Grasshopper Watch!

   Since the first of April, we have been battling the hoards of Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers.  Millions (yes, millions!) of these things hatch out in the spring.  Each "mound" of hatchlings finds about thirty of the brick red critters seeking sunshine as they dig their way out of the ground.  While they are in this stage, they are relatively easy to get rid of but give them a day and it is a different story.  They turn black with a red stripe and then are fast little buggers!  Like I said, each mound contains about thirty grasshoppers and those mounds are about two feet apart over this whole hillside which should give you the idea why I said millions.  We do what is called the "grasshopper stomp" which was far easier when there were three kids to help.  Now...I am old.  I try.  Thankfully, Mark has found that the cheapest bug spray works on them so he goes around spritzing the critters.  Two months (April and May) of little critters and now (July and August), we fight the three inch long, multicolored adults.  Those we missed months ago are coming "home" to mate and lay eggs.  They would not be so bad if they did not eat everything in sight...so we try to get rid of what we can.  We are constantly on "grasshopper watch", it seems.

  I did find a different grasshopper and allowed this one to live in peace.  I have no problem with the critters that are not trying to take over the world!  On one of the navel orange trees, there was a huge Obscure Bird Grasshopper.  This was a lovely female as she was a good three inches long.  (Males are much, much smaller.)  I was impressed with the gentleness of the critter as she stayed put on the same branch for several days and allowed me to photograph her without being alarmed.  Perhaps she knew that she was safe purely because she only nibbled the leaves and did not strip the entire tree!  

  Have you ever wondered what is behind that name?  Obscure Bird Grasshopper may not seem to be the most logical title to bestow upon an insect but, if you delve into the whys and wherefors of the reason, it is perfect.  First, the obscure part.  Most of the time, we tend to think of obscure as being another word for being kept out of sight or hidden.  Well, in Latin (remember all those hard to pronounce names given to plants and critters?...yeah...those), obscure can also mean dusky or dark.  This critter is pretty brown so the name fits.  Now for the bird part.  If you ever have the opportunity to literally "poke" one so it flies, you will see how the name applies.  The bug is impressive with its flight abilities and does resemble a small bird!  

  It is sad to have to make a decision of what lives and what does not but, purely for the sake of the gardens, the Eastern Lubbers have to go.  If there were only a few, they would be allowed to live in peace just as the Obscure Bird Grasshopper does.  I normally stick with my mantra of "Live and let live." but I depend on my gardens to stock the pantry shelves for our food.  A nibble here and there...no problem!  A complete destruction of the plots?....not happening.

The Trying Day

  So...it has been a trying day, to say the least.  In fact, I might go as far as saying it has been a lousy day and that is something coming from someone who tries to find at least some good in everything.  Still, today has been one of those that I hope does not rear its ugly head too often.  I can do without the stress.

  First off, more termites.  LOTS more termites or, at least, evidence of where they have been.  This is in the small craft room.  Everything had to be moved.   Have you ever moved a craft room on short notice?  Not fun but I had no choice.  If I wanted anything to not come crashing down around me, it had to be moved.  Son's childhood friend just happened to stop by so I had help.  He understands my predicament and my distaste for termites. Thankfully, the buggers have vacated this small area of the house but have probably moved on to munch a different spot.  The battle is never ending.   Then, the discovery was made that the entryway (which I just redid) has to be partially "deconstructed" which means all my work was for naught.  All of the decorative touches and furniture had to be moved.  This, I did by myself.  Again...not fun.

  This being April, the grasshoppers are hatching.  Not your normal, cute green grasshoppers but the ugly, plant devouring Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers.  Those vile things that hatch out in hordes and devour everything in sight.  My battle with them occurs twice daily and I still make no progress in eradicating them.  These things are toxic so I receive no help from my Bayou critter friends in this war.  This year seems to be an especially "good" year for the grasshoppers because there are more than ever.  I am about to give up and resign myself to never see another green plant for the entire spring.  Not fun...

  Aside from the ongoing termite and grasshopper saga, there is something amiss in the backyard.  There is a "dead".  I am not sure what has died but there is definitely something dead back there.  For a solid hour, I searched.  The smell is highly concentrated next to the outdoor storage room but I found nothing.  I am beginning to think that a few blue crabs from Mark's last crab boil met their demise under the storeroom.  That is not fun either.

  Later, amid all of the trouble of the day, Mr, PJ, the old dog, seemed to have some sort of "spell".  His breathing changed and he seemed greatly lethargic.  This scared the bejeebies out of me.  Knowing there is nothing the vets can do for him at this stage, I did nothing but flop down by him to console him.  As I sat holding him like a baby, he kept licking my hand as if to show me he appreciated the comforting.  This breaks my heart and is definitely NOT FUN!

  Lastly, Ms. Nycto, the Bayou Princess Cat, was attacked by a rogue tomcat and made an escape up to the top of a tall but spindly tree.  She can climb up but can never climb back down.  I sure can NOT climb up.  Twice I have chased the marauding tom away but each time he came back.  Tonight, Ms. Nycto is still in the tree and THAT breaks my heart.  I am hoping and praying that the big old owl does not attack her.  Not fun...not fun...today was not fun.  Today was stressful...

Another mystery solved and the garden is in full flour!

About ten years ago, a lady down the road from me gave me a cutting from a bush in her yard. Miss Twin (yes, there were two of them and yes, they were twins..Vera and Eura..both "Miss Twin" to everyone that knew them!) did not know the name of the bush. She just always called it her "Fake Orange Tree". The bush did not resemble any citrus tree at all, it just made orange flowers that started as a round, orange-colored bud about the size of a marble and produced a small. orange fruit. There was never any thought to the idea that the fruit was edible..it was just there. I was delighted to get the cuttings and promptly went about searching for the identity of the bush. "Fake Orange Tree" just was not going to cut it with me! I searched high and low..asked everyone I knew..pored over piles of books..all to no avail. "Fake Orange Tree" began to sound like a pretty great name.

Then! Then today, I find the identity of the bush quite by happenstance. I was actually looking up how to make Hydrangeas flourish here in the Deep South where usually the heat and dry summers get the best of them. There on my computer screen pops up the ruffled orange flower of my "Fake Orange Tree"! I could not believe my eyes! Oh, Happy Day! It turns out that my bush is none other than a Pomegranate Tree! Whoa!!!! A Pomegranate Tree? Now that is curious! I would have never guessed even though now that I think about it, the little fruits do look like a small pomegranate. Now this is exciting to me..probably not to anyone else..but to me it is! I only wish that Miss Twin was still alive so I could tell her. We could sit at her kitchen table, drink a cup of coffee and discuss whether we should try to eat one of the fruits. Oh, how I miss her! A Pomegranate Tree...hmmmmm? Oh, and I did find out some great info on the Hydrangea Bush!

About the rest of the title of this post...that is not a misspelling or a typographical error. The garden is in full flour! Really! I read somewhere that ordinary, all-purpose flour will drive grasshoppers out of the garden. Those pesky Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are back and they are back with a vengeance! We had no late freezes to kill the little suckers so now they are eating everything in sight. Nothing is safe from their chomping! Again, I researched. Without dumping a bunch of chemicals around on my property, I was pretty much doomed to letting the dirty, little rascals devour my entire garden. Then, a suggestion of dusting the plants with a thing coat of flour. It seems that it does not act immediately but rather as they continue to eat the now flour-coated plant, their mouths gets completely gummed. They cannot rid themselves of the paste and therefore cannot eat. Then they die. Death by flour! I decided that it was worth a shot. Son and I went out early this morning with our sifters and declared warfare on the munching monsters! We sifted flour on the Day Lilies, squash, pumpkins and petunias. We sifted flour on the cabbages, gloriosas, irises and cucumbers. We sifted flour on the water hyssop, beans,

tomatoes and peppers. Fifteen pounds of flour in the garden! It looks much like it snowed! The north wind carried the flour everywhere creating a fine dusting on all of the plants. Now, to wait..and hopefully find dead grasshoppers in a few days! So you see..the garden really is in "full flour"!

Friend or Foe!

I write a lot about gardening since that is what I do a lot. Today is no different..today I write about bugs! There are bugs that do much damage to a plant but there are also beneficial insects to have in a garden. I try not kill spiders..at least not the ones of the garden variety since they are "good" friends of a garden. (Some, I gladly squish..Black Widows, for example. I was bitten once!) Ladybugs are also great garden friends as they feed upon aphids. One of my favorite friends of the insect world is the Praying Mantis. They are so called by the appearance of their front legs that are held in a "praying" position. Mantids eat so many other bugs that they are literally an "insect insecticide"! They have no qualms about eating anything that moves if it is smaller than them, which in itself might seem strange as the females do resort to cannibalism soon after mating. (Note..the female is much larger than the male making him an easy target for dinner.) They are remarkably adept at hiding among the plants which not only helps them find prey but also protects them from being eaten. This one is climbing on my clothesline pole so it was an easy find. Perhaps there are many more among the pole beans and maybe a few on the bell pepper plants, one can only hope! Praying Mantis..friend!

I was out and about early this morning and noticed that some of the miniature gourds were chewed off at the stem. I inspected the gourd..it had definitely been attacked by something with vigorous gnawing habits. I immediately thought that perhaps a mouse had ventured into the garden without regard to the ever watchful eye of Ms. Put, the resident mouse-catching cat. I peered under the leafy gourd vine hoping to perhaps find more evidence of the culprit. Not only did I find evidence, I found the evil-doer itself! There munching contentedly on another tiny gourd was a huge grasshopper! These particular grasshoppers are about three inches long as adults and can chew their way through massive amounts of vegetation every day. Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are not ones to have in a garden. Even as tiny nymphs they have voracious appetites. They start out life as very small reddish brown nymphs that, with the heat of the sun, turn shiny black with red stripes. After several months, they evolve into huge yellow, red and black grasshoppers. Their bright red wings are of little use as they are only about a third of the length of the body. This grasshopper does not fly and can only jump short distances. It is remarkably clumsy for an insect which made it easy to catch and "dispose". Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers..definite foe!