HAPPY FALL TO ALL!

Purple ironweed, friend to butterflies and hummers.

Or spring for those in the southern hemisphere! Yes, we passed the equinox yesterday, and as is typical here in the mountains, we've had a spell of hot weather, which is due to be followed by our first frost in the higher elevations. 

 

I'm on my way to visit family today, so no long-winded post this week. Just a picture of pretty ironweed, friend to butterflies and hummingbirds, and a sure sign of the season. See you next week.

 

Cheers, Donna

A HOME FOR POLLINATORS

 

A monarch caterpillar on milkweed in the new meadow.

The world is an increasingly unfriendly place for butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinating species. Climate change, the encroachment of humans into previously wild spaces, and the choice of lawns, exotic or invasive species of plants, and pesticides for our gardens means there are fewer wildflowers and native plant sources for them to forage. 

 

I've always tried to use pollinator-friendly practices in my garden. I don't use pesticides; I've planted bee balm, echinacea, mint and other attractive plants in my flower garden; and I've added plenty of white clover to my lawn for the bees.

 

But this year, my husband and I decided to go a little further. We have a steep slope in front of our house that we'd always left in weeds because it was difficult to mow or weed-eat. Nothing very helpful to wild things was coming up there, though I had scattered wildflower seeds and even deliberately planted some ironweed (which did well). So, with the help of a friend who is a forester from the U.S. Park Service, we killed off all the trash weeds on the slope (not an easy process) and planted a mix of about 15 native wildflower perennials in the spring. 

 

The makeover was not without problems. We had a lot of new and exotic weeds come up first. The straw used to cover the seeds was supposed to be weed-free, but turned out to be full of alfalfa and timothy, which had to be cut down. We had to do some watering, but we were lucky to have a wet summer. So, now we're seeing brown-eyed susan, mist flower, several kinds of milkweed, woodland sunflower, wild senna and other things we planted make an appearance. The ironweed is spreading like crazy (a sign, our friend says, of good soil PH). And, best of all, we found the little guy you see above--a now-rare monarch caterpillar--at home on a milkweed leaf in our new meadow. Success!

 

After a winter of frosty temperatures, which we're told some seeds require, we should see even more things pop out. I can't wait to see what the coming seasons bring!

 

Cheers,

Donna

MY OTHER, OTHER HOBBY

I don't usually post a lot about how I spend multiple hours every spring, summer and fall when I'm not writing science fiction romance, blogging here or reviewing films and television on my podcast. But when my mind's not out in space somewhere, it's very much grounded--in my garden.

 

This year has been a spectacular one for the garden, which is not to brag, because I consider gardening to be about 30 percent my effort and 70 percent up to Mother Nature. She has been very kind this year, as the pictures below reveal. The tomatoes outgrew their original supports (Photo One shows them overflowing their "cage." Photo Two shows the new ladders I just got to support them.) I tried a new Malabar spinach, a tropical vine that provides a lovely edible green all through the heat and looks great on the entrance to my garden, too (Photo Three). And, finally, in Photo Four, you see the results of Mother Nature's bounty! 

 

Posted in gratitude,

Donna

 

These tomatoes are clearly out of control!

 

Ah, that's more like it!

Tropical Malabar spinach all summer long.

Mother Nature's bounty from those unruly plants.