A Tumbleweed Over the Deep Blue SeaThe earth is but one country and mankind its citizens ~Baha'i

The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens ~Baha'i


Summer! Sailing the sandy sea...

About the first day of summer it became tooooo hot to spend sunny time outdoors, other than quite early and rather late in the day. Tomatoes and new cacti grow happily in the heat, with single digit humidity.

I wish I did have a sailboat! ... And an ocean nearby. Hmmm, a boat that sails on sand?
Not all bonsai are happy in this climate and some flat won't survive (for me, anyway) with the hard, alkaline water and lack of humidity. Hedging my love of growing things, then, meet the new plants. All small, they are from left to right Epithelantna micromeris ("Little Chilis), native to Lincoln County, New Mexico, Echinofussulocactus multicostatus from not far south, in Mexico, and Echinocereus reichenbachii, which happens to be native to here -- Valencia County, New Mexico. No, I did not roll out in the powerchair and dig them up when nobody was looking. Too many coyotes out there for me and Elf, who goes everywhere she can with me.

Center below's a South African native, Titanopsis calcarea (concrete leaf living stone).

Look for us under big hats and shady trees till October.




To the left is a bachelor button bud that opened a rich, deep blue! To the right is a compost spot that decided to become a mystery garden. This photo was taken on August 1, so there may not be time for it to reveal the type of "crops" it contains before frost in October...





In August came The Tomato Hornworms, laying waste to my three bit pots of pampered plants. It was Elf to the rescue!





Hug_by_Jericha



SphinxMothBlossoms

Left above, two tomato hornworms, photo by Jericha Franz. She calls it "Hug"… !! Check out her gallery on Deviant Art.

Above right, a photo I took one April evening of a White-lined Sphinx Moth -- a variety of moth a tomato hornworm turns into while cocooned. Amazing. People call them "hummingbird moths" because of their size and hovering pattern around flowers. Its long, dark proboscis is visible as it sips nectar from an apple blossom.

Below Elf's playing with a huge tomato hornworm she soon ate. She's learning to sniff them out of the tomato plants! Some people take the hornworms away from tomato plants and rear them till they go through their metamorphosis, to emerge as a gorgeous moth.

Elf with tomato worm
Elf with tomato hornworm

Elf ate tomato worm

All gone!
[Elf is never attached to this heavy chain.]


tiny cactus 5 flowers_edited-1

Also in August, the tiniest cactus suddenly popped out five vivid flowers. The barrel on this little thing is not as big as the end of my thumb.