Butterfly Days

We have not had very many butterflies visit this summer. Not really sure what the deal is, but they just didn't come.

There had not been a single Gulf frittilary caterpillar on the passion vine. I have seen very few adults. Today the beauty in the above picture showed up. Isn't she pretty. She did lay a few eggs on the vines, but I don't know if they will have enough time before it gets too cold for caterpillars.

Most summers we watch dozens of black swallowtail caterpillars eat my dill, crysalize (look I made up a verb), and come back to visit the zinnia. This year only one batch ate the fennel in the front flower bed. We had a black swallowtail visit today. I didn't see any egg laying. This is a good thing, because the dill is tiny and there would not be enough food.

Remember this from a couple of days ago.

It now looks like this. I planted it with carrots. Next week I will buy some leek seeds and add a few right down the middle. Should be an interesting looking veggie patch.

What are you growing this fall?

Design Collage

I am trying to get a job as a nursery manager/assistant color designer. Do y'all think this collage will help or hurt my chances?

The Hard Part of Changing Seasons

I need to rip this out to make room for carrots. A few days ago this area looked terrible. It was mostly spent purple hull peas and the zinnias without blooms.

It rained yesterday and the morning glories I had neglected to pull up bloomed. Now I like the way it looks and don't want to pull it all up.

But I really need the space.

Big sigh....

Look What I Found for GBBD

I found this bloom today. It looks sort of like a day lily. The foliage looks a little like a rain lily. Guess what it is. Zephyranthes grandiflora or giant rain lily. Pretty cool. The flower is smaller than a day lily, but much larger than a rain lily. I have absolutely no idea where I got it or when I planted it. It rained today and it bloomed.

Thanks again to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Zucchini Chips

I made zucchini chips this morning. They are all gone now. I ate two medium zucchini all by myself. These chips were good.

Slice zucchini into 1/4 inch chips.
Place on a food dehydrator and sprinkle with seasoning
I used Cajun spice seasoning
Dehydrate until crunchy

I am going to be eating a lot of zucchini.

Look Fast I'm Not Doing This Again

Here I am and it is only for a good cause. That thing on my head is the scarf I made for the scarf initiative planned and organized by Kathryn at Plant Whatever Brings You Joy. This scarf will join 64 others from around the world and be sent to Askole, Pakistan to a girls school for refugees. Thanks for the great opportunity Kathryn.

The map in the background is actually Teenage Monkey's wallpaper in his room. Cool huh?

Here is VP modeling her scarf

I was going to talk about Gulf frittilary butterflies. I saw two laying eggs on my passion vine this afternoon. When I went back out to take some pictures, they had fluttered off. I will get back out there tomorrow.

Due to a lack of butterfly pictures, tonight I will blog about my fall veggies. These are actually late summer veggies. In the above picture shows okra, tomato, zucchini, purple hull peas, and a bowl of assorted peppers.

I am the kind of gardener that counts. I counted more than 80 tomatoes on the tomato vines today. I counted 17 zucchini on three vines. I counted 12 little okra on the okra plants.

My summer production was pretty pitiful because I did not get the plants in early enough. We get hot fast around here and the plants just can't produce in the heat. With a little rain and cooler weather my plants that lived through the scorching summer are now giving me food. I am glad I kept them alive.

The real fall plants, cabbage, broccoli, broccoli rhaab, Swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, garlic, onions, and beets are slowing being planted as I can make room. In a few weeks it will freeze. At that point, I can turn the whole garden over to the cool season crops.