Location: Texas Panhandle, USA The food chain is interesting. Last week we noticed yellow jackets on the sunflowers. After watching closely we discovered that ants were after the aphids and the yellow jackets were catching the ants. The next day we found a very large bee (or hornet) that had captured and killed a yellow jacket. Today swarms of yellow jackets and other wasps looking bugs, plus flies, ants, and other insects were all over the sunflowers. Appeared to be eating sap and also maybe smaller insects. Not sure. Too many in the clumps of bugs to tell exactly what was going on. Didn't seem to mind the fact that I was close and watching.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Otiorhynchus Sulcatus - Leaf Eating Weevil
Photo by me on my white garden table
This little monster is known in german as the "Dickmaulrüssler" (the thick mouthed trunk, literally translated) and I found the translation in Wikipedia. If you want to know the biological details and life of him then have a look in Internet. He turns up in my garden starting in Spring and by the time Autumn arrives he has eaten his way through half the leaves in my garden. The roses suffer, the privet suffers and anything with a green fleshy leaf suffers. He prefers the thicker leaves. The leaves have a round pattern where it has eaten away what it wants. Of course you can spray all the bushes with some sort of insect poison, but I have a couple of cats and do not want them to be poisoned as well. All that is left for me to do is take photos of the little monster. When the colder weather arrives he even has the cheek to come inside and crawl around. They seem to prefer white surfaces, luckily, so that you can see them better.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Organic Gardening Magazine and a mutant grape
Here's a recent post from my blog to prove that I'm a real Garden Guru! At the bottom of my post I refer to Donald, who was our cockerel (young rooster). We adopted three baby chicks that were all sexed to be girls, but sexing isn't 100% accurate so there's always a chance that you'll end up with a boy like we did. We live in a suburb so we felt we couldn't keep him, so a farmer from the Farmer's Market helped me to place him with a farming family who are in the National Guard.
I just got the October/November issue of Organic Gardening Magazine! This is the bottom of page 12, photographed in my golden sage plant.
Woo hoo!
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Also, today Alan found this strange mutant grape, no I didn't grow it. Have you ever seen anything like it? Not only is it huge, but it has ribs like a pumpkin! After photographing it, Alan cut it up and fed it to the chickens.
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Joel gave my contact info to Donald's soon to be new family. His new "mom" wants him to come to the farm soon, before she deploys to (I think) Virginia to train combat helicopter pilots later this month. His soon to be new "dad" has just deployed to Iraq. Their son will take care of the farm while they're gone. In the mean time, we're trying to photograph Donald a lot and shoot videos of him before he goes. He's growing into quite a handsome cockerel, and he still likes to sit on my lap!
That's it for now!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Minature Yellow Rose from the Rockin' Heart Ranch
Theses are miniature yellow roses that I grow in a container. We are expecting a freeze tonight and decided they needed picking and brought inside for my enjoyment. I live in the Texas Panhandle in the USA.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
So Long Since a Post Here.
A big hello to everyone where ever that may be.
It has been sometime since anyone posted here and after taking a small tour of the posts in this group, I could not help but notice how beautiful the posts have been.
Maybe it is autumn where you are and the leaves have turned into those magnificent colours nature adorns our foliage with before the winter comes and blows hard covering some of your gardens in a blanket of snow.
Here on the other hand it is spring and although it is a very mild spring this year with good rains and usually quite over cast conditions the garden has loved every drop of this welcome rain.
I went to the garden store yesterday and bought some fill up plants such as the ground cover snow in summer, a peppermint scented geranium, some beautiful blue lobelia planted beneath fragrant blue salvia and an old fashioned red Kalenchloe.
So today as it is over cast I will do some planting and hopefully these grey clouds over head will sprinkle the earth and help the new additions.
I also purchased a pink Hippeastrum in flower and have decided to leave it in the pot for now as it has one flower and two more buds to come out later. With Giant flowers these are such a glorious bulb plant and not overly fussy to grow.
I hope that you will share your gardens and photos with us here and of course videos as I said previously this group has posted some truly wonderful posts in the past and I for one would love to see more friends and input into our little Garden Gurus Group.
Peas and Peace to All.
Green is Good.
Milli in Australia.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Spring Fever in My Garden
Above is a photo of the garden made into a fresco in the photobucket edit application.
Spring Has Sprung
Well its happening daily as more and more of the pretty spring flowers come into bloom. I love the new colours popping out in the garden right now amongst the last of the vibrant winter blooms.
Below is another Fresco. I love the old fashioned painted look the fresco produces.
In Praise of Spring
Winter bare every where
Cold and bleak
A good time to think
Read a book
Take a walk by a babbling brook
Grey skies heavy rain
Stiff joints and some pain
Hearty food and drinks by a fire
Winter brought it's blessings beside the mire
September Sun now shines on me
Spring has Sprung and I can be
Warmed and filled with renewed Zest
And my Garden will be at it's Very Best.
Milli 10
Ps I know that the Northern Hemisphere prepares for my other favourite Season Autumn and I wish you all a perfect Indian Summer as we call a beautiful Autumn here.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
~ The Look of Nature ~
A Look at Nature and the surrounding plants on this Southern Ocean Facing Terrain. Magnificent in All it's Glory.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Three Weeks Until Spring.
Change of Season
Right now the chilliness of Winter permeates the air
So I sit here warm and snug in my chair
While outside
The blossoms on the almond trees
Have burst their bubs which now attract the bees
A sure sign from nature that spring is not too far away
So I take heart that September first, will be the day
When officially Spring revives anew
Not only the Winter landscape
But also
My depleted Joie de vivre will certainly
Bounce back again too!
Milli 10
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Tonight's Moon
| Lunar Data for Sunday, 25 July, 2010 |
Apparent geocentric position
Appearance
|
This was the beautiful sight to meet my eyes as I left from work tonight. I had my camera with me and decided to share the photos I took on the way to my car with you, together with the information about tonight's moon. Tomorrow night will be a good time to take advantage of a full moon for all those who enjoy to 'shoot the moon'. Milli 10 PS Click on photos to enlarge. |
| Topocentric Event | Time | Altitude | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sets: | 07:26 | +0.1° | |
| Rises: | 19:50 | +0.1° | |
| Maximum altitude: | 01:15 | 68.7° | |
Phases
 New moon: | 21:40 Sunday, 11 July | ||
 First quarter: | 12:11 Sunday, 18 July | ||
 Full moon: | 03:37 Monday, 26 July | ||
 Last quarter: | 06:59 Tuesday, 03 August | ||
| New moon: | 05:08 Tuesday, 10 August | ||
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