“Survivor” Snapdragon

 

Survivor Snapdragon

 

 

This “Survivor Snapdragon” has lived through 2 Tennessee winters & being used as a Very Large Kitty’s bed. It’s just started blooming again. (Snapdragons don’t usually last in the cold weather.) Today, I gave it new dirt & a pair of Tomato Plants to hang out with. (The rusty Preying Mantis is a failed Kitty Deterrent.)

♫ Texture Blend Things ♫

Texture Blend Things

(First Verse)

Tune by: Rodgers & Hammerstein

 

Woodgrain on petals

And Paisleys on tulips

Dog fur on chopsticks

And noses with blue tips

Polka-Dot bird on the perch where she sings

These are how I think of Texture Blend Things.

Morning Dew

Tulip Innards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rampant Henbit!

We’ve always had this little plant growing around in the yard, but THIS year it is casting a lavender sheen over area fields (which I think is pretty cool).

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are a few of the scenes around my end of the town …


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It Says “Fall” To Me

In the part of the world where I live, the seasons don’t always start and end according to the calendar.  Summer starts before Memorial Day and  lasts well past Labor Day. So how do we really know what season it is?

Here are some of the things that tell me Fall is arriving:

The cultivated Asters bloom.  They’re the end of my perennials.

That daily text I get from the radio station usually includes the word “rain”,

we’ll have the occasional “one-dog-night”,

 
 

and my Beasts take steps to insure their winter food supply.

(And start arranging their bedding just so.)

I get the urge to buy (and wear) soft, fuzzy things …

… and fuzzy things show up in my yard.


Scattered whispy and puffy clouds are replaced by massive flat-bottomed ones.

(Yes, I DO see a cat guarding its food dish in those clouds!)


 
 
 
 
 
 

We have the traditional changes in the foliage, but the light across the landscape also changes. (Maybe because of those flat-bottomed clouds?)  Distant buildings glow.

Summer plants succumb to frost and the mums are available to the stray bees

… surely Fall is arriving.

 
 
 

Time to pull out the trash can and cook some turkey!

(Bet you didn’t see that one coming!)

Spider Tales — Part One

A Buttonbush, A Moth, And A Crab Spider (I think)

Background:
I bought a Buttonbush at a native plant sale.  Didn’t know where to plant it, so I potted it beside the porch steps.  The blooms weren’t especially showy, but they  attracted several really cool, very small, critters for me to take pictures of.  Thus, I learned to check it out every time I ascended or descended the steps.  A fading bloom of this bush provides the setting for this Tale.

Oh, look! A moth is resting on the Buttonbush today!

It's one of those bark-colored moths. Interesting head!

Poor thing, it's got a torn wing.

Wow! It looks like the moth is eating a spider!

I did the school drop and checked the bush when I got home.

No! The SPIDER's eating the MOTH! Wow. Never seen THAT before!

Getting ready to leave again, I checked on the moth once more.

Normal moth position. Maybe it wasn't breakfast after all!

I went down to ground level to investigate.

Oh my! An alien has comandeered the moth!

Yeee Haaawww!

Target in sight, Sir

Ahh. Guess the moth is being consumed after all. Looks like the work of a crab spider.