Another cool critter
While wandering through the garden today, we noticed that my Blue Weeping Yucca looked a little worse for wear. There was a pile of brown debris around the top stem, and several leaves had clearly been enjoying life as someone's lunch.
After a bit of careful digging around the stem, we found the culprit—a Yucca Giant Skipper caterpillar tucked deep inside the plant.
According to Google, the Yucca Giant Skipper is a fairly uncommon, large-bodied butterfly found throughout the southern United States, including central Texas. Its caterpillars burrow into the base of yucca plants, where they build a little upright silken "chimney" that serves as both a hiding place and an escape hatch from predators.
It has definitely done a number on this yucca, but thankfully they're tough plants, and I'm confident it'll bounce back. In the photo below, you can even see the little silk chimney sticking up from the stem.
I'll be keeping an eye on the garden over the next few weeks, hoping to catch a glimpse of the butterfly when it finally emerges.
Fig Season Has Arrived
For the first time since we planted them, both of our fig trees are absolutely loaded with fruit.
The Celeste has given us a handful of figs over the years, but the Alma has stubbornly refused to produce... until now. Maybe all the spring rain made the difference. Or maybe it's because our two very enthusiastic Whippets have decimated the local squirrel population.
All of the branches are heavy with figs, and I'm looking forward to harvesting far more than we've ever had before.
I couldn't remember which varieties we had planted, so I searched back through this blog to find the original post. That turned out to be even more fun than I expected because I stumbled across photos from when I first planted them. It's amazing how much the garden has changed.
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| Celeste fig when planted in 2014 |
A rare find
I was looking through one of my gardens, and discovered a plant I didn't recognize. Seek has identified it as a Small leaf Ground Cherry. I found one of these in the back acre last year, but it died over the summer. Here is hoping this one lives
Wolly Ironweed in bloom
Another highlight this week is my Woolly Ironweed, which I planted last fall. I had been wanting this plant for awhile as it is fantastic for native bees and butterflies. But it is hard to find. I bought one two years ago at the native p,ant sale and put it in my street side garden, where it has grown very little. Last fall, I ran across another plant for sale, and planted it in my solar garden. It has finally started blooming, and the deep purple flowers are spectacular.
The one I planted near the street two years ago hasn't bloomed yet, which I suspect is because the soil there is much poorer. This one, tucked into more native soil, seems perfectly happy and is putting on quite a show.
Every week the garden writes a new chapter. Sometimes it's butterflies hiding inside yuccas, sometimes it's surprise native plants, and sometimes it's simply watching a young garden slowly become the place I imagined when I first started planting.
