As I was browsing around the garden when I got home from work this evening, sweating while taking photos, this song popped into my mind...
The quintessential song of summer...
"Hot town, summer in the city,
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty..."
That about sums up summer in Houston.
The colors in the garden are hot now too. I'm pretty pleased with how things are holding up. I don't have great oceans of color in the garden, I have bright little jewels set in a soothing background of green. Looking at it from inside the house, it looks quite pleasant out there until you open the door and the blast of heat hits you.
Oh well, you can browse in the comfort of your living room, office or wherever you have your computer :-)
The quintessential song of summer...
"Hot town, summer in the city,
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty..."
That about sums up summer in Houston.
The colors in the garden are hot now too. I'm pretty pleased with how things are holding up. I don't have great oceans of color in the garden, I have bright little jewels set in a soothing background of green. Looking at it from inside the house, it looks quite pleasant out there until you open the door and the blast of heat hits you.
Oh well, you can browse in the comfort of your living room, office or wherever you have your computer :-)
It wasn't until I saw this photo full size on the 21 inch screen of my new computer that I realized I had a visitor...
Double click on the photo to see a larger version :-)
These zinnias are sprawling along the edging. They seem to like it hot.
I had been worried that this Anisacanthus wrightii, Flame Acanthus, aka Hummingbird Bush, aka Texas Firecracker, might never flower. But finally it started putting out some flowers.
As is the Hamelia patens, Firebush I showed you in my last post, seen in more close up below.
But for some reason, my resident hummingbird seems to prefer the sugar water I put out each day...
And finally, I think you all will like this. Remember the swallowtail busily laying eggs on the fennel last week?
Well check this out!
Well check this out!
And this is just on one plant!
I hope I have enough fennel!!!
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
11 comments:
Oh wow...I have never seen that many catepillar on one plant before. Great host plant. Your garden still looks so green. Must be those humid Houston days.
I've never seen that many before either. I hope the birds don't eat them all!
Your garden is very beautiful and alive, despite the heat.
Those caterpillars are very beautifully colored, that's all I know about them. I thought they are pests but I see you want to keep them.
I love that little hummingbird, I've never seen a real one.
Have a beautiful week!
LOVE the song!!!! It's been stuck in my head all day. And the picture of the fennel is crazy, can't believe all those caterpillars.
What a great array of habitat plants! Your butterfly and bird neighbors love you.
Thank you for your comments at Hill Country Mysteries. Losing Harry knocked me topsy turvy for a while and I didn't spend much computer time but I saw your comments and appreciated your kindness.
Thanks maiaT. They are the caterpillars of a black swallowtail butterfly that was laying eggs on the fennel last week. They're all gone now, and the fennel has been eaten down to stumps. I hope they're all safely tucked away in a crysalis somewhere, turning into butterflies. That little hummingbird buzzed me the other day because I wasn't fast enough putting fresh sugar water out there!
The song got stuck in my head too, HoustonGardenGirl, lol! Of course, I can remember when the song first came out, that's how old I am!
Thanks Jayne, now I understand why those caterpillars are precious. I remember the gorgeous black butterfly, I just included your photo in a slideshow for voting on MFS gallery, I hope you don't mind.
Hello Jayne
I see what you mean about finding little creatures in photos - it happens to me too. I've just got a resident robin in the garden but no beautiful hummingbird like yours and our garden has been full of cabbage white butterflies rather than beautiful swallow tail ones.
Oh but I adore the English robin, so much prettier than the American robin. You can keep the cabbage white butterflies though, lol.
Hi miaT - sorry I didn't see this before. Sure I don't mind. I need to get back over to your blog and see how it's all shaping up now.
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