Kaseys Korner

"the morning sun

when it's in your face really shows your age."  Oh wait, that's me I'm referring to, not the images from the garden.  Sorry.  None of these fresh face bloomers have any age on them yet!  Rod Stewart would probably never in a million years believe his song could be adapted to the garden ~ I'd bet serious money on that!  Now that you're paying attention tho, I'll share my latest discoveries with you, captured in the morning sun (as eluded to in the post title).  First, one of my all-time favorite Columbines, Aquilegia Chrysantha:

 

Also known as 'Golden Spur' Columbine, so appropriate considering the extension of their graceful spurs easily seen in the photo below:

 

As much as I like the Barlows, the Ballerinas and the Double Pleats, Chrysantha is much more of a necessity.  Ive had at least one plant in various gardens for almost two decades now.  Another happy discovery was the bloom stalk on Verbascum 'Pink Petticoats:'

 

It started out in my "Tropicanna" container last summer then got moved to the garden after getting crowded out.  The blooms are a delicious peachy pink color.  Equally important, and not to be overlooked, is the wonderful texture and form verbascums add to the garden.  They are another sensory plant which you can never have enough of ~ notice that gorgeous felty foliage.   Exciting for me, maybe not so much for you, are the water lily leaves that have broken the surface in the pond! 

 

It didn't take nearly as long as I imagined for that to happen.  Does that mean flowers aren't that far behind??  I can only hope.  Look who was resting among one of the floaters:

 

That's the best face of the morning, right?  and ageless to boot.  Sure woke me up and started my day with a smile.  :-) 

hot new hangout

Look who I found enjoying the overspray by the pond:

 

You can't imagine how happy it made me to see him there.  It's exactly what I envisioned the pond doing ~ drawing wildlife to my yard.  He tucked himself between the pond and the terraced garden wall, which was a great spot considering the record heat we experienced yesterday (90 degrees).  You can get a better perspective of his position from this angle:

Do you think he'll attract a lady friend so I can have tadpoles in the pond someday??  I sure hope so!  On another note, in the back garden, under the aspen tree canopy, Primula Vialli is blooming!  I've waited a long time to have this wonderful perennial in my garden:

 

This is one primula I have no problem starting from seed.  I have more tiny seedlings growing right now to add to this clump.  I love the contrasting red flower buds with the pink/purple flowers:

It's one of those plants that is rare in that it isn't seen often and I wonder why???  It's pretty hardy ~ to zone 4 ~ more easy care than other primulas and a lot more attractive than those grocery store varieties.  Don't you think so too??

making it worth the while

that's what my one lone squirrel does when he visits the birdfeeder in my yard.  It's quite a production from him to even reach the seed, he has to hang upside down, twist sideways, etc., etc., so instead of eating one sunflower at a time, he scoops a handful, rights himself (must have amazing abdominals) and proceeds to munch.

 

Kind of how I like to eat popcorn......

buddleia ~ pollinator heaven

In the far back corner of my yard, feeling a little pinched between the purple sand cherry (Prunus cistena) on one side and the Viburnum dentatum (Arrowwood virburnum) on the other, is my butterfly bush (buddleia davidii):

It's the first thing I planted after I moved into my house seven years ago.  That should tell you it's rank on my list of gardening "have to have's."  In my zone 5 garden, it dies completely back to the ground each winter but grows back quickly after the dead foliage has been removed in spring.  I know it's difficult to tell scale on the computer but it reaches a height of 6, 7 or sometimes 8 feet in the summer.  Without it, my collection of butterfly photographs would be severely limited (not that I planted it solely for that selfish purpose).  Below are a few of the winged beauties that found nourishment from it this summer:

This is the same monarch that lost its life to the jagged ambush bug shortly after being photographed.  If you want a refresher on that experience, click here.  Below, a Western Tiger Swallowtail had a much less tragic stopover:

For the first time ever (that I've witnessed), I had a Western Black Swallowtail visit:

 

Sighting him (or her) was exceptionally thrilling for me and makes me even happier that I planted a second buddleia in my front yard ('honeycomb' ~ a yellow/orange variety).  Of course there are many other pollinators that frequent the butterfly bush aside from the showy ones I managed to capture digitally.  From the time the blooms start (early August here) until the first killing frost, it's "abuzz" with activity.  No wonder I planted it first, right?

Edit:  I forgot to add the link above (where I told you to click here) and now typepad is refusing to allow me to go back and insert it.   In case you were interested, that link (about the monarchs demise) is now here.  My apologies.

it's that time of year

When the praying mantis congregate along the front of my house, seeking the protection (from chilly overnight lows) the warm southern exposure offers:

 

Clinging to the beige stucco (in the early AM's and late afternoons ~ during the day they disperse a bit), they are more readily seen then during the summer months.   Prior to the change in seasons, I'm lucky if I flush one out of the vegetation (usually by water spray).  Sometimes we see them climbing the screen doors in the evenings, pursuing bugs attracted by the porch light.

 

My niece frightened us all (praying mantis probably included) one summer night by shrieking loudly upon spying one hanging on the door!  While putting up holiday lights or during spring clean up, I always come across a few egg cases (often attached to grass stalks in my front garden, or tucked amongst the rocks of the retaining wall).  Last year, I found this one right next to the front faucet:

 

A likely place since they spend lots of time here until the cold really sets in and kills them.  For the most part I'm happy to share my garden with them but I was shocked upon reading Robin's blog to find out they also prey on hummingbirds.  I have never witnessed that nor do I see them on my feeders.  Nature is a never ending wonder, isn't it?? 

It's a bug eat bug world

which makes it very hard when it comes to witnessing nature in action.  The more I garden, the more I see of the food chain at work and it isn't pleasant, especially when it involves a beautiful, beloved butterfly or an industrious honey bee.   In case you haven't guessed what's coming, a word of warning for anybody who prefers happy endings (myself included), please do not scroll down or read beyond this point.  The following is my distressing introduction to the Jagged Ambush bug (phymata americana) and his/her tactics in the garden.

It all started innocently enough with me, my camera and a beautiful Monarch butterfly flitting happily from one Buddleia (butterfly bush) blossom to another.  I take my eyes off said butterfly for several minutes to water my containers and when I returned (to take a few more photos) I immediately noticed the Monarch hanging oddly (try upside down):

 

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the Monarchs head is being held by a very small (about 1/2") bug.  That's the bug between the buddleia blossom & the Monarch in the photo above.  Of course my immediate reaction was to try and "save" the Monarch but once I was able to release it from the bugs grasp I realized it was too late.  What on earth???  This disturbing turn of events incited a whole slew of research into the identity of the bug and its habits so I could understand what had just happened.  For starters, I picked the bug off the buddleia and put it in one of my daughters old bug collecting jars.   Here's a close up of the predator in the jar:

My dad actually helped me identify it (he's better then bugguide.net) as the Jagged Ambush bug.  Apparently this bug has an abundance of patience, and lays in wait (usually on the underside of flowers/leaves, etc) for any kind of insect (doesn't matter how big or small).   At the first opportunity, it grabs the unsuspecting insect (with its powerful praying mantis shaped forearms) and stabs it with that beaked proboscis seen in the photo above.  The proboscis injects poison into the victim which not only paralyzes it but also liquifies its body contents so the bug can slurp up all the body fluids.  My poor Monarch butterfly never stood a chance.  Here's a look at how well camoflauged the jagged ambush bug was in the buddleia:

I've never noticed these predator bugs in my garden before and now I've started worrying for the safety of all the butterflies & bees I have been trying so hard to attract.  I almost don't want them to feed for fear of a repeat disaster.  Now that I'm aware of the jagged ambush bug, I see them on other flowers, like my Helianthus annus (annual sunflowers).  Check out this one sitting on the edge of the sunflower center: 

It wouldn't make me feel so bad if they would limit their prey to flies, mosquitoes, & yellow jackets but unfortunately, that's not how it works.  While inspecting the sunflowers, I noticed a honey bee on one of the heads then realized it too had fallen prey to the jagged ambush bug (you can barely see the bug on the underneath side of the bee):

I'll never watch butterflies feed in quite the same light hearted manner ever again after my experience yesterday.  Before I gardened, I never thought much about how difficult it was for other living creatures to survive but now I think it must be a miracle for any of them to make it to the reproduction stage.  Today I'm wondering if I will offset the balance of nature if I go out and pick all the ambush bugs off the Buddleia and Helianthus?????  What would you do??

battle scarred

Looks like this little ladybug is a survivor,  I never noticed the gouge on his left side when I was taking his picture.  It was only after I loaded the photo onto my computer that I saw it.  Makes me curious how he got it.  Did he narrowly escape being eaten?  or did he back into a thorn while eating aphids off the rose bush for me??  It doesn't look fatal but what do I know?  Maybe ladybugs are prone to infection too?  I hope not as I want him to stick around in my yard. 

ps  I never knew how fast these little guys are ~ I worked and worked at getting a shot of him ~ he was scurrying along the vegetation so fast he had to be on a mission.

goings on

A little of this and that this AM. Clinging to the side of my house (next to my front door) was this little (about 2 1/2") hawk moth. I never noticed how big their eyes were until we got this intimately acquainted....

I also thought you might like to see the clematis texensis fully open (I didn't have a photo when I did my post on it). I'm still in awe of how truly gorgeous it is.

Juvenile Western Kingbirds have fledged the nest and are making their way to my garden. This photo is from last year, I haven't been able to snap any so far this year. They are such pretty birds (I think of them as understated elegance) luckily they have consistently nested in our neighborhood (but unfortunately not in my yard) so I get to see them when they come for a splash in my birdbath.

and lastly, I discovered buds on the leonotis leonurus. Hooray! The hummingbirds will be thrilled when these open. Look for a post devoted exclusively to them in the very near future. They are hardy to zone 8 so I grow them only as annuals. I think that wraps up my hodge podge of a post. Seemed like a lot of little occurrences to document, I hope you don't mind.

baby bandits

I have a neighbor that I walk with almost every evening in the summer.  It's uncanny how many times we've found something interesting while out strolling the neighborhood.  Last night it was five baby raccoons!!  They had climbed up the honey locust tree beside her patio.  We never saw the parents but I'm sure they were around somewhere.  Doesn't this one look so cute?  There were two groups of two (huddled together) and one by himself the furthest up the tree.  I wish I could have gotten a shot with all five but I had my zoom lens on and couldn't find a good angle.  Here's another shot with two of the babies together:  (they didn't appear to be scared by us, just watchful)

Raccoons are common in our neighborhood (they don't get into too much trouble) but they are drawn to my neighbors house in particular.  Last year, a pair nested in her chimney!  You'll never believe the interesting way she got them out ~ by putting a pan of vinegar in the fireplace and turning a radio on really loud by the hearth.  The mother moved the babies within a couple hours.  Isn't that a great solution?  With the mother doing the moving, none of them got hurt (trying to excavate them) and they weren't as stressed out as they could have been with a different method.  I'm sure these little ones climbed down after we left and went on their merry way.  Now if I can figure out how to get the reflection off their eyes, I'll be a happy girl!