Zinnias, Zinnias Everywhere!

   On a whim a few years ago, I bought a pack of zinnia seeds from the local dollar store simply because they reminded me of Pop and his lovely gardens.  I had no idea if the seeds would even sprout since they were so cheap compared to other "name brand" seeds.  Well, every last seed sprouted, grew and bloomed for the entire summer.  Being who I am, I saved seeds from those blooms.  In fact, I saved far too many seeds since so many people remarked "Oh, I love those!  Save some seeds for me!"  Long story short, no one came to get the seeds so, the next spring, I planted even more zinnias.  The saved seeds did remarkably well and, as before, I saved seeds...far too many seeds.  In fact, when I went to plant this spring, I had an entire gallon of zinnia seeds!  Oops!  That is an awful lot of seeds when you consider how flat they are.  Needless to say, I planted more zinnias this year than in previous years.  Once again, the flowers are outdoing themselves and I find myself hating to toss the spent blooms aside.  So, the saving has commenced.  Who would have thought that a one dollar pack of seeds could bring so much brightness to the gardens for so many years??

  Of course, all of those zinnia blooms attract a myriad of nectar seeking critters.  The zinnia bed is a literal kaleidoscope of butterflies, moths and bees.  At any given time, fifty or sixty different insects can be found flitting about the blooms.  I am beginning to think that was the best gardening investment ever made and plan on never buying seeds from any other place.  The zinnia bed is going to be extended to twice the size this next year and will be home to hundreds of plants.  In fact, since the vegetable plot has already gone the wayside, my plans are to sow the remaining saved seeds (from last year) in that space.  The ground will not sit idle as I await for time to plant the fall garden.  The critters will be happy campers and the yard will be a blast of color!  (The photos only show half of the existing zinnia bed!)

The Entertaining World of Moth Names!

  There is one thing that you can be assured of when you live on a bayou.  We have bugs.  Lots of bugs.  We have the usual pretty insects like butterflies and moths, the pesky types such as aphids and roaches and we have the biting sorts like mosquitoes (tons and tons of those), gnats and deer flies.  We just have bugs.  In fact, we probably have a lot more than most folks as the water gives many a perfect place to breed.  Sometimes, it is just not fun being outside with the critters.

  This morning as I was out in the gardens, a moth caught my eye.  The moth was catching some sun rays on the old sundial that sits in the middle of the garden.  Even though I was working in this area, the moth insisted that the dial was its roost.  If I got too close, the critter would take flight only to come right back to rest on the sundial. I figured this was one of the adults that came from the billion or so caterpillars that ate every plant in sight for a while earlier this spring.  That caused me to do a bit of research.  Luckily for the moth, I was wrong.  The caterpillars from this one eat tickweed and not tomatoes.  Whew. This moth was called a Hoary Edged Skipper.

  While studying the different moths around here, I became amused at some of the names.  Then a question...why cannot I find any of the amusingly named moths?  The name of my moth was cute but not near as entertaining as some of the others.  There were moths with names such as Abbreviated Button Slug Moth, Attentive Crocus Moth, Baltimore Snout Moth and Bold Medicine Moth!  I went on to find Confused Woodgrain Moth, Decorated Owlet Moth, Fingered Dagger Moth and Harnessed Tiger Moth.  The list went on with the Io Moth (cool name and story), Mournful Thryis Moth, Old Wife Underwing Moth and a Pink Spotted Dart Moth. The names kept getting better and better!  There was a Polka Dotted Wasp Moth, an Orange Patched Smokey Moth, a Sleepy Orange Sulfur Moth and a Somber Carpet Moth.  Giggling the whole time, I found the Badwing Moth, the Joker Moth, the Beggar Moth, the Scribbler Moth and the Wedgeling Moth. Those sounded like they could have been characters from a superhero cartoon!  

  The fact that there are some pretty amusing names given to bugs makes me realize that our entomologists must all have a great sense of humor.  How else do you come up with these names?  It is easy to understand the naming of the Luna Moth but a Promiscuous Angle Moth???  Hmmm??  Really now??  This all makes me want to check the beetles next!  Who knows what fanciful names they may have! 

You Cannot Eat My House!

  I finally have new siding on the Little Bayou House thanks to Hubby and Son.  They have been renovating the place for quite some time due to an infestation of my enemy, termite.  Yep.  The place was being eaten from inside the walls.  So...the walls came down.  New walls went up.  I am a happy camper because termites are gone!  Now it seems as if other critters want to "try out" the new siding.  For the past few weeks, I have found adult antlions, grasshoppers, spiders and wasps nosing around the siding.  While I adore my siding, I am not sure what the great attraction is for bugs.  This stuff is not wood!  The siding is some stuff called cement siding.  It is supposed to be termite resistant at least....termite proof at best.  I am hoping for the latter.  But these other critters are driving me crazy with their affinity for my house.

  The other morning, I noticed what I thought was a smudge on my new paint job.  The siding seemed to have a blotch of something high enough to be just out of my reach.  A few days later, I noticed that my blotch was moving.  There were little squiggles "worming" their way away from the original smear.  Uh, oh!  I do not need more critters.  I climbed a ladder, took photos and sprayed the teeny-tiny, siding-dwelling critters.  After killing the mass of them (there was clearly hundreds), I decided I had better determine the type of critter.  It appears that my house was the host to a couple of hundred moth caterpillars.  Ok, so I have seen caterpillars on plants but never cement siding.  There cannot be much to eat on the side of a house.

  I feel better after eradicating the critters even though I usually follow a no kill motto.  I suppose that strategy only applies when the critter is not trying to literally eat me out of house and home.  Nope...we are not going that route again.  I have had enough already.

Totally Missed!

  Every now and again, things go in a different direction than you had intended.  I do a lot of photography.  In fact, I probably take far too many photos.  I do not take too many photos of people, however.  Getting nature shots is my goal.  I figure at the rate we are losing critters and plants to the abuse of this old world, it might be prudent to get a few photos of things even if it is for my own satisfaction.  Sometimes, however, that plan goes awry and the photographs do not turn out as expected.

  Late this afternoon, Mark and I headed to the pier to check the crab traps.  It was a nice evening so we sat a bit and just before dark, headed back to the Little Bayou House.  Once we neared the front steps, something fluttered past my head and to the moonflower blooms.  My first thought was that this was a hummingbird but why was it out so late?  Then, it dawned on me that it was a large moth. The moonflower blooms were just beginning to unfurl and the moth could not wait to crawl inside for a sip.   The trusty, old camera is always in hand so I started trying to get my pictures.  The moth was quick and was not happy with me being so near.  It flitted from one blossom to another without stopping.  Try as I might, I could get nary a photo of the intended critter.  I did get a nice picture of the moonflowers!

  So, the idea is to sit outside tomorrow evening and see if our friend returns.  Perhaps a "perfect shot" will be forthcoming...perhaps not.  With photographing critters, there is no "Hold still, now!"  "Smile!" or "Pose this way!"  You take what you get.  It requires a lot of patience and a lot of dealing with bug bites.  I am ok with that.  

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!