What a lovely Sunday afternoon at Home with my Family. The days are getting hotter and the weather has been hectic lately. Walking around my backyard, I saw a few interesting things which brought a smile to my face.
As I sat on the swing, watching the wind blow and looking at some of my tallest plants wave back and forth in the breeze; one of the Allium Drumsticks stem got caught in between the legs of my King Frog garden stake and if I didn’t know any better, I would say Mr. Froggy was enjoying the moment. What an interesting sight.
Frog and Allium Drumstick globe-shaped flowerhead.
While watering the mini Rosebushes, a Desert Spiny Lizard emerged from underneath the plants, staring at me.
Desert Spiny Lizard.
I spotted a set of Harlequin Bugs on my Dwarf Cup Flower ‘Purple Robe’ plants. These bugs, members of the stinkbug family, are very active during the Summer and destructive to cabbage, broccoli, radishes as well as some ornamental flowers. These bugs cause damages to plants by sucking the sap which in turn cause the plants to die. They have a high reproductive rate. For more information on this insect pest, click here.
It’s the first day of Spring and a lovely day. I took pictures of a few lovelies blooming in the garden this morning. Some Freesias, which are said to symbolize innocence and friendship.
According to Teleflora.com, the 7th Wedding Anniversary Flower, Freesia, is a symbol of trust and fidelity. Freesia is an antidote to the proverbial saying that the seventh year of marriage provokes restlessness. Representing faithfulness through the seasons, it’s a traditional reminder of love’s honorable character.
For about a minute, I watched a pair of Crows perched on a wire share a moment of tenderness.
Crows in Love.
This first day of Spring wouldn’t have been complete without the sound of the Female Nuttall’s Woodpecker drilling holes in a utility pole. Click here or here to learn more about this bird.
“It’s Spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
― Mark Twain
From my Garden to yours: Happy Spring and Gardening!
Today in the backyard garden, I was a little sadden to find out that one of my Stella D’Oro Daylily wasn’t thriving as the rest and I knew the soil was infested with a bunch of Cutworms since I made a similar unpleasant discovery on another Stella D’Oro Daylily last month when I noticed that the leaves were getting eaten by something. The moth larvae hide under the soil during the day and come out in the dark to feed on the plant leaves.
I sprinkled GardenTech Sevin at the base of the plant and then I deeply watered it. The product label states that it can be used on vegetables, fruits, flowers, shrubs and lawns up until harvest and it kills 65 varieties of insect pests. There is about a three weeks gap between the before and after picture below and I now have a healthy plant.
Reviving Stella D’Oro Daylily.
I have seen ants fighting others ants, but I had never seen ants fighting their queen before this morning.
According to the article Queen Ant Will Sacrifice Colony to Retain Throne written by Jeanna Bryner it looks like this ant colony had more than one queen and the worker ants are attempting to eliminate this queen. The article states that soon after the young workers hatch, the little ones begin to slaughter surplus queens until only one remains, but occasionally they are so revved up that they kill all the queens.
While walking in my backyard this morning, I found an insect resting on the leaves of my Coleonema Pulchrum. I searched online and found it to be an Ichneumon Wasp. I can’t tell if it’s a male or a female but I read somewhere however, that for most Ichneumons, the females have long ovipositors (sometimes longer than their body) and the males do not possess ovipositors.
The body of an Ichneumon Wasp consists of a thin waist with a very elongated abdomen and long antennae. They have five eyes which give them a wide range of vision. Ichneumon Wasps are considered beneficial insects as they are important parasitoids of other insects (living in or on a larger host and eventually killing it).
Ichneumon Wasp in the subfamily Ophioninae.
The pictures below are of that of a male Phidippus Johnsoni, also known as Red-backed Jumping Spider.
This particular species builds conspicuous tubular silky-like nests on the ground (under rocks, wood or debris). They remain inside their nests at night as well as during bad weather and prey during the day. They are sight hunters feeding on a wide variety of insects including spiders.
Both male and female have a bright red abdomen with the female exhibiting a black central stripe. The rest of the body is black. This species of spiders is very hairy. The Red-backed Jumping Spider bite is not fatal and only occurs when threatened, resulting in swelling and pain at the bite site lasting for several days.
It’s that time of year when Roses in the garden are being visited by Hoverflies.
Hoverflies are small to big flies with large heads, large eyes, and small antennae. They are important pollinators with some species imitating the appearance of Wasps and Bees to avoid predators (while they have two wings, Bees and the Wasps have four). They hover to attract mates and while feeding at flower blossoms or around aphid colonies. They are considered beneficial insects since their larvae feed on aphids, scales, thrips and caterpillars while adults feed on pollen and nectar.
The picture below is that of a Pied Hoverfly, with three pairs of white comma markings on the abdomen.
Scaeva Pyrastri (Pied Hoverfly).
Click here to learn more about Jumping Spiders and here to learn more about Hoverflies.
The rain has passed and so insects and other critters come out from their hidings.
As I sit here typing and watching television, all I hear is Storm Watch in California on all the News Channels. It is a relief to know that California is finally set to get some much needed rain, which will help relieve the ongoing drought we’ve experienced since last Summer.
I put my gardening plans aside due to the cold and windy weather. What I did however, was walk around my property, taking pictures of plants, flowers as well as some creatures.
Grape Hyacinth.
My Grape Hyacinth are coming up around the base of my Rose trees.
Yesterday we had beautiful skies and a lovely view of the mountains. Today is somewhat cloudy with thick clouds surrounding the mountains. Will it rain? Will it snow? Everything is possible though hard to predict as the weather here in the High Desert has a mind of its own. I, for one, am always hoping for the best.
By JM Perez
