Bringing the Garden In
Someday I would love to have a dedicated cutting garden. Until then, I steal blossoms from here and there where they won’t be missed. This hydrangea was cut from the back of the bush, no one will even notice it’s gone and I’ll be able to enjoy it on my coffee table. I could even dry it for enjoying all winter (perhaps some limelight hydrangea blooms will enjoy that fate).
Share this:
Sunshine Day
This is a volunteer sunflower that came up in my front flowerbed. Well, actually it was stolen from my bird feeder and planted there by chipmunks.
Share this:
Destructive Beauty
Tomato Hornworms are HUGE (this one was 5 inches long)!!! I found 2 on my tomato plants the other day (and the biggest one I’ve ever seen on my pepper plant). Before smashing him I took a few photos. They are really beautiful worms, such vibrant colors and detailed markings. They will however eat through a tomato plant faster than you can believe.
How can you tell if there’s a hornworm on your tomato? You’ll see evidence of eaten plants and fruit, you’ll also see “castings” on the leaves below the worms. You have to look hard to find them. They are perfectly camouflaged on the vines. One of my tomato vines is about a foot shorter than the others and one of the tomatoes was half eaten.
This is what a casting looks like.
If you happen to find a tomato hornworm that has little white things on it’s back that look like tic-tacs, let it live. Those white things are the eggs of a beneficial wasp, they’ll hatch out and eat the worm. Last year I had these on my hornworms, I haven’t yet this year. Beware when grabbing them (I usually just cut off the branch they’re on), Mr Chiots tried to get the one off the pepper plant with a stick and the worm started attacking the stick.
Share this:
First Blush
While out tying up the tomatoes today, I spotted the first tomato that’s starting to turn red. MMMM, I can’t wait. This is a Viva Italia tomato that I started from seed this spring.
Share this:
Oh the Humanity
When I pull weeds I often leave them in a pile in the sun for a day to die. There’s just something supremely satisfying about watching them shrivel and die. Hm, maybe I should look into some therapy???
When I weed the front flowerbeds I often throw the weeds up on the front porch to dry, the next day I load them into a bucket and off to the compost pile they go. One day I noticed that the Chiots thought I had put them there to soften up the concrete for her (or maybe she was trying to help the cause by smothering them?).
