Joan Ambu

It’s a lovely day here in the High Desert, except for the high temperatures. Just a couple of weeks ago, the weather seemed to be getting cooler and now we are back to Summer heat.

Not being able to do some gardening, I took a twenty minute break from my daughter to walk around the yard and admire the plants. Everything looks beautiful in the backyard, so I made my way to the front yard. Only two of my mature Rose bushes are starting to bloom and my Bird of Paradise Bush was in full bloom, with clusters of beautiful yellow flowers and red long stamens (looks more like Pink to me).

As I reached over to touch a flower, I saw a Yellow Caterpillar resting on a flower bud, which appears to be a Yellow larva of either the Cloudless Sulphur or Orange-barred Sulphur Caterpillar. If you take a closer look at the picture above, you will see what appears to be a web. That alone tells me that the yellow caterpillar is either building a tent or recently emerged from it. I love butterflies; though truth be told, I dislike the larval stage.

My Common Broom plants are covered with Genista Caterpillars (the only plants they feed on in my yard). These caterpillars are the larvae of the Genista Broom Moth, Lepidoptera Pyralidae. Click here to read all about these caterpillars, their origins and how to manage/get rid of them.

Finally when temperatures cooled off late in the afternoon, we decided to spend the rest of the day in the backyard, organizing and cleaning up the garage. While we were busy working, my kids spotted a Sheriff Helicopter flying over the Neighborhood. It doesn’t happen quite often, so they are thrilled when they see one.

It’s Friday and I wish you all a beautiful weekend.

By JM Perez

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