Gardening

[Tennesseer]

Spicebush swallowtail caterpillar. I am thinking the black dots which look like eyes to scare off predators have maybe been 'tweaked' a bit to look angrier than they normally look like.

Larval mimicry
As larvae, spicebush swallowtails have two stages of mimicry. While the larvae are in the early stages, they are dark brown and thus appear to resemble bird droppings, which encourages predators to leave them alone.[3] When the larvae have progressed to their fourth and last instar and are nearly ready to pupate, they turn a yellow-green color and are marked by two large black dots with a white highlight. The placement of these dots on the swollen thorax creates the illusion that the caterpillars are common green snakes. Mimicking snakes help the caterpillars to ward off predators, specifically birds. The caterpillar spicebush swallowtails enhance the physical resemblance behaviorally, as they have been observed to "rear up and retract the actual caterpillar head."[20]

The osmeterium of the caterpillar also helps to enhance the resemblance to a snake. When attacked, the larvae will expose the osmeterium, a Y-shaped organ typically folded up within the caterpillar.[20] For many spicebush swallowtails, the osmeterium is red, thus creating the illusion of a snake tongue and even further enhancing the disguise.

[happyhoix]

Jul 23, 2024 12:06:28 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Spicebush swallowtail caterpillar. I am thinking the black dots which look like eyes to scare off predators have maybe been 'tweaked' a bit to look angrier than they normally look like.

Larval mimicry
As larvae, spicebush swallowtails have two stages of mimicry. While the larvae are in the early stages, they are dark brown and thus appear to resemble bird droppings, which encourages predators to leave them alone.[3] When the larvae have progressed to their fourth and last instar and are nearly ready to pupate, they turn a yellow-green color and are marked by two large black dots with a white highlight. The placement of these dots on the swollen thorax creates the illusion that the caterpillars are common green snakes. Mimicking snakes help the caterpillars to ward off predators, specifically birds. The caterpillar spicebush swallowtails enhance the physical resemblance behaviorally, as they have been observed to "rear up and retract the actual caterpillar head."[20]

The osmeterium of the caterpillar also helps to enhance the resemblance to a snake. When attacked, the larvae will expose the osmeterium, a Y-shaped organ typically folded up within the caterpillar.[20] For many spicebush swallowtails, the osmeterium is red, thus creating the illusion of a snake tongue and even further enhancing the disguise.

That looks like the damn moth larvae (that may be their scientific name) that will strip the leaves off my tomato plants. Only found one this year. Fat as my thumb and about four inches long. Flung him into the piney woods, damn his fat green hide.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Just had a squirrel climb my sunflower, bite off a flower and run across the yard with it. 

[Opti]

Jul 26, 2024 12:10:18 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

Just had a squirrel climb my sunflower, bite off a flower and run across the yard with it. 

Were seeds maturing in the flowerhead it ran off with?

[ken a.k.a OMK]

The flower wasn't very old or fading so I think they weren't mature yet.

[Opti]

Maybe he was courting his lady love?

Sorry about the sunflower. I almost bought a few cut ones for inside, as I could use the cheer.

[Tennesseer]

May 10, 2024 17:00:41 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

A useful and dependable perennial for the garden is called Helianthus maximiliani  (common name Maximilian sunflower). I used to see these growing in ditches along the highways while driving around the south. I looked into it and discovered I could buy immature plants. So I bought a couple and they took off. They like full sun and not too fussy about soil and water once established. The can grow up to ten feet tall and and do require support once mature. Plants cluster together to make a wide group of plants.

Mine has already started to bloom and will bloom until are hard freeze. They do well in zones 3 through 9. After a hard freeze, leave the plants be over winter as the seed heads will provide food for birds. Some seeds will drop and start new plants. If you are okay with letting them spread, then leave the new seedlings be. If not, a little bit of clean up takes care of it in the spring.

Here is a picture on the Maximilian sunflower I have growing in my backyard and a closeup of the the flower. I have let a few seeds germinate and start new plants around the parent plant.  (One of the backyard cats decided to photobomb the plant picture.)

ken a.k.a OMK - I read where your sunflower bloom got eaten by a squirrel. The above picture I posted previously of a member of the sunflower family called Maximilian sunflower. The below picture is what it looks like today in full bloom. It is not a neat and tidy sunflower like those we think of. But its flowers do produce seeds which birds eat. I saw several goldfinches in the midst of it eating the seed the other day. I am not so much looking for a neat and tidy garden but one that birds and pollinators can visit. A 'natural' looking garden if you will. It looks messy due to the rain we have been having. And its flowers do follow the sun.

[Tennesseer]

ken a.k.a OMK - here is another member of the sunflower family I have growning in the backyard in several places. Unfortunately, I did not save the paper packet the seeds came in so I cannot give you the name of it. I might have to search the internet for where I purchased the seeds. But it is a much smaller member of the sunflower family and kind of bushy on the small side. Easily tamed.  Here's two shots from today:

[Opti]

My garden is especially messy this year due to all the rain and humidity. The blue aster is very leggy with only a few blue flowers on it now. The small mum remains small because it is crowded out by the too big pine tree which should be removed and the azalea bush that went crazy because of all the rain.

The tree and the azalea bush were planted by complex mgmt. so I only trim them. One of the maintenance people told me I should really trim up the lower branches of the trees to allow the flowers to flourish. His favorite part is some small tulips and hyacinths I planted.

So, since I can't do much because of my knee right now, I've been trimming the azaleas and the trees little by little. Wish I had some loppers as some of the tree branches are too thick for my pruner. And now with my rollator, I have to hack out branches so I can use the railings without pin cushioning myself on needles. Have not figured out how to consistently move photos from the iPhone to here. My laptop is not Apple and I don't have an iPad yet.

Maybe later in the week I'll ask Moon unless Tenn or someone has a suggestion for hosting photos from a phone on a free photo sharing website

[Tennesseer]

Jul 28, 2024 17:13:12 GMT -5 Opti said:

My garden is especially messy this year due to all the rain and humidity. The blue aster is very leggy with only a few blue flowers on it now. The small mum remains small because it is crowded out by the too big pine tree which should be removed and the azalea bush that went crazy because of all the rain.

The tree and the azalea bush were planted by complex mgmt. so I only trim them. One of the maintenance people told me I should really trim up the lower branches of the trees to allow the flowers to flourish. His favorite part is some small tulips and hyacinths I planted.

So, since I can't do much because of my knee right now, I've been trimming the azaleas and the trees little by little. Wish I had some loppers as some of the tree branches are too thick for my pruner. And now with my rollator, I have to hack out branches so I can use the railings without pin cushioning myself on needles. Have not figured out how to consistently move photos from the iPhone to here. My laptop is not Apple and I don't have an iPad yet.

Maybe later in the week I'll ask Moon unless Tenn or someone has a suggestion for hosting photos from a phone on a free photo sharing website

opti- I use IMGUR for uploading stuff to these boards. Free service. IMGUR creates the jpg url address for an image. I then copy the url and use the picture icon here to post it. I do not use IMGUR on my cell phone or tablet. I use it only on my desktop pc because bigger screen to see it and an actual keyboard to use for the process. You may be able to create an IMGUR account for your cell phone. But cell phone screens are just too small for me to do that work.

[CCL]

I've got a cardinal that comes every morning and feasts on my sunflowers. It gets mad and tries to chase me away.

This evening I was checking out the garden and found some ripe grapes. I just planted the vine this year so didn't expect any fruit yet. Most of the grapes had been eaten. Maybe that's why my bird was so determined to keep me away? Lol.

Picked a couple pears while still green to see if they will ripen for me. They seem to get too ripe when I have left them on the tree longer.

Picking lots of fat juicy tomatoes lately and green beans are just starting to produce for me.

Happy gardening kids!

[greenthumb59]

I also saw a squirrel with one of my sunflower heads!  It was mostly seed.  I found what was left of it in the yard yesterday.  I have also seen a squirrel sit on one of my tray hummingbird feeders.  I think he is sipping the sweet water as he tilts it to one side.

This morning I finally got DH out to help me clean up the inground garden.  I pulled the corn stalks a couple of weeks ago.  We pulled the okra, the soaker hoses, and the marking stakes out.  Then he mowed it down with the lawn mower.  I thought the weed eater would have worked better, but what do I know??

Later today - maybe - I want to put our large plastic cover down over this area, to kill all the grass.  But I have a headache, so I'm not sure how much more I'll do outside today.  It's a shame too cause it is cool and cloudy today.  Nice change from the last few days.

[Opti]

Question for posters here. It is the middle of August. Does it make sense to use my nice pot outside to start a cold weather crop like arugula or radishes? I have some seeds, and I feel like doing something now that I am critter less in addition to being partnerless.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

It might be too hot to start cold weather plants. Radishes mature in about 28 days. 

[Opti]

Aug 16, 2024 11:03:11 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

It might be too hot to start cold weather plants. Radishes mature in about 28 days. 

Weather is so unpredictable the last few years, I do not know what to track anymore. One Halloween we had icing a few days prior.



The Farmer's Almanac per one website is predicting warm and wet for NJ's winter except for towards the end of January, when all the bad snow usually shows up. Thanks for the reminder, perhaps I will wait until month end or a bit later.

[CCL]

Opti, have you ever thought about growing herbs? There are some that may grow well for you despite the heat. Most are quick to sprout/harvest. Some are even perennial. Whatever you decide to plant, make sure critters can't reach it.

[Opti]

Aug 16, 2024 15:48:04 GMT -5 CCL said:

Opti, have you ever thought about growing herbs? There are some that may grow well for you despite the heat. Most are quick to sprout/harvest. Some are even perennial. Whatever you decide to plant, make sure critters can't reach it.

I've grown herbs in the past. I preferred doing so at my first house when I could protect them. Where I am now, anything I plant is at risk of maintenance men or apartment management taking a dislike to it and destroying it*. There is nothing I can plant outside that I can keep critters from reaching it. The current doe with fawns must be stomping around in my small gardens along with the squirrels who are digging stuff up to pick places to hide stuff for the winter. And then there are the two feral cats plus the slightly feral one that wanders. And birds, hawks, possibly red foxes, rabbits, etc.

Growing herbs indoors for me is much less successful. I miss my first house where my XH and I had a greenhouse window put in. The kitchen needed more light anyway, and it turned out to be ideal for certain herbs and plants. The windowsills in my current place are only adequate for smaller pots. It looks like the other day the sun got more intense than expected and fried some of the flowers on the African violet plant. 

* Over the years parts of my rose was actively mowed down and almost killed. Violets I transplanted from elsewhere on the property did not make it or were removed without my permission because so and so that it was a weed of did not like it. Fits were had when I grew some potatoes in one of the garden beds because Walmart had the potato starts on major sale. The potato vines were too tall and since my place faces outward to the public versus towards the inner courtyard I have to be more careful than those folks. 

[Opti]

Its been so moist overall a local weed has taken over much of one of the garden beds. It's even growing up through the azalea bush which isn't a good sign IMO. I might need to wait another 4 weeks when fall comes to pull some of it out and prune the bush more. Trying to get rid of parts infested with bug eggs, etc. It always grows back strongly in the spring and at least it's not as bad as the one on the other side, where most of the older branches are black. I would love to remove it, but it is a complex purchased plant, so it stays. The creeping native weed,

 looks a lot like this -

[greenthumb59]

Opti that looks like mallow! It can be invasive unless someone tries to keep it controlled.

As it is getting into late summer, I thought I would post a garden update.  The inground garden has been pulled up and is currently sitting empty. My DH decided to mow that part of the garden down, and it's a bit of a mess right now.  When the weather gets cooler I'll clean it up.  I don't think we will bother with a cover crop this year.

The raised bed garden is still covered in black plastic.  Remember I am trying to kill the comfrey that my DIL planted in it last year.  I did uncover a bit of it back in July.  And sure enough after a couple of weeks, I found the comfrey was trying to come back.  So back it goes under the black plastic.  I will probably leave it like this for a while.  I would like to plant something productive there this year, but I think that ship has sailed.

The straw bale garden is doing okay with what is left.  I have two Cherokee Purple tomatoes.  They have quite a few green tomatoes right now.  I have probably harvested over 20 tomatoes from them this summer.  They were really good.  Sadly I am the only one in my house who likes to eat tomatoes, so a few of them did end up in the compost.

I have one cherry tomato in the straw bale garden.  It is going bananas.  It has climbed up on the overhead cattle panel.  I can easily pick two pints of tomatoes a day from this plant alone.  I don't remember the variety, but they are very sweet, small, tear shaped tomatoes. 

In the compost there is a volunteer cherry tomato.  It is loaded with fruit, and the neighborhood creatures are showing up for their share.  Possums, rats, squirrels, birds - you name it. 

There is a cardinal vine growing and blooming on the cattle panels, one pole bean (don't ask, they just don't like me), and a couple of sweet potatoes.  The basil is trying to bolt, and the hot peppers need to be picked.  Those belong to DH.  He usually makes pepper sauce with them.

I never could get any moonflower vines started this year.  Also my Mexican sunflowers are just weird this year.  They are growing very tall and not blooming yet.  I count on these to help out the migrating Monarchs when they come thru.  I guess that won't happen this year.

It's been a strange year in the garden.  Not terrible, but definitely different.

[Opti]

Opti that looks like mallow! It can be invasive unless someone tries to keep it controlled.

Yes, it is. It really took over for lots of reasons and I hope to rip a lot of it out when it gets cooler out. I think the edging I did have must have degraded or complex mgmt. pulled it out. All I see is one of the stakes, so that may have given the mallow an in to my garden area. One of the maintenance guys gave me some heavy scalloped press stone edging to use. They are heavy so I haven't done it yet but might soon over the holiday or something. I put one in on the other side to hold up the super leggy aster temporarily. Not sure if that will help enough, but the stuff near the building was weed whacked into oblivion recently.

This mallow reminds me of this patch of ivy at my first house. It was good for that area, but it had to be trimmed and whacked often. Its everywhere on the property this year, I guess the conditions were better for it than almost anything else.


Maybe it can be just a bit drier next year, like closer to the old normal?

[Opti]

Agreed a strange gardening year.

[obelisk]

Another dry month in SC

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Aug 31, 2024 16:26:17 GMT -5 obelisk said:

Another dry month in SC

Are they not normally dry for you? We go the vast majority of July and August without any precipitation.

[finnime]

My Elephant Ears that I have in 3 large pots on the front porch are showing signs of distress now that the weather has changed, turned to cooler than they prefer. I'm open to suggestions of what to replace them with, other than mums. Everyone has mums.

[Opti]

Sept 4, 2024 3:14:08 GMT -5 finnime said:

My Elephant Ears that I have in 3 large pots on the front porch are showing signs of distress now that the weather has changed, turned to cooler than they prefer. I'm open to suggestions of what to replace them with, other than mums. Everyone has mums.

The grocery store near me is selling what they call mum buddies. Celosia has bright fall colors, and I love the blue asters although mine is exceedingly leggy this year. They also had cockscomb version too, but I think the one below would look more impressive in a pot. 

[obelisk]

The heat wave in California is damaging my garden

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Sept 6, 2024 19:48:19 GMT -5 obelisk said:

The heat wave in California is damaging my garden

I think it's ruining my roma tomato plant. 

I do have tons of sunflowers right now though. 

[happyhoix]

Crappy year for us, the last two months have been dry as a desert, my raised beds are limping along with sprinkler watering every other day. The weeds of course are robust, and it’s been too hot to weed much. Waiting for the weather to turn so I can start the fall clean up. Since I’m retiring in January I should be able to weed early in the morning next year to try to stay ahead of the weeds.

Need to clean it up enough to sell the house.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Brought these in from my cutting beds today

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

This is a new planter we got this late spring time. I painted it with the outside trim paint of our house.
It had a poppy in it on the right side for a few months, but a heatwaves killed it. The coleus is doing quite well.

In June with the poppy




Today