Garden Pic Wednesday: Giant Swallowtail

-
Just to let you know, Hurricane Irma had no effect on the whole western end of Florida Panhandle where I live.
 The weather was beautiful for the most part--and cold! Temps dropped to 62 F with a feel of 52 F!  It was chilly, but fantastic!
 On Monday, we only experienced light showers and gusts of wind.

Unless you live here, I suppose it's hard to grasp how big Florida is. The the north border runs under most of Alabama and all of Georgia. That's TWO states! That's a lot of square miles!
So, when the media said, "Irma was approaching the Panhandle," they really ought to have been more specific to say it was the Eastern Panhandle, at the curve point, that was being approached.
The media's lack of geographical clarity on this point certainly caused those living far away who love us unnecessary worry.
*****
Today's photogenic garden moment is a Giant Swallowtail visiting one of my Zinnias!
I planted a Rue shrub on purpose for these, since all Swallowtails are reputed to like it. So far, no Giant Swallowtail caterpillars.
They're quite large and flashy, being all black with a double row of bright yellow spots!


Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday Writer's Workshop Prompt: Greatest Triumph

-
Image
My Greatest Triumph Many years ago, my husband and I took a 6-week beginner's course in Foil Fencing.  Now foil fencing swords are thin and straight with a protective cover on the tip. It's more of a classic dueling style of swordsmanship. Victory in foil fencing is gained by getting past your opponents sword defense to stick your sword point against their chest.  It's all about stance and form and is tends to be over fairly quickly. I believe our instructor used the 3 touch point method for a match. The fencing stance form generally taught is French: you stand in a sideways position, sword in one hand aimed at opponent while your other arm is held aloft behind you, bent at the elbow. (Think of any Three Musketeer movie you've ever seen---this is their stance.) The general over-all goal of foil fencing is to keep the body area that can be stabbed by the opponent to a minimum. However, it's important to understand, in fencing, it's not about strength but rather a
Read more

Garden Pic Wednesday: Thriving Rose Bush!

-
Image
  Thanks to a garden club, I've learned how to better care for my rose bush and this year it's thriving! It's thick, bushy and covered in blooms! This is a Julia Child Floribunda Rose. I selected it because I wanted a smaller size rose for my front flower bed and this one grows a max of 3 feet tall and wide. I learned from the garden club the proper time to trim a rose and that's what has made it so bushy. Roses here in Northwest Florida need to be trimmed and shaped the week of Valentine's Day, Feb 14.  The right time will vary from growing zone to growing zone in different places where it's colder, but the correct time in any zone is evident when leaf buds are showing along the stems with even a few small leaves beginning to pop out. The other important thing is buying some Rose Food and fertilizing according to directions.  Tons are dark blue Bachelor Buttons are blooming adjacent to this yellow rose, so the show of blue and yellow is quite striking!  
Read more

Good Eating Monday: Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding!

-
Image
Welcome to the first week of February! It's supposed to be 31 degrees tonight, so after cleaning up the front walk beds, I went around covering various things that either are blooming, about to bloom or that have sensitive leaf buds, like my hydrangea's.  I picked all the yellow daffodils and brought them inside for a cheerful vase on my counter. For Garden Pic Wednesday this week I have an excellent photo of a pine tree flower! You didn't know pine trees flower?  Well, you'll have to stop back for a look! Today's Good Eating Recipe is a family favorite my Mother used to make often for us as kids: Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding! What Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding Looks Like This is just your basic wholesome old fashioned bread pudding made with just eggs, bread, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar & raisins! No sauces to make. Just simple bread pudding. We'd eat it hot with a little evaporated milk poured over the top.
Read more

Mama Kat Prompt Day: Childhood Memories

-
Image
It's been raining intermittently today as the tail of Isaac's outer-most eastern band passed over us today. Luckily, no thunder this a.m. so I could get to water aerobics at the Y. Thundered later a bit, but sun is out now. It's one of those liquid sunshine kind of days. I'm also pleased to report, since last night, someone has purchased one of the ties I just posted in my Zazzle store! Cool beans!   Today's Mama Kat Prompt is: What do you remember most about your childhood bedroom? That's a good question and it has a pretty funny answer. First you have to picture that my 2 younger sisters and I shared one large. That by itself is memorable. It must have been at least 20' x 20' in size and the 3 of us each had a corner of it to call our own. I slept in a double bed, while my 2 sisters slept in the bunk-bed our Dad had built. He had carpentry skills and it was a huge, sturdy thing, larger then any store-bought bunk. Here's the funny pa
Read more

Mama Kat Thursday: Two Before & After Projects

-
Image
The Mama Kat Prompt topic for today is: "Show Us a Before & After." Last fall and this spring I had two major  drainage issue locations: one in the back yard and one on the side of the garage. After hours of TLC they're greatly improved. Here's the before & after on both: First: The Back Yard Pond : This happened every time we had a heavy rain: After: Same spot as it looks now. Paradise. I took advantage of the naturally concave area by edging it with flagstones and filling the center with gravel & water loving plants. The Chocolate Elephant Ears here are gorgeous! Second, The Other Pond: This bed edges on the garage near the front of the house. After:  I edged the bed with paving blocks, raised the dirt level on the grass side, then planted grass plugs. Now that it's late summer,  it's nicely filled in! I consider rate these two projects among my most successful---though not all gardening  exp
Read more