First, a jewelweed bloom because I love them and when I was little, I used to imagine that fairies came and had parties, and used these as drinking goblets.

This morning, I happened to notice a box turtle over by the pond. Not an Eastern; an Ornate. I went over for a closer look, and thought it looked an awful lot like Boxy Roxy from last year. Also, she was remarkably calm in my presence, which also made me think it might be Roxy. I found a photo from last year, and compared this shot to it. All of the markings matched up, and since boxies are territorial, and don’t like to move around much, I do believe it is her. She has some damage to the front of her carapace, but she’s still as chill as ever.

I normally don’t pick up turtles because they don’t like it, but she was at the edge of the pond on a rock, straining her neck to reach water, so I felt badly and picked her up; moving her to a safe spot by the bird pool where she could get a drink. Unlike most box turtles, when picked up, Roxy doesn’t close up; she extends her head and legs as if to say, “Wheeeee!” I shot a little video of her this morning, too.

I went out at lunch today, and I got an $8 infants’ wading pool. Maybe 3′ across and about 8″ deep. I’m not yet exactly sure how this is going to end up as a turtle pool, but after watching poor Roxy try to get a drink and be unable to reach, I have to make her something!

In other non-turtle-y news, C and The O gave me some ghost peppers because the goddamned trash pandas won’t stop digging up my Christmas fern (and destroyed two of my baby tomentosa pipevine before they’d been in the ground for 24h!!!). I made them (C and The O, not the trash pandas) this:

Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mix’ (don’t have any burgundy ones ATM).

Tortoise beetles love morning glory. Two species on the same plants!

Charidotella sexpunctata – Golden Tortoise Beetle

Deloyala guttata – Mottled Tortoise Beetle  (photo not great…it was early, and I had to go to work.)

I’d call this catching up, but since that’s my default these days, I guess I’ll just call it posting.

I ran my arse off all weekend, but most of it was watering because it hasn’t rained since last Sunday, and that wasn’t a ground-soaker, and now it’s got hot, so the soil is parched. I don’t exactly take photos of watering, though.

The volunteer elderberry looks really good, and has lots of flowers. It looks better than the ones that I planted, but considering a big goddamned tree fell on them, and Charlotte thinks they’re a fucking buffet, it’s a miracle they’re alive. Anyway, the volunteer looks good.

It finally occurred to me to take a photo of standing cypress when it wasn’t dusk. Much more vibrant in sunlight!

This little hyacinth bean probably won’t amount to much, but it’s cute and I like bean/pea type flowers, so I water it.

I planted a bunch of trumpet creeper seeds I bought and carefully cold stratified. Nothing. I planted the seeds that were left in a pod all winter, and eaten by whatever kind of bugs I found when I opened the pod…and I get a seedling. I’ll take trumpet creeper any way it comes (except near buildings)!

The last of my Snakeroot Faterpillars. One heading off to make his way in the world, and one grabbing a few last bites.

Not a great picture of the pond because of the strong sunlight, but I finally got around to moving my caladiums, and I also built a cairn for Palmzilla, so I was inspired.

I was also inspired to look for the picture of when I started. I believe this is 2015-07-26. Yikes!

When the other faterpillars were an inch-plus long, one little dude was barely over half an inch, and I believe this would be him. He’s a big fat guy now, but he’s the last of 2017’s Snakeroot Swallowtail cater-kids.

There is something wrong with me. It was already hot when I’d finished watering yesterday morning, but do I sit down in the shade and admire my work? Nooooo….I decide it’s a great time to go after the bush honeysuckle that’s crowding my volunteer elderberry! I was sweaty and dirty by the time I’d finished, but I took that bitch out by the roots, and left a nice hole for elderberry to spread.

Looks weird, but I’d rather weird than fucking bush honeysuckle (except Diervilla!)

My milkweed isn’t doing well, so I decided to supplement it with some cosmos seeds. Then, I planted the swamp milkweed I got from J, and threw in some peppers that our alarm system lady was going to compost. It is now a “milkweed” bed.

The tomentosa pipevine I got from J was four little plants, so I put two together in two spots on the fence so they wouldn’t get lonely. I hope they grow well!

The ratibida that volunteered right next to the pink aster I planted by the Sweet Tea honeysuckle has done quite well. It’s really too tall for the spot, but I’m afraid that if I move it, it’ll croak. It volunteered there, so I think there it will have to stay.

Well, almost empty; a couple of the caterpies aren’t big enough yet, but at the rate they consume snakeroot, I don’t expect it’ll be long. I knew they were close because they were getting so big and very fat, but it was interesting to watch them at the actual time they decided it was time to go become flutter-guys.

Getting a few last noms in before it’s time to go.

Time to go!

I got this guy as he was headed up the sweetgum tree, presumably to pupate.

He crawled onto my hand, so I took him in to show Flutter-guy Deh-day how big and fat they’d got.

A little hard to see because it was getting dark and they’re big, but not as big as the tree. Anyway, here are four of them, making their way up the sweetgum.

This is not a caterpie, but it is very pretty standing cypress. I need to grow more of this!

“Catching up” ought to be my middle name.

So…on Saturday, P and I were going to Tractor Supply; he wanted to stop in at work for a few minutes, but didn’t want to make a special trip, and I’d never been to TS before. Anyway, we ended up at Lowe’s, and after I found Blue Muffin Viburnum, Amber Jubilee Physocarpus, and (unnamed, apparently plain ol’) Diervilla, that’s as far as we got.

I was tired and it was hot, so I didn’t get the new shrubs in the ground on Saturday. I did, however, take a photo of calibrachoa in a pot next to Baby Sun coreopsis.

And pretty orange butterfly weed.

It rained (thank Christ) on Sunday, so I didn’t plant the shrubs then, either, and on Monday, I decided to start a duckweed culture for C’s fish.

Yesterday, I took half a day off, and went home to plant. I managed to get everything in the ground (and I also got sweaty, and dirty…this is my life).

Viburnum dentatum ‘Blue Muffin’.

Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Amber Jubilee’.

Diervilla lonicera ‘Plain Ol’ Diervilla’

I was assisted by Eastern Tigers while I was planting. A boy, and this black form lady. They really seem to love those red calibrachoa.

I put the viburnum over by the creek, and had to clear a spot. I found this little tree; I don’t remember what it is, but it’s got blue paint on it, and it was one of the freebies I got from Arborday.org.

I thought these leaves looked familiar. If I ever planted Trumpet Creeper down in the corner, I certainly don’t remember it, but here it grew!

My little “Snakeroot Swallowtail” caterpillars are growing. A week ago, they were itty-bitty, but now they’re fat little eating machines.

YAAAYYY! Finally, I get to see standing cypress bloom! I’ve been trying to grow this stuff for years!

I found this lovely little Jade Clubtail lady when I was watering a pepper plant last night. Her wings are so sparkly that I’m sure it was her birthday!

I haven’t been doing much, but the same cannot be said for seeds (at least some of them…it’s been so goddamned dry that I’m lucky I’m getting anything at all).

Aside from two spots that (something) dug out, the clover seeds that I planted around the pond are doing well. Tiny, and still need to be watered, but they’re growing!

The Christmas ferns may not have looked like much when I got them, but they’re putting out new fronds.

Finally, I found a wild plant that is neither overly common, nor a weed…penstemon! It’s over by the pile of sandstone/osage-orange stumps, so I’m going to have to move it (probably wait until the blooms fall off?), but I found a few plants.

I didn’t know whether prairie clover would germinate as quickly as Dutch white clover, but if it doesn’t, it’s certainly close. This happens to be purple, but the white has germinated as well.

More bebes! Still nothing from the parsley, but I have a bunch of tiny dill seedlings.

The last time I planted watermelon was in 2014. I guess these two are just seeds that didn’t germinate then, but they’re welcome to stay (unless I decide to move them somewhere else).

First, just because they’re pretty…very pink hollyhocks! I don’t remember pink ones from last year, only white, but I’ll take vivid pink flowers anywhere I can get them.

I watered the clover seeds around the pond last night, and just for the hell of it, I started watering the Virginia Snakeroot. I was merrily blasting it with water when I noticed a little brown blob. Closer inspection revealed that it was a clump of bebe Pipevine Swallowtail paterkillers! I had none last year, but by the time I’d finished watering, I’d found 22 caterpillars, and two tiny orange eggs (that may or may not hatch). I hope I’ve got enough snakeroot for them, but at least if I don’t, I can move them to pipevine. I think they should be called “Snakeroot Swallowtail”; they seem to like it more than actual pipevine.

Lots of work this weekend, so lots of photos (some work, some just pretty).

Friday’s accomplishment was extending the Black Swallowtail Buffet. FWIW, I seeded dill and parsley that I’d got at Walschwitz when I bought the last of their edging. I didn’t have quite enough mulch to finish, but there’s enough to keep the seeds down…more on that later.

I was wandering around, pruning a few things here and there, and found a pretty lady. Considering that I just (Monday afternoon) saw a male in the very same calibrachoa, I’m going to guess that Tigers like it.

It was there (curled tightly) when I got the plants, so it’s sort of cheating, but I have a new frond on the Christmas fern!

Asters are blooming far too early this year! I cut a bunch of them back; I hope the early blooming doesn’t mean late-season flutter-guys will be out of luck.

When I got these two tiny lilacs from the Arbor Day Foundation as freebies, I didn’t think they’d live, so I just stuck them in next to the white one. Guess they might live after all…and I’m going to have a creative-looking lilac clump.

She did a pretty damned good job of camouflaging her bright yellow self on the bright yellow coreopsis. Good enough to fool the fly!

First bloom from Echinacea paradoxa. The plants are still small, but I’ll take any kind of flower I can get.

I’m still deciding whether to move the other ones, but these trumpet creeper plants seem quite content where they are. These are the ones in the spot where I spent five hours of my life digging up a goddamned bush honeysuckle.

PowWow white coneflower. I just thought it looked cool, opening up from the side that gets the first sun in the morning.

On Saturday, I started making the flowerbed around the poor little dogwood that got broken (and, for the record, is growing new branches on that side). I just had whatever useful perennials that I could get at Buchheit; they aren’t getting any more plants in because they’re moving in August. That makes no sense to me because they’ll lose a lot of sales in two months, but whatever. I found enough for the space.

I got them all into the ground on Saturday, but didn’t have time, energy, or inclination to finish the bed. Working in the sun is HOT.

In cool news both of the Cup Plant stems that Charlotte sampled are making a new set of leaves! The last time she ate them, they just did nothing; I guess it was early enough in the season this time, and the plants are more established. Anyway, I’ll take it!

Sweet Tea, just because it’s pretty.

Guess it’s time to weed; here’s a giant one!

Sombrero ‘Flamenco Orange’. I remember that colour didn’t sell very well last year, which is kind of odd because coneflowers are sturdy and require so little care, and the bright orange is lovely!

Yesterday, I finished the dogwood flowerbed. I had purple and white prairie clover seeds, so I made a few blobs of soil for them. One is purple, one is white, and the third is mixed.

A photo of dirt–yay! It’s actually dirt with prairie clover seeds pressed into it. I hope they grow; bees love clover, and especially native clover.

Done! Well, mostly done. I’m short about a quarter of a bag of mulch, and I need another half a bag to finish the Black Swallowtail Buffet, but in both cases, I had enough that I didn’t have to run out (or ask P to run out) and get more.

I stuck some cardinal climber seeds in on the arbour. I didn’t think they’d sprout. I was wrong.

Pipevine bloom, just because they’re cool-looking.

Baby Sun coreopsis deserves its name–so bright!

I was mowing the lawn yesterday when I saw this lovely little thing. I didn’t think (s)he’d let me get a photo–Rust-Spotted Teal is a shy species–but again…I was wrong.

Sweet Tea again. Most beloved of bunglebees.

Baby’s breath in the dogwood bed out front.

I had done the laundry yesterday to leave today free to do nothing. I should have known better; I’m not terribly good at doing nothing. I got the gung-ho idea to work on the low spot of the pond. I had to move a fair amount of rock, too.

I built it up using a mixture of yucky clay that I’d dug out of the holes when I planted the dogwood bed flowers and cheap-ass topsoil, then topped it with Black Kow and garden soil.

I pulled some Virginia Creeper that had volunteered in the patio flowerbed (didn’t really want it there, but don’t like throwing away healthy plants even if they are native volunteers), and planted it in a few spots near the rocks. It wasn’t too happy about being yanked out by its roots, and I’ll have to water it for a week or two, but hopefully won’t have to cut it back.

After I planted the Creeper, I seeded white clover (unfortunately not prairie…not enough sun) and patted it down. I needed a temporary mulch until the seedlings are big enough to manage on their own, and the straw -sweepings that P had got for Work Kitty worked just fine. I watered everything, and will give a deeper watering to the Creeper when I go out to clean up the big mess I made.

Since Grace figured out she could get past the squirrel baffle, I had to come up with another idea. I could have bought a “torpedo” style squirrel/raccoon baffle, but nooooo…I have to do everything the hard way. I bought a 24″ section of stove pipe and a cap at Buchheit, and made one myself. I actually started it the day before yesterday, but the hole saw I had was dull, and the one that I wanted to use doesn’t fit a 3/8″ drill, so I had to borrow B’s 1/2″ (I need to get one of my own). Anyway, the pictures are crappy because I was trying to hurry, but I checked that feeder this morning, and Grace didn’t get into it. Also, stove pipe most emphatically does not snap together easily!

I put the squirrel baffle on top of it, for whatever that may be worth.

After I finished that, I laid corrugated in the second side of Thug Lyfe, and then put down mulch.

I was just finishing up watering pot plants when it started to rain. I still needed to water; it was a good rain for seedlings, but didn’t last long enough to really soak pots. After that, I did absolutely nothing. 🙂

I took the afternoon off yesterday, and went to Walschwitz. All they had left was four 30′ rolls of edging, so I bought them all (and also some Bloom Booster for my hanging baskets). It was an utterly beautiful day; not really too hot, even right in the sun. I got the edging installed on the other side of Thug Lyfe.

Also dug up a few goldenrod where it was starting to spread in Sarah-Flah’s Giant No-Mow Flowerbed. I thought about Disobedient Plant, but I don’t think there’s enough sun. I wouldn’t have thought there was for goldenrod, either, but the clump growing over by the “steps” to the wood tray feeder would beg to differ. Anyway, I cut it short because it would only have wilted anyway. I think it’ll be okay, and now the stinging nettle has a friend.

At long last, my Baptisia has bloomed! Only a few flowers, but such pretty ones!

I was mixing Bloom Booster in the watering can when I noticed something moving. A small something that I initially took for a spider, but it was no arachnid; it was a tiny Carolina mantis! I knew from his size that he was a hatchling, but it wasn’t until I’d found a few more that I realized he was literally a hatchling, as in…they were still hatching! This one says, “Hello. I am a little shit, but I am cute, so you love me.”

I scoured the back of the house over and over, picking up baby mantises and putting them in the Honeysuckle Horseshoe as I found them. In the end, I relocated 15 of them, and finally found the ootheca (actually oothecae, since there were two).

Little dudes were still hatching out, but it was getting late, and I couldn’t wait for them. That wall is Spider Nirvana, and I didn’t want them to die before they’d even lived a day, so I carefully scraped the oothecae off the concrete, and put them in the Horseshoe. Wedged into coneflowers by the already-hatched bit, leaving the unhatched bit free so they could dangle as they emerged. I wanted them near the flowers because of the small insects attracted thereto.