Snow

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Meredith

And for a few glorious minutes today, it snowed. Flurries drifting through the air in the middle of the day — that’s a sight rarely seen here in Austin. Most of the time that it snows here, it sneaks in during the middle of the night or early morning.

I was at the gym, mourning my missing yoga pants — I’d left them at home in a rush to get to my spin class. So in cycling shorts I got to spin, take a yoga class, run an errand, and get lunch, all the while with people looking at me strangely that I’d be in shorts in such cold, cold weather. But as I headed back to my car, beautify wispy bits of white snow began to drift down. Watching them float through the air was mesmerizing. Soon there was enough that I had to turn on my windshield wipers to see the lane in front of me. And as I approached my subdivision and nice warm house, the snow faded away. Coincidence? I think not.

By the way, I also accidentally left my yoga mat at home. Guess what happened to it in a house with three dogs?

Repeat After Me

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Meredith

The hours I spent in the cold today making sure soil was wet and tender plants were covered in sheets and blankets — and all the hauling of container plants my family did — were worth it because:

We love our plants. We do.
The plants that survive will feed creatures to come and will make our yard a happy place come spring.
The plants cost a lot at the nursery, and it would also cost a lot to replace them.
It’s a good way to use all those old sheets we had.
That was a lot of rocky soil we had to dig through to get those plants in the ground.
The majority of the young plants are native, and if they can make it through this winter, they are more likely to make it later, too.
If they make it and grow to be big and strong, someday I won’t have to take such precautions to protect them.
Those that are having to brave the cold without a sheet to cover them — well, that which hurts us makes us stronger, right?
If it doesn’t snow with this cold front, I can always hope for snow in a few days when we get to do this all over again.
And someday when it’s warmer again and I don’t have to cover plants with sheets — I’ll like gardening again and be oh so grateful I spent all this time nurturing them.

You people with several months of snow should be grateful that you don’t have to go through plant protection again.. and again… and again… with ups and downs in temperature!

Falling Behind on Comments, Eep

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Meredith

I want to send out a thank you to everyone who has commented on my posts lately. I’ve been truly swamped, so I haven’t had a chance to reply very much, but I promise you that I read and appreciate every one of your comments. Likewise, I haven’t had a chance to visit many blogs or Blotanical lately, and I miss you all! I sneak a peek when I can, but I usually send a smile from afar due to time constraints.

So please keep visiting and don’t worry if you don’t get a reply back — as soon as I can I’ll be back in comment mode!

The Beauty of Lost Maples in Fall

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Meredith

Lost Maples State Natural Area, near Kerrville and Vanderpool, Texas, is beautiful year-round, but it is the fall colors of its bigtooth maples and other deciduous trees that draw in the crowds. The park is named for its pocket of bigtooth maples that were brought to its canyons by Ice Age glaciers. The maples do well because of the park’s microclimate, though in any given year the fall colors are dependent on that year’s rainfall and temperatures.

During our visit, the woods were a colorful palette of greens, golds, oranges, reds, and browns. The colors come from the Bigtooth Maples, Red Oaks, Lacey Oaks, Flameleaf Sumacs, and other trees, and even vines such as Virginia Creeper and Poison Ivy.

Sometimes the colors were all present on the same tree.

But when the trees were ready, they really did the colors right.

Aside from the pleasing flora, the park offers miles of trails, springs, rivers, overlooks, grasslands, fern-covered canyon walls, and more. During the fall, visitors will wait in car lines for two hours just to get into the park. We cheated by going on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and we had no problem getting in. After the 3.5-hour drive from Austin, we were ready for some exercise!

The dogs were very excited to be there, too. Most of the pictures in this blog were taken after their energy wore out a little. Guess why?

Lost Maples’ most popular trail is a short, relatively easy walk, but we opted for the almost-5-mile East Trail. Shortly into the hike, we were met by a sign that read something along the lines of “Steep Trail for the Next 1.5 Miles.” It was not just steep — it was very, very rocky, too. And you know, what goes up, must come down.

But it was worth it to see the beauty of the area for miles around.

The mountaintop was covered in Ashe Junipers and various grasses. The boys imagined a scene from an African savannah, with lions lurking about.

As we made our way down the other side of the mountain, the stunning fall foliage came forth again.

Though the dogs were worn out by the end, they didn’t mind a final jog.

On our way home, we stopped at Stonehenge II, a smaller version of its more famous archaeological wonder of a cousin. It also has an Easter Island-like statue. It was getting dark, so we snapped a picture and headed on. A nifty spot to visit — we’ll go back in daylight.

War, Peace, and Bananas

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Meredith

It seems strange to post pictures of a bright sunny day while I listen to the lovely sounds of raindrops falling outside. But at least I’m dry.

Over the past couple of days, the garden was a green version of Grand Central Station. Butterflies, wasps, moths, flies, and other creatures all came to feast, rest, and feast some more. It was high noon when I took these, unfortunately, but beggars can’t be choosers when there are masses of creatures about all at the same time! You just get the shots when you can.

At last, Painted Lady butterflies have come to visit.

I love the hidden peacock feathers you see in their hindwings.

Variegated Fritillaries have arrived, too.

A Snout Butterfly rested on Big Muhly.

And Queens went back and forth between the Gregg’s Mistflower…

and the Milkweed.

I have so many kinds of skippers I can’t name them all.

I think this is a Fiery Skipper…

and this a White-Checkered Skipper.

The Gulf Fritillary was a challenge to photograph — it cared not for sitting still.

And Sulphurs — some big, some small. Is this a Southern Dogface Sulphur or a Cloudless Sulphur?

Tiny yellow butterflies fluttered about — they didn’t sit still for long. Hmmm… Little Yellow or Mimosa?

The big butterfly attractors have been the milkweed, zinnias, and Gregg’s Mistflower, but a few days ago I set out a banana for the butterflies. They do love a rotting banana, but the last time I did that, the banana just rotted all by its little lonesome. This time, I walked out to discover a Goatweed Leaf Butterfly enjoying a snack with a Snout Butterfly (and a fly).

So I decided to set out a fresher banana, as well, and — whoa — incoming. Suddenly my new banana became an experiment and a wildlife study. The first visitors were wasps and flies. I’m not even going to attempt to identify any of these, but there’s quite the variety!

The wasps didn’t always get along. The big red hornet-like one was the bully you’d expect him to be — not that the other wasps were friendly and gentle-like, mind you…

While the wasps were distracted with their quarreling, the flies zoomed in for some banana. I like how they naturally spread themselves out.

Do you see the beautiful metallic turquoise insect in the lower left corner? That’s a Cuckoo Wasp — the only one I can identify other than “fly” or “wasp.”

Here’s another pic.

I didn’t mind all the visiting wasps. It kept them distracted from my Queen caterpillars on the milkweed.

And the flies and wasps weren’t the only visitors to the bananas. Snouts began to venture over to the fresher banana, and today I found my first Red Admiral. What a beauty!

red admiral.jpg
See this “pretty” yellow, green, and black bug? Bad bug. Spotted cucumber beetle. You can mourn it if you like — it and four of its friends. At least I found them on the banana and not in my veggie garden. That water in the pic is from today’s rain.

The only butterfly picture I didn’t capture that first picture day was the lone Monarch I saw flying around. Have they started to move on? I’m keeping my eye out for caterpillars — I did see a female Monarch laying eggs on the milkweed several days ago.

Elsewhere in the garden today, I discovered what I think is an assassin bug nymph. My last one was red, though, so I don’t know.

And off in the former pumpkin patch, where a few pumpkins and vines await me doing something about them, I found an icky green guy having a feast.

Enjoy it while you can, buddy.

Snout Butterflies

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Meredith

Who nose why they have this name? Yeah, ok, that joke really smells. ‘Snot my best.

But I have to say, the snout butterfly is pretty cool. Its elongated palpi in front of its eyes give it the appearance of having a long nose.

Easily camouflaged on tree branches and dead leaves, one might not even notice it.

Until it opens it’s wings, that is — hello!

I’d never seen one until this year, and now they are all over my garden. It’s possible they’ve been visiting for years, as we have numerous hackberries in the area and in my yard — the trees are the larval host of snout butterflies. But I’d been eagerly keeping an eye out this year, and suddenly the snouts are plentiful. Supposedly it has something to do with drought and rain — with the right conditions, the population can be enormous, and then these cute little butterflies might fly en masse, like a cloud in the sky. Now that’s another sight I’d like to see!

The Lovable Furry Creature

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Meredith

It started out like any other afternoon. I went out to garden and got distracted immediately by butterflies flutterbying. Then I noticed two Queen butterflies doing their thing on the fence by the veggie garden, and as I just couldn’t miss the photo opportunity, I ran to get the camera. Just in case you are interested, the male is at the fence’s edge, and the female is upside-down.

But what I really want to draw your attention to is the sneaky little voyeur nicely camouflaged in the lower right corner. I didn’t notice it until the Queens flew away.

And suddenly I forgot all about those pretty butterflies, and I was in love. Sorry, hubby.

Isn’t she CUTE? Here she is again, turned for your viewing pleasure.

She has interesting markings on her back. She’s some species of Phidippus, but I couldn’t find a similar spider online with those kinds of markings. So for now, she’s “Phidippus Meredith.”

Would she have attacked the butterflies if they hadn’t flown off? Did they fly off because of me (probably) or the spider? I guess we’ll just never know!

After a bit I pulled my two plain blue eyes away from her eight gorgeous hypnotic black eyes and went to check on the veggies, where I found this monster chewing away. NOT cute.

My son came outside then, so I rushed to show him the spider. And look what she had caught! Smart girl! What is that?

Look, now she’s giving it a hug!

She loves it!

Not too far away, I found another jumping spider (and I was ecstatic, of course). This one is Phidippus mystaceus, also CUTE. How can you resist her? She’s so furry and lovable. Her eight eyes give her remarkable vision. Quite the tracker. Little flies would land near her, and she would turn her body instantaneously to watch them.

Bye, little spider! I love you!

At Last, a Male Monarch

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Meredith

The garden is just magical — as soon as I walk outside, I see dozens of butterflies fluttering about, and I’m literally mesmerized for some time. And finally, the male Monarchs have started to join the females. So I get to add a new picture to my Butterfly ID page, which shows easy ways to distinguish Queens, Monarchs, Soldiers, and Viceroys. Here’s the image I’m adding in — see the updated page for the whole set of photos.

Scrappy Doo

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Meredith

Well, I’ve been hammered with an Honest Scrap award from Drew of Ecologic Consulting. Thank you, Drew! I’m quite honored and smiling up a storm.

Getting this award requires a number of tasks. One of these is to tell 10 honest things about myself. Well, that’s pretty easy to do because…

1. I’m a very open person. I say what I see and wear my heart on my sleeve. I completely perceive this as a major flaw, mind you. Would that I were harder to read and be less likely to cry at any emotional moment, happy or sad…. I think this openness trait also contributes to me being a friendly talker. I can easily enjoy a conversation with any given stranger in any given place. One time I spent hours in a Goodwill in the dishes aisle chatting with a woman about everything under the sun. I think we just had so much in common, including the openness, talkative gene!

2. The simple things in life are often the things that delight me the most. Maybe that’s why I’m also a nature girl.

3. I’m a very visual person. If I can’t see it in front of me, I’m unlikely to remember it. Therefore, anyone who tells me his or her name might as well assume I’m going to forget it unless there’s some other visual connection (like a garden blog!). I’m particularly bad at remember names of anyone in a group. Somehow the higher number of people just ensures that I’m going to forget absolutely everyone’s names. This has definitely gotten worse with age. And according to my kids, I’m officially old, as of my last birthday.

4. I tune in easily with animals. Perhaps that’s also why I have so many pets. And they all follow me around no matter what I’m doing, like my little pack. My husband long ago gave up trying to keep them out of the study when I’m in there. Even my little dwarf puffer comes out to see me when I’m around.

5. I’m easily distracted. What?

6. I’m a perfectionist. Here, let me correct that, perfectionist that I am. I’m a selective perfectionist. This means that while I’m not a perfectionist about everything, I’m absolutely obsessive about the things I choose, consciously or subconsciously, to be a perfectionist about, typically something I create.

7. Green has always been my favorite color. Why on earth didn’t I become a gardener sooner?

8. I buy too many plants without having a bed to place them in directly. I can blame this on my mother, for sure. She’s always been an impulse shopper, and so am – ooh, shiny!

9. While I love to shop for plants, I hate to shop for clothes. I have the unfortunate luck of only being able to find things I like if they are an impulse buy and not an “I desperately need to have something to wear to such-and-such event” item. On the other hand, my clothes budget is very low. All that money goes to plants instead!

10. I love spur-of-the-moment activities. That’s what adds spice to my life, baby!

11. What, 11? As another blogger once put it, she breaks rules, and so do I on stuff like this. So my award tasks end here – I enjoy way too many blogs to try to choose ones to hammer with an award, but I gush about all of you in my own way. I’d hammer you all, if I could!

Thank you again, Drew!

Spiny-Backed Orb Weaver

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Meredith

This little lady’s been a pleasure and a nuisance to have around. We love spiders, so we welcomed her little apartment web and love bringing her the occasional bug treat. But she’s chosen to attach her web to a ladder, a brand new planter I’m wanting to fill, and a tree that hangs over our back gate, so her web is in a most inconvenient spot!

When we first saw the spider a few days ago, it was actually my youngest son that helped me identify it. He called it a Thorn Spider, having learned about it in school — it turns out that’s what similar spiders in Madagascar are called. Here they are Spiny Orb Weavers, or Spiny-Backed Orb Weavers. They come in a variety of color combinations.

While trying to take a picture, I got to study her a bit, and a little research supported my observations. Rather than wrapping small prey in silk, she traveled along a web line, snagged the prey, dangled from a fresh silk line, and then traveled up the line to the reposition herself in the center of the web before enjoying her feast directly.

How do I know she’s a she spider? It’s the females that make the webs, a new one every single day. You won’t catch me building a new home every day! Or, say, ever.

I’m glad I was able to get a picture of her before she moves on to another web spot. I was worried that yesterday’s rains would make her leave. But she’s back. But every day prior to this, she’s been in eye view. Today I had to climb on a folding chair, get on my tippy-toes, and snap several shots of a moving spider in a web being blown by the breeze. I’d have used a ladder to get higher, but the silly spider attached her web to it!

For a look at a beautiful red version, check out Linda’s at CTGardener. If they weren’t both females, I’d say we should breed them and make a pink one!

P.S. Check out the markings on the back — in some places people call these spiders “smiley face spiders”! 🙂