Anoles

“Patch Panic”

ESPatch Oct 18, 2012 6 comments

Ach!

Scotty, as it turned-out was correct…she couldnae take nae mere.

I found this fruit-laden limb resting on the ground the other day and swiftly went in with a plank of wood as a support before any of the fruit spoiled. Messing around under the tree, trying to lodge the plank into position,

I looked up and saw this monster (picture taken post event) staring down at me over the side of a leaf, looking like it was about to fall.

Acanthocephala femorata

or Leaf-footed Bug.

As irrational panic grabbed me, pushing me vertical, I found myself entangled in a rolling world of satsumas that had now engulfed my entire head.

Was it on me? Was it on me?

The proboscis, the proboscis!

I let out my customary muffled groan usually reserved for nightmares and

only narrowly avoiding the adjacent barrel cactus (which incidentally is still developing more blooms), scrambled out sideways and up to my feet, all the while frantically shaking and slapping at my clothes.

I looked around for the massed crowd that surely had come out to witness my ridiculous spectacle, but as usual there wasn’t one.

Talking of massing crowds, this is one you certainly want to avoid.

Your days are numbered my writhing foes.

“What is wrong with siphon tubes ESP?”

Mosquito larva live in the water between 7-14 days and wriggle to the surface to breathe through their siphon tubes, yes I said siphon tubes…brrr. The larvae will shed their skin four times growing larger after each molting, on the fourth molt the larva changes into a pupa.

I hate mosquitoes and their tubes.

Sweet olives are filling up the Patch with their fragrance this week.

Bees are hard at work in the golden hearts of the Walska, and

in the celosia that has turned a deep shade of fuchsia.

I have a number that are laying flat on the ground turning up at the end. Celosia as a ground cover!

My palm grasses have got very large after our recent rains,

providing great ribbed foliage. Here you can see the tiny sharp hairs that make these leaves very sharp in one direction.

Moving along:

Whale’s tongue, snaking gopher and a few disturbing pine cone cactus fingers offer a very unusual look in the same hue.

These gophers are soon to have their heads cut off, new growth is already visible at the base.

The tribal war-paint on this head should be sufficient to deter any predators attacking this giant swallowtail caterpillar.

Well, perhaps all except one.

I have a bunch of these cleverly disguised bird droppings currently chomping away on my Mexican lime tree. The caterpillars will grow to about 2 inches before changing into a chrysalis. As these are fall caterpillars they may stay in the chrysalis stage over winter and emerge in the spring.

This agave somehow works with the industrial hardware around my gas meter.

In front of it my somewhat lanky Salvia leucantha keeps on blooming, it is currently

full of these little Beet Webworm

Spoladea recurvalis

moths, whose larvae most likely hosted on my celosia or wormwood.

Inspirational image of the week:

Lots of wine bottle corks lying around?

Studio 1am http://www.studio1am.com/ has come up with an innovative use of recycled cork…jewelry. Discarded corks are ground up and formed into blocks using environmentally-friendly adhesives. Designer Donna Piacenza then cuts each cuff from a single block of cork, which can then be used to store the jewelry, or simply as a display piece, with a beautiful ‘C’ shape hollowed out where the cuff fits.

Stay Tuned for:

“Hexing Herbs”

All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Arch Nemesis”

ESPatch Aug 19, 2012 9 comments

I thought I would start on somewhat of a bright note before embarking on my traditionally drawn-out epic moan about August in Texas.

Finally I managed to catch my

Echinocactus grusonii

with a couple of open blooms.

More commonly known as the golden barrel cactus or more humorously the Mother-in-Law’s cushion. Native to Central Mexico this cactus is a popular cacti in cultivation but strangely rare and critically endangered in the wild.

These animated blooms are very short lived and turn a scorched brown the next day.

Barrels on the top of the Getty Museum, LA.

As I said, I was all ready for a good old moan along the lines of blah blah, so hot, blah, no rain in sight…tongue stuck to outside of face, Mars blah, when would you believe it…

We got some August rain!

A very rare and much needed event.

I think I can safely say that this loquat was ready for a dram or two of the wet stuff,

and a yellowing whale’s tongue can never be a healthy sign.

The least said about this pine cone cactus the better,

a very peculiar cactus indeed.

I have pushed the garden really hard this year, offering up a bucket full of additional water only when a plant was clearly on the brink of death.

There have been casualties, especially with some younger plants, but on the whole most plants have bucked the heat and dry conditions very well. Heavy seaweed and fish emulsions late spring and a more aggressive then usual pruning regimen also helped.

As a last ditch attempt to stay alive this satsuma has started to prematurely drop fruit, hopefully the rain will turn this process around.

Although it can probably do to lose a few satsumas here and there to alleviate some of the burden on its limbs.

The fallen fruit was quickly scooped up,

and juiced in an extremely unhygienic kitchen.

The unanticipated rain replenished stock tanks,

and revived foliage.

I caught this little camouflaged anole drying himself on a pride of Barbados seedpod.

Rain always causes this Alphonse Karr bamboo to lean and roll, a great clumping privacy bamboo.

This giant timber bamboo (my arch nemesis) has returned with vigor after being cut completely back to the ground.

I no longer recommend planting this bamboo as it is prone to freezing if we have a harsh winter. I have systematically removed five of these massive plants from the Patch breaking numerous pick axes, shovels and tendons.

http://www.eastsidepatch.com/2010/09/lolloping-loquats/

Note: A rock bar is the best tool for extraction and the general chipping away at the massive tap root.

Talking of arch nemesis,

Silverleaf nightshade

Solanum elaeagnifolium

Some people like the blooms on this tap-rooted perennial herb, not me, in fact I think that I can honestly state that I have yet to find one redeeming attribute to make me think twice before dabbing some double concentrate glyphosate all over this plant’s sharp stem, furry leaves and obnoxious flowers.

So what if the root of the plant was chewed and applied as a poultice to snake bites by the medicine men of old.

And so what if the Zuni chewed the tap root of the plant and placed the maceration into a tooth cavity to ease the pain (Stevenson 1915). In Sonora, Mexican folk healers used the plant, calling it buena mujer, to treat fits of sneezing (Martinez 1969).

The tomato-like fruits were also utilized to treat constipation, (imagine that), by either eating them or boiling them and then drinking a thick concoction (Jones 1931).

Hmm, perhaps I have been a little harsh on this plant, after all it does put out endless amounts of blooms and requires not a solitary drop of water. I have heard that the plant can look very attractive when planted (or allowed to spread en mass) in xericscape designs…

…Oh who am I kidding, there is a reason that in South Africa it is known as satansbos or

“Satan’s Bush” in Afrikaans

Warning: Berries and all parts of this plant are poisonous, naturally.