Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Need Help Building a Butterfly Education & Exploration Site, 3 by SingingWolf

SingingWolf wrote:
Good thought pollengarden. I have already asked the guys to put the downed oak branches along the creek to keep people out, and I know it'll provide habitat for the quail. We generally leave the dead brush along the creek anyway. DH and a friend saw 3 foxes yesterday, walking out of the Christmas trees, up to Hummingbird Hill. :-D

The guys have been bringing me quail eggs they have found out there among the trees all summer.

Believe me, we don't want fire hazards here, and we try really hard to keep defensible space around us. We have an awful lot to loose if our place goes up in flames.

Dee, I'm glad I wasn't the only one getting eye strain. I'll go ahead and order my own catalog.
I'm really sorry about your cassia. Gophers are horrible. I think I'd like to try the Asclepias fascicularis. I think it would do well on the hillsides around here. :-)

The snails ate my feverfew. :-(

You know how I joke about my gh being the same climate as Texas? Well it was more like Texas than I wanted when I found fire ants in there. They probably hitched a ride in a potted plant. I am terribly allergic to them. My summer kid, Jonathan researched online how to get rid of them. Bless his heart, he poured boiling water over them for me. We're keeping an eye out to see if they come back, but so far they appear to have been eradicated. :-)

We've had really odd weather for August. We've had a couple of t.storms, the one last weekend even had hail. I took a photo but I don't think it came out too well. Anyway, we usually don't have rain until October, so measurable rain in August is just plain weird. Welcome, but weird.

I noticed that all the queen ants came out after the first rain. I have a photo of them covering the front walk. You could see them everywhere on the walk, on the lawn, in my flowerbeds. My YS is the designated ant killer, and he has been really busy. We are only going after the ants that invade the house, and the red ones that I'm so allergic to.

I haven't been seeing any cat action lately, and am wondering if the wasps are getting to them. Thing is I have plenty of GF's flittering around.

I'm going through my seed, and figuring out what I still need to sow this year, before I start buying new seed. Anyway, I was wondering what plant/s you other gardeners would recommend. Go ahead and recommend away, even if I have the plant already. You see, I figure by picking everyone's mind, finding out what does well for them, will help me determine the best plants to get. I could always use more plants. LOL! :-)

I got sick over the weekend, I had all the p's you can think of. Peeing, puking, pooping, perspiring, and even phlegm. It was not fun. I seem to be getting better. Yea! The weather is much cooler than normal, and I resent every sunny day I can't be in it.

I promised some more photos of the BEES.

1. Kind of an overview showing the Troll Bridge. We've lost the top of the tree since I took this photo back in March. The drought has been most unkind to it. I guess I can plant something else there if it doesn't come back.

2. I was on the path that curves around the BEES. Directly in front will be the waterfall, a bit to the left, and the creek would be centered at the base of the slope, while the koi pond will be on the right.

3. Standing on the edge of the creek looking toward the picnic area. The BEES is behind me.

4. A closer view of the tree by the Troll Bridge.

5. The other side of the Troll Bridge. I plan on having a gate there, so you can exit the BEES by going out a gate that leads to the pathway around the outside of the BEES, or by crossing the Troll bridge.

Please give a thought to your favorite B.fly plants, and maybe share what kind and why you like them. I thank you for helping me out with this project.

BBS~
WIB~
SW