Well, summer must be waning and autumn nearing simply because I found two things early this morning. As I stepped out the front door, the chive blooms were the first things to greet me...then, the second was the Ailanthus Webworm Moths! To me, these two things surely mean fall is on its way....and that cannot come soon enough. I am ready for the heat to leave and let us get on to cooler days.
Garlic chives are some of my favorite plants to have in the gardens simply because they grow year round. These have a more garlicky taste than the regular or onion chives but it is not so strong as regular garlic. The mildness is just enough to add flavor without being overpowering. It seems that the moths love them just as much as I do and are doing a fine job of pollinating the blossoms. If I had my way, the entire yard would be planted in chives! Two good points about this idea...one, we would never run out of the garlicky goodness and...two, I would never have to cut grass again! Win/win situation!
The Ailanthus Webworm moth is not a natural "citizen" of our area but, since it has arrived, it has decided to stay put. While a lot of folks are ok with the critter in its moth form, they become quite disgusted at the webs that house the caterpillars. Seeing the web (which sort of resembles a scraggly spider web) hanging in a tree brings immediate action to "eradicate that unsightly thing"! Me? Meh...if you want the beauty of moths and butterflies, you have to embrace the caterpillars.
My sighting of the garlic chives and the orange moths gave me hope that autumn is in the air! Bring on the pumpkins...the red leaves...the plaid, flannel shirts! Oh...I did make cinnamon rolls today just to herald in my "early wishes of autumn"!
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