What's happening in your late summer garden?

PC, every time I go to Santa Cruz I go thru Freedom and take a side trip to the Corralitos Market for a turkey sandwich. I think my car goes on autopilot....
You're in a beautiful area, and I hope the rest of this fire season and the winter weather are kind to you and your neighbors. As Gilda used to say, "It's always something!"

And Gilda was always right.....

Yes, and last years fires almost ate our world famous Corralitos Sausage Market! Did you know they even have a Facebook page now!? Yes, I am blessed to live within walking distance of such a wonder, hmmmmmmmmmmm!
I have photos of the flames in the hills. It was scary! But maybe last years there was enough rain to set the wild plants in place and a good winters rain is all they need to really bloom next spring! I wonder if the air tankers can drop wild flower seed ;-)

We had our own nasty little Hummingbird fire last year, right around the same time you guys were struggling with yours. It started right at the edge of my favorite local winery's vineyard (Clos la Chance) and roared over the hills and was finally controlled on the top of the ridge right across the road from a dear friend's place. We're in town but we could see the flames from the end of our street. Scary business.
Firefighters ROCK!

You bet and we've already lost a couple down here this week with the Station Fire. That their lives should be taken because of, once again, arson just kills me. My BIL is a fireman in the midwest...they don't have these problems....

Something about those Western Kingbirds, they do look bigger than the birdbook says they are. Maybe because they perch on the ends or edges of things so we don't have anything for perspective? Blooms and I were in a Lowe's garden area a couple years ago and I looked up on the edge of their somewhat overhead chainlink fence or shade-cloth rack and saw this BIRD, which I *swore* was as big as a sparrow hawk (American Kestrel).

Blooms happened to have her camera around her neck (actually she does more times than not) and got a good-enough photo, with a little more face-shot in it than yours SW. Well, I've been a birder since I was 8yo, and I had to go through the birdbook page by page to find that bird! For one thing because I was looking for something bigger.

Wouldn't it be something if it did rain?!! I can almost remember rain...

~'spin!~
It would be even better if it *didn't* bring on mudslides to people who already have disaster enough with the fires... light rains spread out over time, I'm putting my order in. Ha.

Already had mudslides in Julian yesterday.....sometimes when they mention possible rain in the mountains we take off for Julian to have apple pie and enjoy a little rain that we aren't getting here at home...just as well that we didn't go...they apparently got a whole lot of rain in one hour and accompanying mudslides.

I have more photos of the king bird for scale. Remember I'm standing on the ground looking up and forward at an angle about 20 or more feet. Without using the telephoto.

Used the telephoto for this shot. Since you've already seen the cropped version I hope this helps. I'll have to ask DH again how high he thinks the branch is off the ground.
I too thought it might be a Kestrel. But the colors were wrong. Personally, I like them, of course my chickens are all protected from them now, but they still fly by hoping for a quick bite to eat.
Guess I'd better take you all on that spring walk pretty quick. We all long for rain this time of year.
wcgypsy, I hadn't heard about the slide in Julian. I really wish we got San Diego news here.
Sickens me too, wcgypsy, to know that those firemen died in an arson fire. I hope they catch the person responsible and hold them accountable for their thoughtless and careless actions. Sigh. : - (
Bedtime!
WIB!
SW

I agree they look bigger than the descriptions. We learned about them in Costa Rica and got to where we could pick them out easily - we kept saying, "What are those birds?" I think our guides thought we were dense.

BTW, I'm trying out a browser toolbar from the WhatBird.com site for quick searches - it seems to work pretty good.

You know, maybe the birdbooks are wrong about the size of the kingbird! maybe some early book made an error and they've all just been copying the same smaller figure. Cause now there's at least three of us, all good observers, agreeing on too-big bird.

As far as what's happening in the garden, I was totally surprised that our clump of Hippeastrum bulbs (that REALLY needs to be split) threw up a bloom-stalk, in all this heat. However, the shrimp plant (Justicia sp.) has hit ground water (or something) and is so big now my DH can't see the "amaryllis" from his window so I'm going to cut it and put in a vase with stones in the base to offset the top heavy flower.

Will get a photo first.
~'s!~

Very interesting theory on the size of birds. They actually trap and measure birds constantly for research and to monitor the health of populations.
I'd be interested in seeing how many people could accurately draw a foot and divide it into 12 equal and correct inches......;-)

And at different distances, PC!

From what I read, that family of birds is one of, if not the largest, groups - Tyrant Flycatchers. Costa Rica has three, and the U.S. sees at least three - Western, Eastern, and Tropical (my fav) - but there are many, many more, plus all the related birds.

One of my favorite birds is the Black Phoebe. One hangs out in my yard every year and catches all the flies that dare to wander over the big side lawn. I've been "birding" since I was 15. I won't say how long ago that was ;-) Just that I do have a life list and would love the chance to see some tropical birds. The farthest south I ever went was to the Salten Sea where I got to see Blue Footed Boobies!
Hey, is this the bird forum? Ha, ha!
Here is a photo of one of my favorite herbs in bloom. Lemon Garlic Chives. I gather the seed every year and give some of it away and sow some so I can give away plants. They have a flat blade with a wonderful flavor which is a must for many asian recipes.
What did we do before digital cameras!???

PC, I have garlic chives forever, but I didn't know there was a LEMON garlic chive! I would love some seed if you end up having some to share.
I also love the phoebes. We have a pair that comes after it cools off in the evening; between them and the hummers I think they eat every mosquito that my fish happen to miss. I hardly ever get bitten in my own garden----elsewhere I can practically hear tiny excited screams of, "The buffet is open!!"

Same here, I haven't been bitten in years. I thank the flycatchers, the black phoebes, and most of all, my year round throng of happy hummingbirds! But when I first moved here and there was nothing but bare clay, I'd had to come inside at dusk if I didn't want to fall over from donating too much blood!

I saw that bird again today, and was grateful. Been trying to do some clean up and was seeing the flies around the patio. Not out front or around the chicken pen, just on the back patio, where it was cooler.
I still think it was almost a foot tall.
I guess I could use an algebraic formula to measure it's size using the tree for scale, but can't remember the formula. I'm not about to ask Mr. Twyman to come measure the bird for me. LOL!
(He did measure how tall Gma Oak is using a stick and the angle and that algebraic equation.)
The Salton Sea used to be a great place to take your canoe for birdwatching.
In the old days, CatSmiling, we used to take a lot of film photos, then Dad would develop them in his own darkroom (I got to help), and even then he'd be sad when he ran the proof sheet and saw photos that were blurry or didn't capture what he had hoped. He mostly worked in Black & White because it was cheaper. Colors processing is a lot more involved and uses a lot more chemicals. It weren't much fun. Dad also liked experimenting with different effects. He loved his photography and his darkroom. Truth to tell, I was a lot more interested in my boyfriend, and the band.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. : - )
Here's something you don't see every day. Doodle bug nests. My son tells me that the Doodle bug is the nymph stage for damselflies.
I always wondered what made them holes. Now I know! Always some new to discover out in the yard.
From what I've seen so far, I really like the WhatBird.com site. Told a friend about it.
Now CatSmiling what exactly is a life list, and how do you do it? I've asked on the birding forum and no one was forthcoming with any information. At least not yet.
Digital photography was new and exciting toy when it first came out, and now even your phone can take photos. To think that my Dad was a self-taught engineer, who beat out the guys with the fancy diplomas to work for NASA in the 60's and early 70's, and all he wanted was to be a Nat. Geo. photographer. He sure made up for it with his posts here at DG. Sorry, my Dad's been on my mind today.
WIB!
SW

He'd be proud of you, girl---no, I'm sure he IS proud of you! Your photographs are an inspiration to me, and I'm so glad he got you started here on DG and I got to "meet" you!
Love the word "doodlebug"....LOL!

Don't be sorry, SW. We miss him, too. Nice photo. I dabbled in B&W for a while, including developing - very cool. What does a doodle bug look like?

Good question, I've never really seen one. I understand that they can only move backwards will ask son or try googling it to see what shows up. LOL!
Okay I googled it. I was wrong. It's really not damselfly larva, it's Myrmeleontidae larva, sometimes called Ant Lion Lacewings. Doodlebugs are also known as Ant Lions. Found this site that gives more information. Shows a photo of the lacewing, with all the gruesome details. Including photos of the larva.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antlion
I had no idea how many definitions there were for doodlebug.
Okay, Kc and Imapigeon, I won't be sorry, but I am missing my Dad today.
I am proud of him and what he achieved. He was a barefoot farmboy who probably built his own radio, and first camera himself. He'd take apart something figure out how it worked. He was good that way. Besides, I think he really hated farming. It's hard work, and all too often heartbreaking work.
I don't hold a candle to my Dad, but I am getting better, and if that inspires anyone, well, let's just say I find that shocking.
I'm really not that good, but I'm stubborn, and determined, and I have the time to do a lot of practicing, so maybe someday, I'll get better. Since I'm only competing with myself, and I'm happy that Dad taught me to be that way. Thank God for digital cameras!
KC, you are a woman of many talents. You did your own B&W developing, too! My I am impressed. I liked spending the time with Dad, but even then hated the smell of Chemicals. Dad's enthusiasm was always contagious. : - )
He played a killer game of ping pong too. Had an incredible backhand slice that was almost impossible to hit, much less return. We had a lot of good times playing ping pong. My sis told me that he came out with his own version of Pong before they were being commercially produced. I missed it because I was already back in CA. He was always tinkering too. Loved his light board which lit different colored lights when music was playing. Then there was the squawk box. It plugged into the tv, wire ran to box with toggle switch. When commercial came on, we toggled switch and turned off the volume. I didn't even know that they made tv's with remotes until the late 70's. Still loved his squawk box. Especially since they always turn up the volume when commercials are on.
Thanks for letting me share those memories.
DH just got home, and I forgot to turn off some water on drip.
WIB!
SW

I understand, I miss my dad too! After he retired, he won allot of "Handyman Of the Year" awards from a guild he joined. He didn't develope his own firm, but he was a forward thinker and took slides. So do I still. Prints from the slides he took in the 1950's and 1960's don't look anything like normal photos from that era. The color and clarity are remarkable. I am still going over a big box of them I inherited, trying to decide which ones to have made into prints.
A life list, is a list of all the species of birds you've seen in your lifetime. My blue "Birds Of North America" handbook has a checklist in the back for doing this. Of course I'd have to get other books for other areas of the world I haven't been to yet.
I have always dreamed of traveling off this continent!
I won my first camera when I was 8, and I've been taking photos ever since. But now that I don't have to worry about the cost of film and developing, I am like a little kid with a new toy! In the past, I'd of argued that a digital could never get the detail my 35mm can, but I'd be wrong now!

Cool website for ant lions.
http://www.antlionden.com/?gclid=CPLp1Yzi2pwCFRgSawodw2RNEA

I've seen those, and didn't know what they were---I'll be coddling them henceforth! Thanks for posting the link!

I need to buy some of those! I hate to spray for ants because they are SO hard to kill. And every spring they come and cover my French Prune tree with aphids. I park my van under this tree to keep it cool, but the aphids rain down a constant drip of aphid piss full of sugar and coat the van with it, yuck!!! I've tried everything, I've even reverse taped the truck so they get stuck on their way up. They just coat it with dead bodies and crawl over each other. I've tried killing the aphids, they just bring more. Maybe if I had Ant Lions and Lady Bug, my poor tree would have a chance!
There is a black and red beetle that also comes in large numbers, I think they are eating the aphids also, but I am not sure. One of those millions of little details I need to look into and never have the time! Or when I do have the time, I am not near a computer, ha, ha!

The red and black beetle might be juvenile ladybugs----they look quite fierce!

No, these are adult beetles with wings, not larvae. They are long and black and red. They are either eating the ants, the aphids, or stealing the "dew" the ants milk from the aphids. All three also get all over my Satsuma Plum and a few of the other fruit trees. I tend to put more work into defending the cherries, nectarines, and apricots. Especially my cherries!!! I need to take a photo of these beetles some day and see if I can identify them here.

Thanks, wc and kc, for your dry shade suggestions. I looked up the artemisia canyon gray, and Las Pilitas said it was allelopathic. Well, I didn't know what that meant and had to look it up. Means, apparently, it is detrimental to other plants around it. One site said allelopathic means "they want to be alone"! lol So, altho I love the scent of artemisia californica, I'm afraid it might harm my two trees it would be under.

Ceanothus might be a better choice, although I don't know how good I am with cuttings. (Thanks, though!) Although the plants in that spot will get more sun during the winter (being deciduous trees), the plants will get a lot of shade (all morning until past high noon) once the trees leaf out. Will ceanothus tolerate that much shade?

When I went to Las Pilitas a few months ago, they had a ceanothus with a stickly-prickly holly-like leaf that I got. I also got a different one they recommended. Both of my tiny ceanothus are in sunny spots and seem to be happy. Tiny, but happy. Thoughts?

Sounds like you have one of the ground cover types I got, too (I think I have two different ones). VERY prickly. LOL Of course, I forgot to record the name. I have one that needs moving this fall - one of our monster Toyons buried it. Both of them took a while to get going, but are now spreading. If the one under the Toyon is growing at the same rate, that solves the shade question!

Have you checked with Tree of Life? They often have different plants and also have lots of resources on their web site.

They want to be alone, huh? I'll have to look that up, too!

Maybe I should change my screen name to Desert Pirate Allelopathic.
I seem to get along just fine alone and am sometimes detrimental to others around me. LOL. (not plants though)

Well, I was right all along - lots of pine trees are allelopathic - whether due to the acidity of the needles decomposing on the ground, or some other chemical reaction (different sites, different ideas). I could never get an answer to that, and I did ask at LP. So much for the idea of raised beds - and I might move the flower cart, also. DH is not going to like that!

Thanks for that info, surf!

DP, you're silly! LOL

Interesting, I'l have to look that up also. I wonder if it's just Canyon Grey or other artemisias as well. I have artemisia mugwort everywhere and it doesn't seem to affect the growth of plants near it..or maybe it does and they would do better if I'd get rid of the mugwort...lol...I've actually been letting the mugwort grow rather than weeding it...to dry for use in dream pillows. I seem to remember reading at one time that rue has a bad effect on neighboring plants also....

Randy, I'm pretty sure there are many who would say the same for me......lol...

Verrrry interesting and good to know. Apparently artemisia annua /Sweet Annie has the same effect and I do grow Sweet Annie though it grows pretty much separately anyway. My property would be a good one to do testing on since I've always had the mugwort and a lot of diverstiy in the plants that I grow and in most areas I would think that the mugwort has no ill effects..the plants thrive...and then there are some areas that are not doing as well and I've attributed that to soil or heat or whatever in that particular location (varying over 1 1/2 acres). It may however, just be the mugwort....in any case, 'someone' is going to weed out all of the mugwort (may as well dry it now for use anyway) and see what happens...This won't be easy, keeping it out as it's also very invasive. Thanks for the info...also, in checking on this, I see that alfalfa suppresses mugwort...must be a 'rock, paper, scissors' kinda thing...lol...

Sherry,
I read that about rue, too, and got rid of it to "protect" my Bertgarten sage. Besides, I looked up what it was good for and all it said was "strewing"... well my floors get enough on them without even thinking about throwing herbs around on purpose!

But I grew mugwort (for the same reason, not that I ever made any) and it totally mingled with Santolina, lavenders, Mexican primrose, and Lemon Balm, so I didn't see anything antisocial about it. I've also had A.ludoviciana and A.v. "Powis Castle" with no problem saving that PC overruns things, but the Salvia 'Navajo Rose' is peeking out from under it and blooming, not sick or anything.

I never should have bought SIX Powis Castle, what was I thinking! Fast results, yes, but then what?!!

~'spin!~

'spin, now that you mention it.... I grew extensive patches of a.ludoviciana years ago in Northern Ca for use in making herb wreaths and never noticed a problem with the compatability with surrounding plants. The Navaho Rose is very vigorous. I'm not surprised that it's poking through, mine is really, really flowering right now.
I've always liked the idea of strewing herbs....I lay them beneath my rugs. I need to get more pennyroyal growing.....

Do you really? OK I take it back. I really need to 'discipline' the Powis Castle, though -- give the Navaho Rose a chance.

My Justicia brandegeana, that I mentioned before, is twice as big as it's ever been, and sturdier. The hummingbird(s) spend all day zooming around it, and chirping their claims on it.

Salvias are doing well too; I have at least 30' of border planted to Lady in Red; the lesser goldfinches come to that daily, but I don't see the hummingbirds around them this year since the Shrimp Plant got so big and is covered with blossoms. Last year I had multiple kinds of hummingbirds (rufous I think, as well as Anna's) always on the LIR and only occasionally notice them going to the Justicia. Funny how that changed.

~'s!~

The S.scabra you gave have filled in to cover my front "peninsula" that divides my sidewalk from my neighbors' garage-approach. Also I have Centranthus ruber volunteers here and there...

LOL, 'spin, on the centranthus....They pop up everywhere, but I love them. I have a white one that I want to get in the ground and I have some of the more vermillion colored ones coming up now also. I was hoping that the gophers wouldn't like the scabra, but unfortunately they do, so I'll be making lots of wire baskets to get more of the scabra into the ground. I really appreciate how sturdy and tough scabra is. Looking forward to next weekend for the Fullerton Arboretum's Salvia sale.....thought I could talk myself outof going, but.......well.....
edited to add that, now that I'm thinking of it, I think I'll lay a bunch of clevelandii beneath the rugs tomorrow. I keep a bowlful by my PC just for when I need to smell that scent....

This message was edited Sep 5, 2009 8:15 PM

Thanks for reminding me! I gotta think about where to put some more salvia... Oooh, I know (as long as I find some of the smaller ones, like May-Night types, not the gigantic ones) I can put them on the upper tier of my herb garden, against the west-facing wall. I had MayNight there before, and have a pineapple sage as a highlight up there now. I let most of my herbs die, I'm afraid, and I cook so little that I don't miss them unfortunately. Tee hee, I need more species of Salvia!

~'s!~

Desert Pirate...you get the award for the post of the week! LOL!

Aaahhh...a turn in the weather today...time to plant!!!!

I planted a couple of Cleveland sage this summer (I know, I know, it's not the time to plant it) and I fretted all summer about it, wondering if it was going to take. Well, it did and I was literally jumping up and down when it put out it's first bloom last week!

Funny how I fret about natives! What's wrong with this picture?

BTW, I love my Bee's Bliss. Not blooming, but wonderfully happy and spreading all over the place. Gotta get more of it.

I killed some of my BB by over-watering in the summer. :-) Gracias is another low spreading one.
Watering is my downfall - I don't seem to get it right very often!