When I bent down to sniff the scent of this plumeria blossom, I spotted this creature taking in the morning sunshine. She is a green anole, and she has lots of company in our garden in Cibolo. We don't use pesticides in our yard, other than mosquito donuts, so there are lots of insects for her to catch. Lots of green anoles are a sign of a healthy outdoor environment. (Try saying this post title out loud! It just rolls off your tongue, doesn't it?) … (9 comments)
garden: More creepy things in my garden! They are not what they seem...
- 10/12/08 12:08 PM
At first I thought the grackles had paused on my potted lemon tree on their way to roost in the HEB supermarket parking lot. Those pesky birds had deposited a couple of yucky blobs on the leaves.
Then I saw a bizarre object on one of the stems. It looked like a rough, gray, stubby snake with a big head.
You guessed it! They are caterpillars, in two different stages of development. If all goes well, they will turn into giant swallowtail butterflies, which can have a wingspan of up to 6 inches. The caterpillars are called orange dogs because of their … (11 comments)
Green lynx spiders jump on their prey, including "crop pests" like bollworms and some types of moths, rather than spinning webs to snare them. Unfortunately, they also like to dine on bees! So this family will need to be relocated to the front yard, where they can live in the lantana or Asian jasmine instead of my bee-bait plants. … (14 comments)
garden: Yikes! What is this elegant, yet sinister, creature on my basil plant?
- 09/28/08 10:52 AM
Obviously it's a spider (I'm math-challenged, but I was able to count eight legs). Anybody recognize it? What could it be hoping to catch for breakfast? The ladybugs hatched months ago and fanned out across the yard, and there are no aphids. I just hope it's not messin' with my bees! If anybody can identify it, let me know. Just curious--I like to know the names of all the denizens of my garden, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral!
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garden: Today in my garden, starring the Gulf Fritillary butterfly
- 09/25/08 10:59 AM
This Gulf Fritillary was snoozing on the buddleia this morning, waiting for the rays of the sun to hit him and warm him up. When that happens, the white spots on the wings turn out to be silver. Butterflies and hummingbirds love the nectar from buddleias, also known as butterfly bush. But the Gulf Fritillary lays its eggs on passionflower vine. Ours has been decimated, but that's okay--it's there to provide caterpillar food.I went back outside this afternoon and took some more photos to make a little Gulf Fritillary show. … (7 comments)
garden: Another visit to the Japanese Tea Gardens / Sunken Gardens of San Antonio
- 09/24/08 09:26 AM
I went back to see the restored Sunken Gardens at Brackenridge Park last weekend. There were a couple of musicians playing New Age music in the stone pagoda, which was actually rather nice. Although it was about 85 degrees, as usual in September, the walkways were shaded by the trees. They were not covered in blooms as they were on my first visit, but there were a lot of other flowers and greenery to admire.
A moth whose wings glittered with gold iridescence in the sunshine The Sunken Gardens, located next to Brackenridge Park and the Zoo, is one of my favorite places … (4 comments)
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