I saw these caterpillars in my garden, and didn't recognize them.  However, I did recognize the plant they were eating: Passionflower.  I have been resisting pulling it out all summer, hoping it would bloom.  I got no blossoms, but this may be better;  I love raising butterflies.

 

I went to the Stokes Butterfly Book and discovered that Gulf Fritillaries use passion vine for a larval food plant.  Then, I looked up Gulf Fritillary to see what their caterpillars look like.  Guess what!!!  They look like that!!

 

Here is the adult on an onion blossom.  It was very close to where I discovered the caterpillars.

 

 

I'm so glad I found a picture of this butterfly.  I took the picture back in early June.  I wonder if this is the mom.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

Chestnut Oak, Quercus prinus.  

 

Like most of the Oaks, they are tall trees, typically 60 - 70 feet, sometimes reaching 100 feet tall.  They have dark, deeply ridged trunks, and leathery leaves.

 

The leaves look a lot like Chestnut leaflets, with rounded teeth.  Acorns are BIG, and a major food source for deer.  The years we have small acorn crops are the winters the deer eat EVERYTHING in your garden.

 

This year the Chestnut Oaks are loaded with acorns.  This stand of trees is on Five Forks Drive, near Solitude.  

 

Be sure to look for them on your walks or drives through the neighborhood.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

I saw spring flowering bulbs for sale in the garden center, and I bought my red tulips.  But I'm not planting them yet.

 

It's getting close to time to plant bulbs, but not quite.  I think we need to wait til fall is officially here.  I'm afraid if we plant them now and it stays warm they may begin to sprout.  Then there will be nothing in the spring.

 

Go ahead and get the ones you plan to grow now, while the selection is good.  Keep them in a cool, dry place until

you're ready to plant them.  Besides, half the fun is the planning stage.  I love dreaming about where I'm going to put more daffodils, and what color pansies I'm going to grow on top of my tulips.  Check out gardening magazines and catalogs for ideas for spring bulbs.  They're so much fun!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

I just learned about hyperlinks!!  So I'm practicing on YOU!

 

This is where I check for good planting days.  Thought you might like it.

 

Just click on the link and you will get to the website.

 

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

I am curious about those yukky looking webs in the trees.  I don't know much about entomology,  so I went to Wikipedia and read about tent caterpillars and webworms.

 

I just learned how to upload a hyperlink.  So if you're interested, here are the links to learn more.  

 

 Webworms in Wikipedia

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

Sourwood, Oxydendrum arboreum.  Very prolific in our woods.  Almost "weedy."

 

Sourwood usually grows to a height of 20 - 50 feet.  They bloom in late spring in pendant clusters of white bell shaped flowers, and what we are seeing now are the resulting pendant clusters of seed pods.  The dry seed pods will stay on the trees through most of the winter.  

 

When in flower, the bees love them, turning the nectar into sourwood honey.  

 

Apparently, some tent caterpillars like them too.  I wonder which butterfly or moth creates those horrible looking tents... Thank goodness the trees are deciduous, so they can drop their leaves and grow new ones in the spring.  

 

Beginning soon, they will start showing their beautiful crimson fall color.  You can already see some young ones changing color!  Look in the underbrush on the roadsides, and you'll probably see some red sourwoods.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

Here's another good reason to grow Echinacea.  Butterflies love them too.

 

I think this is a Pearl crescent.  This pose is typical for Pearl crescent - with its wings spread flat.  It sure made it easy to approach and take a picture.  Almost like he posed for me.

 

Crescents get their name from the small light color crescent near the edge of the hind wings.

 

Their larval food is asters which abounds here.  I'll get a picture soon.  But their nectar favorites are Black-eyed Susans and white clover.  Lots of that around too.  

 

This is fun, researching and learning the names of butterflies, so I can share fairly accurate information with you.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

I think this is NY Ironweed on the fence at Al's.  Not positive, because I've never seen such a small bit of it.  But it was easier for Sandy Bradley to photograph it up close in his driveway, than at 45 mph on 19-129.  So we did.

 

Veronia noveboracensis.  New York Ironweed.  You can see a huge stand of it on Moccasin Creek Rd when you turn left out of the neighborhood.  It's in the field just past the horses on the right.

 

It grows 3 - 9 feet tall in low wet meadows, along streams, usually in moist soil.  The flowerheads appear to be flat-topped.  But each plant has many heads of purple or magenta colored flowers, each consisting of 20 or more small blossoms in each cluster.  They are in full bloom right now, and really breathtaking.

 

I hope you see some in your travels.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

When we retired in 2004, and bought our home here, Jon said, "I'll never have to cut grass again!". Then in June when we got here, they had just hydro-seeded our lot!!!  So much for retirement from mowing...

 

That reminds me...September is a good time to overseed any bare spots in your lawn.  It's also time to start your lawn fertilization program.   Choose a winterizer program and spread according to recommendations on the package.  Most lawns (namely Fescue lawns) will be happy with 3 applications in the fall:   September, October, and November spaced 30 days apart.

 

If you have overseeded, allow the new grass time to grow and receive 2 - 3 cuttings before further fertilizer applications. And remember to cut when the lawn is dry. 

 

After November it's best to leave your lawn alone.  Your fall efforts should pay off in the spring.

 

Do check out the picture:  Jon has always mowed this yard in baseball cleats, well, not the first time, but he learned quickly how not to skid down the hill chased by a lawnmower.  He also wears ear protection, and gloves to prevent slippery hands.  Mr. Safety!!!  And a very good example.

 

 

HAPPY SEPTEMBER!!

 

Everyday my Black gum is changing.   I love watching its progression into fall!!

 

In your travels, look for splashes of brilliant red leaves.  It's probably Black gum, Nyssa sylvatica.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!