Visitors

I'm taking advantage of this gorgeous weekend to get some outdoor work done, now that the rain has paused, and observed these visitors:

Orange sulphur butterfly
(Colias eurytheme)

Praying mantis

Sometimes you just need to keep your eyes open.

Inside, one of my houseplants is blooming.

Parlor palm
(Chamaedorea elegans)

Again, it helps to pay attention.

Otherwise, it has been another week of mulching and mowing. Today I even trimmed the yard. All the Halloween flamingos are out, including the new skeleton ones.

I see that one of my elderly neighbors (and by "elderly", I mean older than me) now has a scooter to help him get around the yard. There are days when I am about ready to give up on the house but I don't want to abandon the yard - it's not done yet! (Will it ever be done?) I guess once I can no longer take care of the yard myself, I will consider moving. But not yet. Not yet.

Be careful what you wish for

At the end of my last post I mentioned that we needed rain. And rain we got - 4" in the past couple of days. Today was dry, so I mowed and unplugged some downspouts, just in time for more rain over the next three days.

The rain garden is FULL and parts of the backyard soggy. I haven't been able to do much of anything out there, so not much to report.

My next door neighbor goes all out with her seasonal outdoor decor. My efforts are mostly limited to changing flamingos. I do usually purchase a "hardy" mum for the front porch, though. And one could consider the spider webs on said porch to be Halloween decor?

I am pleased about how the coleus looks this year. Sometimes it gets leggy or bedraggled, but this year it looks *great*.

And that is about it for this week.

Up close and personal

While spraying the weeds, I came across this guy, not in the milkweed "forest" but on one solo volunteer outside the "meadow". I worried that he might be too late for the trip to Mexico, but late monarch caterpillars are part of the "super generation" that not only migrates thousands of miles but lives for months instead of weeks. Alas, it was gone the next day, presumably eaten by a bird. :-(

Then while weeding the meadow, I noticed clusters of red milkweed beetles. When I got too close, they began to scatter. Not sure why, as they taste terrible (according to AI) so are not prey. You'd think they would be more confrontational over being disturbed.

The container plants on the deck are now getting more sun, provoking them to bloom more. I repotted the fuchsia with plans to try to winter them over indoors. The question is whether to do so in the garage where they will be dormant or try to keep them inside the house and maintain them like active houseplants.

This geranium has been overwintered inside the house but looked ragged... until I repotted it. Right now the whole plant looks great. If I overwinter outdoor plants in the house, I should provide them with more light.

The pineapple sage is starting to bloom. It provides late summer nectar for the hummingbirds. In fact, I see a hummer feeding on the blossoms RIGHT NOW.

I've been remiss about some of the weeds and they are going to seed (BAD, BAD GARDENER!) One type of so-called weed sending fluffy seeds hither and yon turned out to not be a weed after all but wild aster. It's very prolific and the goldfinch like the seeds, so I guess I'll stop pulling it.

Most of my labor these days is weeding and mulching. I'm still picking tomatoes and strawberries, but I gave up on the green beans. The grass continues to grow, so there is mowing and trimming as well. The temps are in the 70's, sometimes 80's, so it is still summerlike but not so oppressive. We could use more rain, though.

Like a mullet

Friday night we received 1.75" of welcome rain, which means it is a good time to pull weeds. While bending over a garden bed, I think about my older brothers who love to travel. I'd rather be weeding my garden than waiting for a connection in an airport.

Today I worked on the beds out front, which often leaves me disgruntled because they just don't look very attractive despite all the money I spent having the yard redesigned. Over the course of next summer I plan to move almost all the natives in the front to the back. Then the summer after, I'll replant the front with more standard shrubs, etc. The description that comes to mind is "Business in the front, party in the back."

I have no memory of planting goldenrod on the south side of the house, but there it is, big and beautiful. Now there appears to be a new variety, one that is fuzzy looking and shorter. Hairy goldenrod? I *know* I did not plant it, but goldenrod is rather opportunistic when it comes to bare ground. With the variety I *did* plant on the north side of the house, I now seem to have three kinds of goldenrod. The more, the merrier, at least as far as the pollinators go.

Speaking of pollinators, my SO planted Mexican sunflowers this summer. They have proven to be quite the butterfly and bee magnet. I meant to plant some myself but didn't get around to it. Next year for sure!

We stopped at Lowe's the other day for more mulch and spotted this plant: Echibeckia?!? I consulted AI about this new hybrid. It produces pretty blooms over a long period of time and is sterile, so will not reseed itself. It can be grown as a perennial in USDA zones 6-9 (I'm 5B, so I would be paying $16.98 for a single annual) and attracts beneficial insects.

Don't plant this!

Wait - WHAT?!? I challenged AI about this plant's ability to attract pollinators. And it admitted I was right. Here are the drawbacks of coneflower/rudbeckia cultivars (direct quotes from AI):

• Sterility: Echibeckia is a sterile hybrid. Because it does not set seed, it provides zero food for birds like finches, who heavily rely on the late-season seed heads of native Echinacea and Rudbeckia. 
•  Altered Flower Anatomy: Many popular cultivars (like the Summerina Glow series) feature double-petaled or highly modified densely packed structures. This makes it physically difficult for bees and butterflies to access what little pollen or nectar might be available. 
• Lack of Co-Evolution: True native pollinators evolved alongside straight species (like Echinacea purpurea or Rudbeckia fulgida). Man-made hybrids prioritize aesthetics—like massive blooms, unusual colors, and extended shelf-life—often at the direct expense of nutrient quality

So don't buy this plant!

Inside, I noticed that my aloe vera plant has produced babies, also known as "pups" or "offsets". Four of them... so far. I'm a little surprised since the mother plant is not that big. I'll leave them for now, but I really don't want *more* houseplants.

Outside (thankfully) is this BIG spider that I assume is a funnel spider. I noticed it when it came out to kill a fly caught in its web. I like spiders... as long that they are not in the house!

Maybe it is time to hunt up some Osage orange balls.