Is Autumn Near?

  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"!

  

Tiny Bulbils!

   Most of my day is spent in the Small Gardens.  Either the vegetable plot or the flower beds have laid claim to my time which is alright by me since that is where I prefer to be.  While setting in more tomato plants (this makes 40 total so far), I noticed that some of the chives have started bolting.  Personally, that is fine by me since I adore the blooms.  Throughout the  vegetable plot and the flower gardens there are volunteer clumps of both types of chives.  While admiring the blooms, I also noticed that most of the plants had bulbils on top.  These tiny bulbs will soon be heavy enough that the stem will bend to the ground and a new clump of chives will take root.  These and the billion or so seeds from the blooms explains how the entire yard is now filled with chives.  Son keeps telling me that we should market them!

  Out of curiosity, I pulled off some of the bulbils and smelled them.  Pop always said that if the plant smelled like an onion or garlic, then it was definitely an onion or garlic (or chive).  The mimic plants do not have this odor. Yep, the ones I was admiring definitely had a garlicky smell to them.  A small handful of these bulbils would flavor up a pan of stir-fry or a shrimp dish quite nicely and there would be no mincing needed!  I moved on to another clump of chives, pulled off a handful of bulbils and noticed that these had a more oniony smell.  Tomorrow, a cluster of bulbils from each will be used in some dish just to sample the bulbils and perhaps I should try pickling some of the tiny bulbs from the wild onions that are also taking over the place!  These will be some fun experiments!

Anyone Want Some Chives???

  When something in the garden grows well, it only seems right to share it.  As far back as I remember, it has been a family thing to share plants.  Granddaddy used to tell me that if I wanted plants to do well, I needed to give part of them to someone.  Well, the chives are doing well.  Want some?  These things are doing far too well!  I was telling Son, just today, that I need to be a chive farmer!  I am sure there has to be a need for one!

  Several years ago, I planted a small packet of seeds and that was a beginning...a beginning to being overrun by chives!  They are everywhere!  It is bad enough that they multiply by spreading and making new bulbs but each fall, they make umpteen billion seeds to strew the place over.  To be totally honest, I can only use so many chives even though I like them.  Chives, chives everywhere and more to come once those seeds hit the ground.  It won't be long now before the entire place is covered.  At least, the bees love them...and moths...and a myriad of other bugs.  I guess they are good for something.

If Only Critters Could Talk!

  I managed to slip out into the garden early this morning and was surprised to see how many critters had taken a liking to the chive blossoms.  Usually, the white blossoms are covered with lovebugs but this year there were only a few but joining them was a whole slew of other bugs!  Milkweed bugs, ailanthus webworm moths, longtailed skippers, assassin bugs, honeybees, bumblebees and even mosquitoes were busy on the blossoms.  Those were the ones I recognized.  Many more were flitting and crawling about the flowers.  Some, I was able to photograph.  Others were far too fast!  And then there were those that were too shy to stick around long enough for me to steady the camera in their direction.

  Finding so many different critters interested in the chive blossoms made me curious as to their nectar.  Is that stuff sweeter than say the roses that were blooming just a few feet away?  Does it taste better than the morning glories that fill the fence a directly behind the chive garden?  Are moonflowers, lilies and crepe myrtle blooms just not good enough for the bugs?  To me, the blossoms always tasted garlicky...these are garlic chives, after all.  So what is the big attraction here?  If only critters could talk!

September Garden

  September is drawing near and that means that both the garlic chives and the onion chives will be in full bloom.   Since chives are so easy to grow and so prolific, the gardens will soon be filled with the purple and white blooms.  In fact, that is just about all that is in the garden at the moment.  Time has been short due to house renovations and care given to an ailing elderly dog.  (I am happy to say that Mr. PJ does looks better these days!)  Thank goodness chives can thrive on their own and give a bit of cheer to an otherwise drab spot.

  September also means that the lovebugs will be on the move.  For the past few years, this mass mating ritual has been light.  The swarms have not been enough to cause complaint.  Dry summers usually see fewer of the bugs but this summer, with all of the constant rain, may be different.  Hopefully, the critters will find some place else to go.  

  Since both the chive blooms and lovebugs appear about the same time, it is only natural to find them together.  While the larvae feed upon decaying plant matter, the adult lovebugs dine primarily upon nectar.  The bugs are also attracted to light colors...especially white.  Obviously, my lovebugs adore chive nectar and the white blooms advertise the sweet nectar.  Within the week, the garden will be filled with both..blooms and bugs.  At least, these critters do not bite or sting!

Oh, September....

  Oh, September, why must you always plague us with your problems?  I look so forward to your coming merely because after you leave, there comes October!  BUT...you! You always have to come in so merrily and shower us with LOVEBUGS!  Lovebugs!  Those pesky little critters that get in the hair, plaster the fronts of cars, creepy-crawly into every nook and cranny and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Lovebugs! Ugh!  I do not love thee, Lovebug....at all!  Bad part is...May has taken to following your lead, September.  Now, the  May brings the same critters to see us.  We cannot handle this much "love" so just stop it already!

  Actually, I pretty much ignore the clingy critters.  Since I do not often leave the Bayou, I never have the problem driving through the clouds of black and red flying nuisances, the geckos have never feasted so well as they do in September (except maybe in April and May when the termites and lovebugs are swarming) so having the lovebugs on the sides of the house is not all bad and I have to admit that I have had worse things in my hair (think termites again.).  At least, these critters do not bite or sting!

  One thing that I have noticed about the lovebugs is that they seem to love the nectar from chives. With the chives in full bloom at the same time the critters make their appearance, I guess this is more than pure coincidence.  The larvae of the critter munches away on decaying plant material but the adults love nectar.  While they fly around attached doing their lovebuggy thing, the critters make a beeline for the chives.  Great clouds of them hover over the blooms and crawl about sipping nectar from each flower.  Something must be pretty tasty about chive nectar!

  The bugs have been here for nigh on a week now so their invasion should start dwindling rapidly.  We will have seven or eight months before this onslaught begins again.  In the meantime, I will continue to sweep the critters out the back door and hope the window screens do not get a tear in them.  Carry on, Lovebugs.  We will just look the other way.

Busy Bees!

  Since it is getting down to "crunch time" on the Third Annual Clue Hunt on the Bayou, I have been neglecting the garden.  Other than running out to water it occasionally, the poor plants have been left to their own doings...or rather undoings.  I really MUST make time to pick the bell peppers!  There are dozens upon dozens of the lovely things dangling on the plants.  Picking won't be the problem but doing something with them afterwards takes time...time I do not have at the moment.  This morning was one of those "splash with the water hose" days.  As I hastily doused water on anything that resembled a live plant, I noticed the chives were literally alive with critters.  Bees of all types (and a few lovebugs) were busy, busy!  Chive flowers must be tasty or provide healthy nutrients because hundreds of bees and other insects swarmed the plants.  This was good to see!

  The blossoms of choice seemed to be the Garlic Chives over any other blooming plants with a close second being the Sweet Basil. My little bees love herbs!  While watching the bees, I pondered if any of the honey produced by the honeybees would taste like the herbs.  What an interesting taste that would be!  I know that certain flowers can produce "flavored" honey but I have no clue about the herbs.  I guess this is something to ask our cousin who keeps bees.  I am sure he will know.

  My short stay in the garden provided me with things to think about today and a moment of peace.  It is always a calming place to be....except if you are a bee...then it is hectic!  Busy, busy bees! (Just like me with these clue hunt preparations!)

The Wise, Little Bumblebee!

  Late this evening, I noticed a tiny bumblebee crawling about on the white blossoms of the garlic chives.  Since I had nothing better to do at the moment, the bee caught my full attention.  I marveled at how quickly the little thing raided the flowers of their nectar.  The bee was not gathering pollen as its "sacks" were not full.  A bumblebee will store bits of pollen between the hairs on its back legs.  It does this so it can carry it back to the hive and feed the youngsters.  The adult bee feeds on nectar and will even chew a hole a the base of a flower to "steal" the nectar.  This assures it of a meal that it will not have to share with other insects such as butterflies.  My little friend was not worried about stealing the nectar as its only competition tonight was a couple of lovebugs.  (Yep, it is that time of year again!  Lovebugs will soon be smashed across every car windshield in the neighborhood!)  

  The bumblebee seemed to be thoroughly enjoying itself as it went from cluster to cluster of the tiny, white flowers.  I snipped off one stem of flowers and sniffed it.  Yep, that is definitely the garlic chives!  I have several large clumps of different types of chives scattered about the garden. They are so easy to grow and the clumps of bright green look attractive even in flower gardens.  Then in the fall when the plants bloom, their bright white, pale pink or lavender flowers add much beauty.  I love to use these in place of onions and to add them to different herbal remedies.  Chives of any sort are extremely healthy for you!  Besides adding a good bit of flavor to many dishes, chives are antibacterial and can be used as a depurative.  In other words, chives have the ability to purify the blood and detoxify the liver and kidneys. This, my friends, should be of interest to everyone!  Eating chives has been proven to help our overall health.

  As I sat watching that bumblebee go from flower to flower, I pondered if the little critter knew of all the health benefits that it was ingesting. Was the bee only interested in filling its belly or did it know of the healthy goodness that the flower held?   Sometimes I think that critters are a lot wiser than we want to believe.  So, folks, grow some chives and use them to help yourself feel a whole lot better!