Monarch 1 & 2

#1's chrysalis is starting to turn clear today! #2 started pupating last night. I wasn't able to watch it happen, but I did see it in its "J" form. Today, I woke up to it turned into a chrysalis...albeit a fresh one. It was really pretty too! Striped just like it was before when it was a caterpillar! Backlit...you could see the space in it too. It didn't even eat the four leaves I gave it last night.

Update and Mysterious growths

Mysterious growth on Acorn Squash:



Mysterious growths after a rainstorm:





Squash #1:



Squash #2:



Squash #3:



Squash #4:



Squash #5:



Squash #6:



Tillandsia xerographica in spike:



Lots of green tomatoes!



Epies enjoying more sun as shown by the awesome huge new growths!



Mini bell peppers, habañeros, and a Meyer Lemon:



Black Cherry tomato, Tiny Tom tomato, mystery tomato, Zinnia, Cymbidiums, Banana, Camellias, Gladiolus:

Monarch Progress

Day 7: Molted





Sulking...No food!



Where's the food?



FOOD!



Cup packed with milkweed for Fattie while I was gone to NC:



Milkweed Paradise!



Within hours he grew to 2" long!



Day 12: Fattie was in a chrysalis when I got home from my trip :(



Went to pull the excess milkweed out so that Fattie could have a place to dry his wings when he comes out of his chrysalis and found this little guy!



Day 14: 8/10/10, you can see a faint image of the wings to be!



Day 15:

Apple Tree

So this morning as I am worrying about finding a dentist that is open I heard a loud crack! I looked outside and saw right away what had happened. The old apple tree in my neighbor's yard that was struck by lightening a few years ago....broke. The only surviving mature branch, laden with apples, finally succumbed to its own offspring's weight :( It has a few little twigs on it left, but they are no where near big enough to be bearing fruit. Hopefully it survives since the top has been dead since that strike. I went over and salvaged as many, non-bruised apples that weren't infested with apple maggot, as possible. I've really enjoyed watching this tree over the years.

The owner, who passed away last year or the year before, was the one who sold us our house. Every fall he used to come and pick up all the fallen fruit. He said, at the time, 30 years ago he bought an apple, pear and peach tree for $1 each! They were only a few feet tall and little twigs at the time! The peach tree died early on and I can still see the stump today. I hope the apple tree isn't next. The pear tree is SO pretty each spring when it loses its flower petals. While the house is a rental, I hope the man's sons do not decide to cut down these trees.

p.s. It's really hot out!

Monarch

A few days ago Adam came over for a visit, bringing the flava he got me as well as some other things he wanted to show me. As I was giving him a tour of my patch, he found a little monarch caterpillar!

This was the first day we found it...looked to be at L2 stage, 1/4" long:





Day 2:

You can tell it is getting fatter!

Look at its cute little stripey face!

Day 3:

He looks like he is about to burst!

This is how tiny he is compared to my hand!

Look how much bigger the body is than the head! Definitely a porker!

Day 4:

L3 stage. Looks like Fattie molted! Check out the new antennas!

Looking more like a caterpillar!

Day 5:

L4, Fattie must've molted again last night. Look at those loooong antennas!

Add a caption

I think he was sleeping here.

I think he was sleeping here. I wish I could tell in their larval stage whether they are boys or girls. For now it's a he to me :)

July Growths

Bleeding Heart is going into dormancy and isn't looking so great. I'm also thinking it ought to be propped up like a peony too. Thinking of replacing the peony next to it too since it didn't turn out to be a Sarah Bernhardt!

Another view of the front.

Red blooming milkweed.

The two camellias I got from the Lyman Estate. The one on the left is pink and the one on the right is white.

The wild acorn squash plant! It's trying to take over my peppers!

Honeysuckle, Dahalia 'Seattle', Stargazer lilies, Black Krim tomato, Cherokee Purple tomato, basil, orange mini bell peppers, dill, strawberry.

The famous Bhut Jolokias are ripening! Be scared! Be very very scared! :P

Black cherry tomatoes growing, but what is that big tomato below?!

The Jungle & Vacation

After being away for a week I came home to a jungle! Well...sort of. It's never good to put someone else in charge, especially if that someone else is male and not into plants! My jasmine and Tiny Tim tomato are in shock. :( My lemon lost its baby lemon! :( Nothing died persay, but stressed for sure!
My acorn squash doubled in size as you can see in the above pic. It has a baby squash growing on it! The marigolds I planted last year has gotten HUGE! Had I known they were going to get that big I wouldn't have planted them next to the peppers! I might need to dig them out...in fact, that's probably a good idea! They weren't nearly as big last year!

Here's two pics of my Dahalia 'Seattle'. I accidentally broke this one so I had to cut it off the plant!

Agave in Bloom at Phipps Conservatory!

German Red Garlic

Today I decided to check on my German Red garlic. They all had about 4-5 green leaves left, which is a good thing. I decided to harvest them since I'll be going out of town this Saturday. Broke a few skinny stalks from the bulb. Some I could find, others I couldn't. I guess I'll know when they grow next year!

They were not nearly as big as the bulb I originally bought to put in, but compared to my Music/mystery bulbs they were bigger with the exception of the smaller bulbs planted. John said that they like rich soil...I think rich is an understatement since the German family I met just a few weeks back grows theirs in 100% year old compost! I'm gonna have to try that this fall. I need more space though...or grow less lilies, but they are oh so pretty to look at instead of just garlic! Dilemmas dilemmas dilemmas!

July Growths

Bhut Jolokia peppers growing.

Yellow jacket got into one of my pitcher plants and tried to escape by chewing a hole through the side, but that's where he died still!

Dahalia 'Seattle'

Dahalia 'Seattle' isn't as big as the package said the flower would be... :( Nor is it as yellow as it was shown. There is a lot of pink scattered all over. Maybe they packaged the wrong one in the bag?

Stargazer lilies

Close up of a Stargazer lily. I took off the pollen because they stain everything including me when I am gardening around it! I look forward to its fragrance every year!