Ok, so apparently I can only go for so long before I have to write about growing things again.
Speaking of, Do Not Ever buy a butterfly raising kit. If you want to witness the miracle of butterfly metamorphosis, plant milkweed or mallow, and they will naturally come to you. Eschew artificial means.
Lets talk about Evil Beetles. Here in Florida we have literally thousands of different kinds of beetles. So many that the garden experts won’t even try to ID them for you if they’re not obviously a Japanese beetle. So when you have some little black buggers doing this to your crepe myrtle…
You have to resort to chemical warfare.
Yes, I said it, we use chemicals in the garden. WE LIVE IN FLORIDA. If we did not use chemicals, we’d soon be aswarm in these little devils, along with uncounted other pests (*coff* pickleworms). And dast not ye suggest I pick these things off and deal with them by hand. ICKY. Plus, they burrow into whatever they’re currently noshing on (like my dang roses), which means you’d more likely squish them in place than actually get a grip capable of pulling them out. And like I said….ICKY.
So liquid Sevin it is. Yes, we’re careful. No, we never spray it where the pets can get to it.
Over the weekend we purchased two Bleeding Heart vines, one purple (Clerodendron speciosa), one white (Clerodendron thomsoniae). The plan is to allow them to climb up the back of the pool enclosure, behind the butterfly bushes, ergo attracting even MORE butterflies.
We had lantana back there last year, which grew so large it spilled down into the yard, and its lower stems were pushing dangerously hard on the enclosure screen. But MAN did it attract the butterflies. We had butterflies of every description visiting all summer. Nevertheless, it had to go, and maybe I’m just early in my expectations, but it seems the flutterbys have been somewhat disdainful of the purple/magenta butterfly bush instead of the yellow/red/orange lantana. So, I’m going to be even sneakier and plant some orange butterfly weed in the front of that long bed, just so we’re covering the entire color spectrum. I’ll get you, my pretties.
See? The dragonflies already love the Bleeding Heart vine:
Found this critter hanging out above the backyard rain “barrel” (it’s a huge clay pot with the bottom drain hole sealed, both cheaper and prettier than the stuff being retailed):
This is a click beetle, specifically an Eyed Elater. While its larvae eat wood-boring insects (making it a beneficial sort of bug), the thing was Two Inches Long…and no bug should be that big. Ever.
My brave purple strawflower is blooming along:
The temperature this past week has been climbing into the 90s already, and the climbing roses are absolutely loving it. The Don Juan:
And the “I forget what variety this is” rose:
The Slowest Tomato Evar is still growing oh so very slowly:
I think next year maybe a bit more peat moss in the planting boxes soil mixture.
The milkweed is ready to pop:
And have you seriously seen healthier tomato plants in your life?
These are San Marzano tomato plants (one Redorta), alleged to make the finest tomato sauce on the planet. All I can think when looking at them is, “I gotta learn how to can.”
And finally, the birdy-view of our westerly fence:
Birdbrains do have their priorities:
on 
on May 29th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Rain barrels are cheap and easy. Go to a car wash place and they’ll probably give you as many as you can haul away for free, that’s what we’ve been doing. The hardware is like…$11.00 a barrel. Paint them anyway you want to using Krylon Fusion (Ace Hardware) spray paint. You can shoot some into Dixie cups and paint all kinds of things on the outside: http://www.rogerwendell.com/images/water/tampa_rain_barrel_painting_project_08-25-2006.jpg
http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/articles/adams/audrey/water_barrel.htm
Canning vegetables is easy too, it’s the meat that’s tricky because of salmonella and correct temps and all that. Boil the sauce, boil the jars and lids and rings, pull out the jars with tongs, fill with sauce, wipe clean the jar-lip, slap on a lid and hold it down until it seals with the ring. Boom, done. All you need is a pot big enough to boil the jars, a mason jar tong to lift that out of the boiling water, and a wide-mouth funnel. And technically, that’s just to make things a little easier, you don’t even NEED all that. Buy your canning supplies at the grocery store and have at it. I will recommend that when making pickles, because they have to be boiled, do the lime treatment (also at the grocery store canning dept) to keep them crisp and lemon curd completely loses all it’s flavor after it’s canned and stored. It’s better fresh. There are canning idea/recipes books, instructions online…it’s really as easy as it sounds. Every so often I make a mess of bar b q sauces that keep forever and if I pick too many strawberries, it’s jelly time.
Love your pictures and your garden blog! Keep up the great work!!
on May 29th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
@K: Carwash barrels? INteresting. Thanks for the links!
Pickling we have down, LOOOOVE pickles. I shall cease worrying about the sauce canning now though, sounds easy enough, and I’ll be reading up on it. Thank you!
on May 29th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
That bug freaked me out. Looks like it’s got a skull for a head.
Your roses are gorgeous. I’m so jealous. I really need a house and some land to dig up and plant gardens on!
on May 29th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I love the Bleeding Heart Vine. I saw some on the side of the road one time and brought it home but it did not survive. Now that you remind me I think I will try again!!
on May 29th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Yay, my tomato plants have finally become bigger than The Slowest Tomato Ever.
on May 29th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I have a thing for hanging stuff in back yards. Don’t ask why, I don’t know. But I love the bird feeders and wind chime. And your bleeding hearts. One of my favorites!
on May 29th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
@coriander: I’ll have to go tell the little bastard that. Maybe humiliation will work.
on May 30th, 2008 at 6:03 am
Call me a slut, but I don’t even bother boiling the jars for preserves or pickles or whatever. Just put them in the dishwasher on the highest setting: it has the same effect
on May 30th, 2008 at 6:06 am
@Victoria: Call me a prude…I kind of like the whole, er, ritual of it all.
on May 30th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I could just look at your photos and never read a thing. Great shots!
on May 30th, 2008 at 9:02 am
@Jane Marie: Thanks!
on May 30th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I’m sorry about your infestation of Japanese beetles. My dad has problems with them in North Carolina too. So far no signs of them in Austin, at least not in my garden, but I’m having trouble with the agave weevil.
Your dragonfly photo is gorgeous!
on May 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
@ Stacy: No, I’d call you a good old-fashioned (ritualistic) romantic
on May 30th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I like what you’ve done with the bird feeders. I have a similar fence and that is a good idea.
on Jun 1st, 2008 at 9:17 am
@Wicked Gardener: Thanks!
on Jun 2nd, 2008 at 12:30 am
Beautiful bleeding heart photo–irresistible. That bug–I thought it was what a bug had left behind after moving on in some other form. I am not phobic about bugs, but those EYES–sheesh. Great job.
–kate