not in the last several years. I kept hoping that the hotter temperatures and lack of rain were aberrant; that soon we would return to our normally dry summers with occasional afternoon showers. This summer's weather has convinced me that we can't count on a return to normal...this may be the new normal. If that's the case, I need to change a few of my gardening practices.

Even though, the present sunny border 'design', works; a few plants might be retiring to someone else's garden and native moisture lovers, like monarda and stokesia, will be grouped together. It will be easier to hand water them and much better for plants like, Schizachyrium scoparium x The Blues, commonly known as Little Bluestem. Little Bluestem will be happier with other grasses and perennials that tolerate dry conditions.

The Blues live in a raised and tightly planted border that's quick to dry out. I set out a soaker hose last month when our temperatures where in the 90s with no rain for weeks at a time. The rudbeckia, monarda and daylilies are thrilled to have the extra moisture, but, it's drowning The Blues. They don't need or tolerate wet feet and it's starting to show! It's seriously listing from too much moisture! Soon it will be lying down on the job!

Other than liking dry roots, it's truly a beautiful and easy care native grass! I like what White Flower Farms has to say~~ "We selected this native Little Bluestem variety for its beautiful blue foliage that develops splendid burgundy tones in fall. Spikelets of purplish bronze flowers rise on the branched stems in late summer, and the backlighting show continues into winter when pearly white seedpods glint against sunrise and sunset. Easy going and tolerant of heat and humidity, 'The Blues' is scaled nicely for a mixed border or a natural meadow planting brightened with wildflowers and butterflies."

Who could resist a grass like that! Not me...so, making sure it survives my watering mistake, is high on the "take care of this, right now" list.

This is a good segue for sharing my biggest lesson of the season!

The Echinacea tennesseensis (Tennessee Coneflower) is not happy! Sarah, the garden coach, thought it would be perfect in the new bed by the front stoop! This bed was to be the home of cedar glade endemics. All winter long, it was sunny and wet; similar to the conditions at a cedar glade. Once the trees leafed out the bed was no longer in full sun. This is what it looks like ~~Downward Facing Dog coneflowers.

They're just not supposed to lie down! Echinacea purpurea can flourish in shadier conditions. Tennessee Coneflower cannot! It loves the sun and follows it as it moves across the sky, a beautiful Sun Salutation all day long! They're not supposed to lie down!

Sarah is convinced that the problem is too rich a soil! I think it's the shade! The stems don't look weak, they look as if they're reaching for the hidden sun...poor babies! It's possible that we both may be right!

I'm not taking the tree down! So this fall, half the coneflower will be relocated to the sunny front bed. I am sure they will thrive in the full sun among the Echinacea purpurea and the Rudbeckia hirta.

The Echinaceas will co-mingle and their offspring will be beautiful! The original plants will survive, but the offspring will multiply. Next summer we'll have more lavender and gold postings....and the coneflowers won't be looking for the sun.

As for the remaining coneflowers....I'll ugly up the soil in the cedar glade bed and make it lean and mean with a mulch of decomposed limestone to mimic the cedar glade conditions. That should help! If they are still lying down on the job next spring, we'll move them to the front bed, too.

Everyday in the garden is an opportunity to learn! What have you learned this summer?

Gail

Wherever humans garden magnificently, there are magnificent heartbreaks.
Henry Mitchell

Pink, Lavender and Gold for Bloom Day

2008-08-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

August is a tough month for Clay and Limestone flowers! It's hot, humid and very dry...Even in wet summers, August is stingy with bloom! So we are thrilled with the flowers we have; it's a celebration of pinks, lavenders and golds! I have plenty of all three...How lucky for me, since they are some of my favorite flower colors!

Thank you for stopping by; for more Bloom Day posts, visit May Dreams Gardens. Thank you Carol, for hosting Bloom Day on the 15th of each month!

Gail

Geranium sanguinium~Hardy Geranium
Rudbeckia hirta with Pink Zinnia~Black-Eyed Susan with Pink Zinnia
Celosia 'Dark Caracas',
Echinacea tennesseensis~Tennessee Coneflower
Monarda didyma x "Pink Supreme", Rudbeckia hirta and Alcea rosea x 'Queeny Purple'~Beebalm, Black-Eyed Susan and Hollyhock
Lathyrus latifolius...a volunteer invasive~Perenial Sweet Pea

Alpine Verbena and Ruellia hirta~Verbena and Wild Petunia
Rudbeckia hirta with a friend~Black-Eyed Susan with friend

Verbena canadensis "Homestead Purple"~Hardy Purple Verbena

Rudbeckia hirta and Zinnias~Black-Eyed Susan and Zinnias
Rosa "The Fairy" reblooming~The Fairy Rose

Phlox paniculata sps~Summer phlox
Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpurecens'~Bronze Fennel

So glad you stopped by!

Gail

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Award of the Month

2008-08-14T08:11:00.007-05:00

The reduce, reuse, recycle award for the month goes to Beth, An Urban Plot for her series of posts on rain barrels. Follow the link to see what an urban gardener has to say about rain barrels...here's a quote from a recent post:

How much water is it possible to catch in your barrels? Consider the following formula...
1 inch of rain on a 1000 sq ft roof yields 625 gallons of water. To calculate the yield of your roof, multiply the square footage of your roof by 625 and divide by 1000.
One good rainfall, and my 300 gallon capacity is overflowing!

Gail

In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."
- Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet

Postcards From Chicago, Wish You were Here! part 1

2008-08-12T08:56:00.002-05:00

Dear Gardenblogging friends,

We've just landed in Chicago for a long weekend. This is the best fall weather for the middle of August; incredible temperatures and mostly blue skies....I sure wish you were here! Gail

Navy Pier, a tourist destination for sure, we only cruised past it on a walk on the lake running trail.

Further along the trail...
Can you imagine looking out your highrise apartment to this magnificent sight! Beautiful!

Speaking of walking, Chicago is a walking city and it's easy to get around. We walked 4 or 5 hours everyday and loved it. If your destination is too far to walk, you can take the 'L', Chicago's mass transit subway or a cab. Cabs are everywhere and easy to hail. We flew into Midway Airport where we caught the Orange Line, transferred to the Red Line and walked a few blocks to our hotel. It was $2 per person! The cab ride from the hotel to the airport was about $40 with a tip!

We stayed near the Magnificent Mile...which is Michigan Avenue; the shopping meca for the well healed and the rest of us! Our hotel was pleasant and we had a sweet view of the lake.
Zoom lens are fabulous! Even through a dirty window you could see views like this sunrise on the lake...

Our favorite destination:

An intense blue peaks over the top of Cloud Gate's reflective surface....Cloud Gate is the creation of Anish Kapoor and is one of the many art and architectural features of Millennium Park.

I love this big silver bean and it's wonderful skyline reflections!

What the artist had to say:

What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline…so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one's reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around.
-Anish Kapoor

"Having a wonderful time at Millennium Park, wish you were here" postcard moment for the four of us!

The photo, a delightfully distorted and fairly accurate representation of our individual personalities!

Did you see the hand prints from visitors...I didn't notice them at the time, but they are quite noticeable in the photo. This sculpture invites touching...you can't help but reach out to make contact with the mercury like surface!

It doesn't matter how many times we visit Chicago, we love visiting Millennium Park. Along with Cloud Gate, there is beautiful Lurie Garden, with its delightful mix of natives and carefully chosen exotics and the Frank Gehry designed Pritzker stainless steal pavilion

with it's incredible state of the art sound system, and his

serpentine stainless steal bridge.

Cross the serpentine bridge to a field of fantastic native wildflowers and more Chicago skyline.

Let me put it this way, when we meet for Spring/Fall Fling 2009 in Chicago, we are going to have a lot of fun in Millennium Park!

Crown Fountain at Millennium Park!

Gail

It's a 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes; it's dark and we're wearing sun glasses. Hit it!
- - - The Blues Brothers

or if you prefer...

Hog butcher for the world,
Tool maker, stacker of wheat,
Player with railroads and the nation's freight handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of big shoulders.
- - - from Carl Sandburg, "Chicago," 1916

Excuse Me, While I View The Sky

2008-08-07T20:40:00.001-05:00

I have been staring at the sky for days.

Sure, I've been scouting for rain, hoping for rain and even chanting for rain, but what caught my eye are the trees. They tower above the house and frame the sky.

What a gift to have a beautiful and healthy tree canopy! When we bought this house the trees came as a gift, the icing on a cupcake. They cool the house all summer and in the winter they step aside to let warm sun brighten the cool days.

Oaks (Quercus), Hackberry (Celtis), Persimmons (Diospyros virginiana), and

more than a few Shag Bark Hickories (Carya ovata) dominate the sky. Each would like to reach 80 foot tall. My goal is to let them.

Gail

A Patch of Lavender Blue

2008-08-06T11:05:00.004-05:00

Ruellia is blooming its pretty lavender blue flower head off in lawns throughout my neighborhood. * Gardenbloggers have posted about this sweet wildflower family several times this summer. This ruellia is a low grower that has been a perplexing plant to name. Is it R humilis or R caroliniensis? If you know...let me in on it!

It's true, I posted about my lukewarm feelings for R strepens earlier in the year. Mr McGregor's Daughter posted about her better ruellia, Ruellia humilis and meems (Hoe and Shovel) has written about another relative, Mexican petunia, R brittoniana that is making too good a show in Florida. Mexican Petunia is listed on the exotic pest list in a few zone 9 and warmer southeastern states. While not invasive, R humilis, R caroliniensis and R strepens can reseed very well! It's a lovely sight to see a patch of lavender blue in lawns.

What they all have in common is lavender blue flowers that last one day and continue all summer. Oh, yes...butterflies visit, too!

This flower doesn't want to stop!
A little patch has shown up on the edge of the front garden,
next to the asphalt driveway in steaming hot full sun. He hasn't stopped blooming!

A spot of water now and again seems to pep him up. The rose pink flower is Verbena tenera x
Sissinghurst, an alpine verbena. I like them together...another happy accident at clay and limestone.

I have come to appreciate this wildflower more each hot and steamy day, of this very long and and almost, rainless summer.

Gail

With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy. Lope de Vega

* frequent haircuts are keeping this plant a low grower

An Upside Down Life

2008-08-03T20:00:00.001-05:00

The black and yellow garden spider spun her web among the Iris and there she waits, hanging upside down all day, for unsuspecting prey.

She's a gorgeous spider and her web is very unique. Argiope aurantia commonly known as Black and Yellow Garden Spider is an orb weaver. It was her unique web and a trick of oscillating the web back and forth that caught my attention...

Researchers believe that the vibration may either serve to scare the predators away or ensnare prey who might be trying to work free of the sticky web. Viewed up close the web is quite a work of art.

"Web construction is complicated.(source) To start the web, Argiope firmly grasps a substrate like a grass stem or window frame. She lifts her abdomen and emits several strands of silk from her spinnerets that merge into one thread. The free end of the thread drifts until it touches something far away, like a stem or a flower stalk. She then creates bridge lines, and other scaffolding to help her build the framework of the web. She builds a hub with threads radiating from it like a spokes of a wheel. She switches to sticky silk for the threads spiraling around this hub that will actually catch her prey. It may take a few hours to complete the web, then she eats the temporary scaffolding and the center hub. Black and yellow spiders often add stabilimenta, or heavy zig-zagging portions, in their webs." There is no certainty among experts about what purpose stabilimenta serves...it could be a place to hide from predators or a warning to birds that there is a web in its flight pattern.

While some Argiope spiders leave webs in place for night hunting, it is not unusual for it to be built and then eaten at the end of the day! Even if she catches no big prey like moths, grasshoppers, June Beetles, aphids or even cicadas, the tiniest insects that were stuck to the sticky web will be her dinner.

Not only is she harmless to humans, she and others of her kind do a lot of good...In addition to the prey listed earlier, they also eat mosquitoes! That's good news to me!

This spider is female, no doubt about it! The male is smaller and a pale imitation of her beautiful coloration. When males reach maturity they leave the egg sack and wander off seeking a mate. Once he finds a female, he begins his courtship. He will build a web near by or attach himself to her web; then he plucks the strands to get her attention. She may attack and if he's a smart spider, he's prepared for the worst and escapes down his safety line. If not he's toast.

What a life. Once he successfully mates he will die....sometimes becoming her dinner. Once she lays her eggs, up to 1400 of them in the egg sacks and secures them to the web she will watch over them as long as she can and then she will die. The baby spiders hatch in late summer and they remain in a dormant state during the winter. They hatch in the spring and begin maturing and moving about in the garden and the cycle continues.

You've got pretty parlor, now catch some mosquitoes for me, it's not flies that are a problem!

If you want to see some great photos of spider webs, I suggest you head over to Faire Garden to see Frances' post Web Walk.

Gail

"Don't worry, spiders
I keep house
casually,"

Haiku by Issa

Life Happens To a Garden...

2008-07-31T22:44:00.000-05:00

Last March, Doris, a member of our local perennial plant society garden tours committee asked me to put my garden on the 2009 tour. I said, "Doris, my garden is not the garden you visited, it's not up to a tour." She replied rather matter of fact, "Well you've got a year to get it together!"

Doris had been a visitor to my backyard wildflower garden about 6 years ago and the garden she remembers barely exists. I suppose that there are gardens that remain to some degree the same. But most gardens change. Even the neighbor who plants the same annuals is planting in a different garden each year. Gardens age. The trees grow taller, perennials fill in, new plants are added, plants die, trees have to be removed. Gardens change. Gardeners age, too, and sometimes what we were able to do at an earlier time isn't always manageable.

Life happens to a garden

When Doris stopped by for her tour the back garden was an alive garden. There were paths through the wooded lot, a dry stream bed and native wildflowers were blooming. Phlox pilosa, the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox had put on her best party dress and the visitors were charmed.

Five years ago it all changed...it started with some hip pain at night and grew into a backache nightmare. Gardening changed for me. I had to give it up for quite a bit of time...and I am afraid that the beautiful wildflower garden that Doris visited went to seed!

Years of digging and moving rocks about the garden had taken it's toll on my body. Word came down from the experts..."take care of your body or never garden again." When I ignored their advice, I would have a serious amount of pain as a consequence. So, I curtailed the heaviest gardening chores. But not without being forced to stop. It was a difficult time for me and the gardens.

The front gardens got most of my energy and attention. Well, because they were in the front and you can't completely ignore the front gardens! That's what I said to my husband when he saw me gardening! It was so very hard to not garden....impossible was more like it!

That was also the summer we decided to build the front porch. Which meant that the garden had to be moved....it was right where the porch would be built. So, I very slowly and carefully moved the garden; including the 37 daylilies I bought from Gilbert Wild and Sons! I moved them and most of the other perennials to plastic swimming pools until the bed was ready and it was cool enough to transplant them.

One of the professionals helping me with my back, suggested I dig the plants while lying on my stomach!

You can all laugh at that one! I actually tried it. It worked for a few little plants, but seriously, I garden on clay and limestone and in the middle of the summer, nothing's coming out of the ground without putting your back into it. A dear friend dug the grasses and other deeply rooted perennials. She was wonderful!

May I distract you

The front garden along the driveway is where I built a new bed. It's doing fine.

You can enlarge this photo to see the Rudbeckia and other cutie pie plants.

From the street, looking up the hill. I love Rudbeckia and its bright bloom...at this time of year it's almost the only bloom we have.
It feels alive with butterflies, bees and color. But, now, something else needs our attention!

The back garden

Ahh, if only we had snow all winter, no one could tell how over grown it has become.

Secondary succession began in the garden as soon as I quit working there. Red Cedars and other opportunists love a vacuum and have moved in. Without an intervention this garden will become a Red Cedar Forest. Although, they do look lovely covered with snow! But, we don't have a snow cover all winter and the garden shows its neglect from November to February.

Spring 2008
Since our house sits on a small slope you step up from the patio to the wildflower garden and wooded yard beyond. Thyme grows in the full sun on the steps, so does Columbine and sedum.
It's quite colorful in the spring....

Here we are at the top of the steps looking towards the wooded back yard. Someplace in there is a stone path; with wildflower beds to the left. Phlox pilosa and other wildflowers are happily romping about!

We have climbed through the wildflower covered path and have turned to the left. You can see the dry creek bed (metal fish at the bottom of the photo below).

The dry creek runs through the middle of the garden and off to the side, where it carries water away during the rainy winter months. It works well moving the rainwater runoff from the slopeing yard. There are wildflower beds on both sides of the creek.

Phlox divaricata, columbine and crested iris are woodland flowers they were not bothered by this gardener's absence! They have multiplied! Why wouldn't they...it's becoming a real woodland, not an artificial one! Ahh, succession at it's best!

Summer 2008

When I stand out there now and look around, I think...well unprintable things!

Once again, we are standing at the top of the steps looking into the garden down the path. Believe me, that is a path!

A close up of the fish and the dry stream with its weeds and wildflowers. If I didn't know that not everything in this closeup was a weed...I could get very discouraged! The seed head is Lunaria/Money Plant; there's also P pilosa, penstemon and wild aster.

What it has and what it lost

A quick assessment tells me that a dogwood and witch hazel died in the drought last year and shrubby dogwood, spiderwort, and PPPP have had their way in the garden! The neglected brick and stone paths have plenty of weeds....that can be remedied. Wildflowers like Iris cistata, Phlox divaricata, P paniculata, P pilosa, Aquilegia canadenses, trillium and daffodils and other bulbs are plentiful. That's good! The shrub layer and other small trees are fine....Cercis Canadensis has made a strong showing and sowing! The Viburnum rufidulum is still beautiful. But Vinca major and V minor, along with Liriope and bush honeysuckle have gotten too big a strangle hold. That will take some help!

Gardens can change

It's not a historical garden and nothing needs to be static. Now, that I am able to work in the garden like I need to, I'll weed the beds and clear the paths this fall. Once it's clear, I can decide how to proceed. One thing's for sure, there will be plenty of Phlox pilosa to transplant elsewhere! Let me know if you want any?

One more thing! Doris, this garden might be tour ready in 2010...but certainly, not any earlier. I have to take care of my back!

Gail

"A gardener learns more in the mistakes than in the successes." - Barbara Borland