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!

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.