papyrus

“Withering Sights”

ESPatch Jul 17, 2010 19 comments

The head of this dragonfly looks like a futuristic piece of hardware, amazing coloration and detail on this Eastern Pondhawk.

Erythemis simplicollis

This dragonfly has a bit of a reputation for praying on insects of its own size, as well as for cannibalism, yes cannibalism…a habit I fear it may have picked up from the Naboo.

“A cannibal flying around in the sky? Where is it? Where is it? I’m out in the open for Pete’s sake!!”

(Obligatory Lector noises)

“Where is it? I know it is up there somewhere, waiting to dive down and get…”

…crunch…ang, ang, ang, ang. “Grasshoppers are a great source of protein out in the wild, blah,blah,blah.”

This green lynx spider,

Peucetia viridans

(the largest North American lynx spider) took refuge from the lightening-fast-hand of Bear Grylls under this sunflower leaf.

Thanks for the cheerful sunflower and the great garden-related songs Annie…Keep them coming!: http://annieinaustin.blogspot.com/…

Lynx spiders are hunting spiders that spend their lives practically motionless on plants, flowers and shrubs. Don’t be fooled though, the common name refers to their quickness and agile-lynx-like nature. These oddly shaped characters are extremely nimble runners, jumpers and cross-country skiers, they rely on their keen eyesight to stalk, chase or ambush prey. Six of their eight eyes are arranged in a hexagon-like pattern, a characteristic that identifies them as members of the family Oxyopidae. Did I mention that it also has really hairy legs, reminiscent of the stalk of the sunflower it is currently inhabiting?

“Ach man, ma’ legs are mere hairy than that Peucetia viridans”!

“www.ohshutyourpieholewilliam.com”

Moving silently on…

Luurvley!

I think I can safely say that I have recreated in my sunken – zero drainage stock tank, conditions that I like to imagine, rival that of the banks of the Nile. I will try not to mention the multitudes of wavering and extremely disturbing tiny “worms” that were poking out of this swamp the other day, waving their upper torsos in perfect synchronicity, brrr, (slight right knee quiver, right big toe points involuntary north) …What ARE they?

What used to grow in abundance along the banks of the Nile, my favorite wetland sedge…

…King Tut, Egyptian Papyrus,

Cyperus papyrus

is reportedly not so prevalent as it once used to be down the river banks these days.

“Dense belts of papyrus growing along the Nile in Southern Sudan, viewed from a river boat”.

I have only had ten visitors from Egypt to the East Side Patch, ever…so I turn my head to you now my ten visitors, (I know you all live along the Nile)!…Is this true? Surely papyrus still prevails, with its aggressive growth habits?

My papyrus are blooming right now, something I can’t say I have ever witnessed before, I will be gathering seeds! This is a fantastic plant that offers a unique presence and movement in the Patch, papyrus grows 8-10 ft. tall as an impressive, weeping specimen plant. It withstands weather stresses, thrives in full sun, and can basically handle anything that the elements throw at it…Texas tough. Mine dependably comes back every spring.

Moving to the front Patch…

Almost all of the atemesia that I snapped off from my rear hills and planted in the spring has taken, and is starting to fill in the decomposed granite mounds with their frosty foliage. The slow-growing sapphire skies yucca I planted on the top of this mound accents the adjacent palm and will form a crazy trunk over time…starts drumming fingers…

“Finally it is up to four feet!”

Talking of “frosty”…

Here are some before and after shots of a design scheme I am currently working up for a client. I cannot wait to plant the ‘blue ice’ cypress / artemesia and santolina combo, perhaps with a couple of gopher plants for elevated measure?

Back in the Patch:

Sun lovers, now basking in our almost 100 degree Texas temperatures.

Withering sights…has anybody out there got this problem on their rosemary plants?

Pretty bad! By the time I noticed this young rosemary was under siege it was completely covered in these webs…this happened very fast indeed, and I have noticed the same infestation, to a lesser degree on three other, more mature rosemary plants. This warranted further investigated.

I believe this to be a tent caterpillar of some sort? A tent caterpillar that has a tiny tent that is not practical to break open for the wasps, or even camp in, who knows how many of these hard to spot ctitters there are infesting this plant! Has anybody had this issue and successfully treated it? Perhaps with all of our rains the conditions have been favorable for these annoying worms, I also witnessed a lot of them on my mountain laurels this year, a first.

Finishing on a lighter note:

My pokeweed fruit starting to ripen. (Thank you Jenn for the plant ID)

Phytolacca americana

The ripe berries (that look like they have been poked) of this plant yield a crimson juice that was used as a substitute for red ink, the juice was also used to enhance the color of pale wines, an activity that is no longer adopted because the berries are, well, poisonous!

The young leaves and shoots may be cooked and eaten like spinach, (if prepared correctly). The greens are also called poke salet…

Stay Tuned for:

“Nose Boulder”

All material © 2010 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Milk, Cookies and Spells”

ESPatch Dec 23, 2009 22 comments

It was getting late in the Patch, and some major spells were being cast on me from deep within the amaranth. Horsetail reeds make for excellent wands it appears, though my eldest hobbit insists she got hers from Diagon alley.

Expelliarmus!

Some of these spells take an immense amount of concentration it appears. Now will you please get that reed out of my face!

This budding wizard just wanted to talk to me about Christmas and Santa and ask a thousand questions about why Muggles celebrate this holiday, and how Santa gets into houses and the global logistics of accomplishing such a gift-giving feat, all in one night? These discussions tend to last quite some time.

What a fine horsetail wand.

Come early Christmas morning, and it was early, our wizards were glad they had Muggle parents. Hands tore through wrapping paper as fast as their small fingers could find the ends of the tape. Santa had devoured the home-made “Santa” cookies we had left out for him, and had washed them down with some milk…

…we wanted to leave out a nip of whiskey for him but it was decided, (not by the Muggles,) that he would prefer milk.

This “Happy Van” was a total hit…a van filled with small candies…he was in hog’s happy heaven with two of his most favorite things in the whole wide world!

Going back to the amaranth, it was time for our annual harvest of the seeds, though the seeds were not nearly so abundant as last year, but nevertheless we got quite a few. The seeds also were reluctant to separate from their husks, I think they were less developed due to the earlier frosts we have had this year. Clearly some form of incantation was being muttered by this wizard in an attempt to make the seedpods magically shed their seeds into the bowls.

It was good to give the nimble fingers a break from tearing at wrapping paper! The clouds of dust that arose from these buckets smelled like the barnyards where I used to play as a kid, it is amazing how a smell can teleport you back to a specific place. It was all-hands on in the patch, and I knew my “everything but the kitchen sink” rain water collection “system” would come in useful for more than collecting water.

Talking of serious rainwater collection endeavors, this has to be one of the big ones…

http://dracogardens.blogspot.com/2009/12/last-tank-is-in.html

Amaranth harvest.

I also cut down My Papyrus “toupees” today. I could no longer convince myself that they still carried any “Winter form”. No, they now looked like a seriously bad episode of the Muppets, or perhaps…

Oh yes, this one will be going into the “Looks Like…” page!

These cattails are also in the process of popping.

Millions of tiny seeds will shortly be catching the ESP thermals. Climb in here for a good nights sleep.

At least a better night’s rest than you would have here.

My largest sotol. I am about to get shredded once again by this beast, still, it has to be done. The lower branches are once again laying flat against the ground, skewering the odd ghost plant (like they care, they are already ghosts).

Huh uhuh huh.

Like my agaves, I try to trim up these plants as high as I can, at least so that the bottom leaves are not resting on the ground. It is a personal preference, but I think it looks better and creates less of a jumble of plants at ground level. It also makes weeding a little less painful, I have to weed a lot more regularly than I trim these plants up after all.

Here is the Patch all cut back for the winter…store all that energy roots! You can see the frost damage on the top of my Mexican lime tree on the right. It feels good to have all the scraggly amaranths pulled out.

The top third of my lime tree has taken a good beating, but it will quickly recover in the spring.

There are still a couple of butterflies moving ever-so-slowly around, so slow in fact, it made them an easy catch.

Battered and torn are they .

And still the Gerbera daisies continue to send out new blooms.

Inspirational wintry image of the week…

Moonlight is a German company that makes these glowing garden orbs. The polyethylene spheres have been around in Europe for a while and they’re making their way to the United States via a new company called Moonlight USA. I think an icy-blue version would be appropriate for our warmer Texas nights, but you will not find one in the Patch…I need the space for more plants!