Butterflies

“Uncle Wiggily wants his Ovaltine”

ESPatch May 18, 2014 8 comments

I planted three bronze and three green fennel plants this year to attract a few caterpillars.

I got more than I bargained for,

including quite a few inch worms.

After the munching onslaught and overnight caterpillar migration there was not much left of the host plants,

but they will quickly bounce back, ready for the next hungry wave.

My tomato plants are also currently under attack from the large sphinx moth caterpillar or tobacco hornworm.

But by far the strangest critter that has been showing up all over the Patch this past week or two is…

…here is a clue:

You guessed it,

Lacewing larvae, better known as “litterbugs”.

The larvae use velcro-like bristles to cover itself in a variety of mediums including, aphid / insect corpses (oh yes), bark, fungus…basically anything it can get to stick on up there on its back for protection.

This is a remarkable adaption but a hard shell just seems like a lot less work. I am not sure what this one picked up, barley? Sugar Puffs?

It is my belief that lacewing larvae are actually reincarnated hoarders that are being taught to restrict their collecting tendencies to what they can carry on their own backs.

A ludicrous proposition.

Moving Along:

I recently took advantage of the nice weather and took a trip to a local nursery to pick up some filler-plants to replace some dead fountain grasses. Unfortunately for me someone had strategically placed these three Arizona ‘blue ice’ Cypress trees in an unusual place in the parking lot.

I did not stand a chance.

I very rarely happen across the blue-ice, especially this size.

I picked out the one with the thickest and straightest trunk and before you could say

Cuppressus arizonica

it was hanging over my tailgate, heading to its new home.

There was however one obstacle (there always is) and it was slap bang in the middle of the spot where the cypress was to be planted.

It was like:

Only our turnip was an old hackberry stump and just like the storybook turnip, it wasn’t coming out of the ground without a fight.

“Ach, ye canna beat some neeps and tatties.”

Some rugby tackles, wiggling, root severing and general miserableness in the heat ensued. The fact that it was wedged and had partly grown into the fence made it sufficiently more annoying.

With the stump finally removed I set about digging the hole and immediately started to find ‘treasure’.

Our house was built in 1890 and previous owners of the property had buried their trash in the yard so a shovel in the ground anywhere back here turns over something!

These were the best pieces all cleaned up and ready to be added to our expanding collection of artifacts.

[Contemplates being lacewing larvae]

This mug from the 20’s was her favorite find.

Here is the young tree settling in after getting a good soaking of fish emulsion.

Yes I gave it to the tree.

DSC06243 - Version 2

Old yucca spikes make great ‘wizard wands’.

It will be some years before the little tree reaches the height of its opposite kin:

Kumo – his favorite way to travel,

and his favorite ornamental grass to induce vomiting.

On that note:

Stay Tuned For:

“Oh Frass!”

All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques

“Up In Flames”

ESPatch Dec 7, 2013 2 comments

Mist flowers did not bloom as long as usual this year but they still had their fair share of visitors, like this

American Lady,

Vanessa virginienis

Note: The small white dot in the orange of the forewing distinguishes American Lady from the Painted Lady.

Another frequent visitor to the mist flowers are these little iridescent metallic bees or

Agapostemon texanus

or is it angelicus?

I don’t know.

Loquats also have an abundance of flowers this year,

flowers

I think they liked our wetter than usual Autumn.

flowers

Our recent freezing temperatures have ushered in some strange activities in the Patch.

faces

When faced with prolonged periods of time indoors we usually resort to Monopoly and arguing, but the latest trend is the cutting-out of magazine mouths to while away the dark and cold hours.

I took advantage of the latest cold snap to put our Christmas tree up, with plenty of help, naturally.

This is an activity that traditionally has me coated in an 80-degree sweat as I fight to a) get the tree into the house and b) wrestle it into its stupid base, tightening those irritating metal prongs that I am convinced are too small to even reach the trunk of the tree.

As promised here is a slow air fitting for the cold, dark weather we have been experiencing of late.

Grab yourself a glass, adjust your volume and put in some earplugs for “The Dark Island” and the reel “Miss Girdle”.

It got so cold the other day,

I burnt my own strobilus!

http://www.eastsidepatch.com/2013/07/trouble-with-the-old-strobilus/

Well it has been looking a bit peeky for a while now,

then I noticed this oozing out of the center of it:

Enough was enough.

It was onto the pyre with the old strobilus.

Moving very quickly along…

Cigar plant is heating up in the cold,

as are the celosia, and up until this week so were the canna lilies.

The bold color,

its foliage looking like flames,

what a difference a week can make.

Drum roll and…

and as for my Hoja Santa…

…well, lets just say that they now look decidedly unwell.

In contrast my satsumas look about perfect, it was time I gave one a go, and by I,

I mean him.

There was some trepidation going into the annual tasting ceremony but the satsumas were apparently off to a good start. There was a nervous thumbs up in the middle but the end notes were an obvious let down – a bland blend of unsweetened chewy fruit with a distinct hint of grossness.

Ah the disappointment.

Oh well,

there is always next year.

Stay Tuned for:

“He’s Checking it twice”

All material © 2013 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.