Thingamabobs and Whatchamacallits

  Over the years I have planted many daylilies, of all shapes, sizes, and colors.   At the time of planting, all were marked with name and date.   There must be a great big graveyard somewhere containing all my plant markers because most are faded out or missing completely.   There must also be a mischievous little elf out there who plays around with the labels and markers that still exist!   I visited a local Daylily Farm last week and this was the inspiration for all this activity!!   Of course, I acquired two new varieties too, and I’ll be very careful to keep their labels!   I might even draw up a “map” of the main Daylily bed so I’ll know what is where.   I have also purchased five big bags of hardwood mulch to help suppress the weeds – once I have cleared out the existing weeds and unwanted plants!    So, my main project this weekend has been to compile a short video with photos I have taken in my garden in April and May, write d...

First thing, they are incredibly difficult to photograph, so the only one of mine (so far) is this one of a dead beast on the dining room table (and the one of the Goldenrod!!!)  The scourge of all (well, most) gardeners, kids playing outside, all who enjoy outdoor activities and dog walkers (even the dogs!!!).   Mosquitoes.  Hordes of them, buzzing in your ears and biting incessantly, a maddening nuisance without equal.  Not to mention the devastating health risk of Malaria, Zika Virus , Encephalitis, etc.  Apparently, mosquitoes have a whole other life that doesn't involve biting us; it revolves around their ecological interactions with plants.  Most people think of mosquitoes only as insects that suck blood, but they have another niche in the ecosystem–they pollinate flowers. Male mosquitoes never bite, and the females need the protein in blood only to produce eggs, so the normal food of adult mosquitoes is actually nectar from plants . Goldenrod us...

  My parsley plant is starting to flower and will soon end it's biennial life, producing seed for the next generation.  It is a beautiful plant even in its dying days, and the flowers are now covered with hungry little flies.  This prompted an investigation, and although I'm not sure which flies they are, I think they are Hoverflies of some kind.    Here are some interesting facts about flies as important pollinators.  Who knew?      Everybody knows flies are pests, but how many people know they are important pollinators as well as providing beneficial activities such as pest control, food for valued species such as birds and fish, as decomposers and soil conditioners and as water quality indicators?  In fact, flies are second in importance to bees as pollinating insects? ·          Flies live nearly everywhere on Earth and they are abundant in most terrestrial habitats.   I bet they ev...

  There are so many benefits in letting these miracle “weeds” of spring grow in your backyard.  Beloved by bees, Dandelions are among the first flowers to provide food for bees (edit: I learned today from a beekeeper that while Dandelions do provide food for bees, it is not as nutritious as is promoted - still, if a bee is hungry, "junk food" is probably better than a nutritious meal if nothing else is available!!!)  and other pollinating insects in spring, and for humans they are highly nutritious too, high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron, and many other vitamins and minerals.  Every part of the Dandelion is edible.    *The root can be used as a vegetable or for making tea, or dried and ground to make substitute coffee. *The crown – the whitish bulb-like part of the plant just at ground level can be used in salads or as a vegetable, as seen often in cooking recipes. *The Leaves are used in salads and as a cooked vegetable, usual with other vegetable...

 A cool place to visit!   20+ years ago Mike Newman, the owner of Newman’s Bakery in Bellville, Texas, had dreams of building a log cabin on his property just outside of town.  This idea morphed into bigger dreams, and he ended up building a medieval castle!  Growing up I always heard “An Englishman’s home is his castle”, but this put a whole different slant on the phrase!  Newman’s Castle comes with a beautiful authentic moat and pond (the primary purpose of the moat wasn’t to stop attackers, it was to stop tunnelers.   Tunneling under a castle was an effective means of collapsing the walls or infiltrating it.   A moat would cause any tunnel to collapse ) , a drawbridge with Portcullis leading into the Bailey (the inner courtyard.)    In this castle a fun thing to note is the fact that the resident Irish Wolfhound has a self-feeding station just inside the courtyard, and when she has finished snacking, the ducks from the moat waddle in a...