Despite the hectic weather, it felt good stepping out today and watching the wind send leaves flying everywhere in the backyard as I slowly made my way towards the front porch. It was time to bring my Boston Fern indoors. I walked around the backyard and spent a couple of minutes with my Roses. These are some of the moments I cherish the most. Growing and caring for Roses is hard work as it demands a lot of determination, time, patience and love. In the end it pays a thousandfold and I have had a wonderful year with my Roses.
French Lace Rose.Little Pete Mini-multiflora Rose.Blue Moon Rose Bud.
On my way to collect the trash can from the street earlier in the week, I couldn’t resist stopping by my Rose Garden where a couple of rose bushes where blooming. As I began taking pictures of the beautiful blooms, I spotted a large Green Valley Grasshopper (from its rather large size, I believe it’s a female). I can’t tell if the insect was just hanging out, perhaps resting from a long flight or just getting ready to feed on my plants.
Green Valley Grasshopper.Spartan Floribunda Rose.
Today my heart is particularly filled with gratitude for the gift of Life and beauty in the World.
Tending to the garden and backyard today was productive and fun. We achieved so much and will be moving forward with our design. I dug out one of my young Yucca Pendula from the backyard and moved it to the front yard. I dug out most of my Gladiola from the front garden and move them to the back, relocated my Star Jasmine and I was pleasantly surprise to find out that one of my mini Rose bush is blooming for the first time in at least 4 years! It has been growing in the front yard all this time until last month, when I moved it to the backyard. It has surprised me with beautiful white rose flowers. I guess it just needed a breath of fresh air.
I spotted a few interesting insects, one of which the Seaside Grasshopper below.
Seaside Grasshopper.
Four years ago, we harvested a couple of Mint Plants from a family friend. We brought them home and they took off as soon as we planted them. We knew little about growing this plant and we were so overwhelmed when they invaded pretty much everything around them. We thought we had removed all of it until last month when they began growing from the roots. I dug up one new shoot and planted it next to a mini rose bush. It has grown so much that I asked my husband to build a planter just for it. Growing up, my Mom used Mint in the kitchen all the time and I loved the smell. So, growing it not only remind me of the good times, but it also gives me an opportunity to introduce it to my children. Click here to learn about Mint benefits and here to find recipes.
Primitive Planter.
I found a Tan Brown Widow Spider on one of the birdhouses we built. It seemed to have appropriated the birdhouse. According to the Center for Invasive Species Research, University of California Riverside, the Brown Widow Spider, Latrodectus Geometricus, became established in Southern California in early 2000 and has become well entrenched as part of the local spider fauna in urban Los Angeles and San Diego. The brown widow spider is continuing its expansion in Southern California and could possibly move northward into Central California. Click here to read the complete article and click here to learn to identify this spider.
It’s a gorgeous day here today and the weather is bearable than the previous days. There will be no gardening for me today. Instead, I am making myself comfortable on one of my outdoors swings and sharing a few photos of fascinating creatures I spotted and photographed the last couple of days.
Yesterday on my way to check the mail, I spotted a Seaside Grasshopper next to the entry door. It stood still as I walked my way to the mail box. On my way back, the little creature was still there. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a photo. Usually they hop away when someone gets close, but this one didn’t move an inch (it probably didn’t feel threaten). As soon as I was done taking the photographs, it hoped away. As much as I enjoy looking at this picture, I am not fond of grasshopper as they often damage my beautiful plants.
Seaside Grasshopper.
Last Friday, after watering a few plants in the backyard and proceeding to move the trash cans out of the way and rake some dead leaves which has piled behind them, I saw a weird looking creature coming underneath one of the trash cans and moving really fast. Just by taking a quick look of it, I guessed it could be a spider perhaps? However, after seeing its large mouth and mouthparts, I had to research it.
It turns out that it is a Camel Spider also known as wind scorpions, sun spiders or solifuges. These little creatures have eight legs, move really fast and are carnivorous, eating insects and bugs such as: grasshoppers, spiders, crickets, lizards, small rodents and reptiles. Click here, here and here for more information.
A couple of days later, I spotted a Megachile, Brown Bee, twitching and spinning in circles on the ground. According to the website PesticideResearch.com, this is one of the symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning in bees. After a while of twitching and spinning around, it flew off.
I found a Soil Centipede hiding underneath a Garden Statue while hand weeding around my Daffodils. I found out that it can move both backwards and forwards and they will feed on pretty much anything that is soft-bodied and smaller than themselves such as larvae and worms.
According to WikiPedia, the centipede’s venom causes pain and swelling in the area of the bite, and may cause other reactions throughout the body. The majority of bites are not life-threatening to humans and present the greatest risk to children and those who develop allergic reactions.
Soil Centipede.
Now back inside for some sweet tea and a quiet moment watching Les Misérables. I could watch it all day, every day without ever getting bored. It is beautiful, moving and features some of my favorite actors.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend and enjoy the rest of your day.
By JM Perez
