Pretty Moth

I found this moth in the lawn while out mowing yesterday evening. No, I did not mow over it! (Please, credit me with having some compassion!) I carefully moved it out of harm's way. Then when I had finished mowing, I went back to check on it. It was still there so I took a few pictures.

I got the bright idea to put a yardstick next to it so you could see the size of the wingspan. That is one giant moth.

I checked a little bit ago and the moth is gone now. Perhaps it revived itself and flew away, or maybe a bird ate it this morning.

I think it is a type of sphynx moth, but don't know much more than that about it. Update 07/26/2006 - Thanks to Annie in Austin for sending a comment... this is most likely a male Giant Imperial Moth. Here's a site that help you identify insects: What's That Bug and here's a site to see the caterpiller that turns into this lovely moth.

I enjoyed seeing it and wish now that if it had truly died, that I would have saved it to show my niece and nephews who love bugs and spiders. Once at a family birthday party, someone commented about the big spider on the steps by the front door, and those three went running out to take a look at it. They nearly trambled one another to get to it. A lot of kids would have recoiled at the thought of a spider, and probably hours later would have refused to leave by those steps. I don't know how my sister and brother-in-law are doing it, but they are raising three kids who aren't afraid of bugs (or spiders, though they do tend to run when they see a giant wolf spider, but who wouldn't? Don't click that spider link if you don't like to see pictures of spiders!! You have been warned!)

Unidentified Fungus Among Us

My sister begged me to post this picture of some fungus she has growing next to a tree stump (old sugar maple) in her back yard. It looks like a pile of dog doo, but it is fungus that keeps growing.

We have no idea what it is. Does anyone have any ideas? I told her to just knock it off the stump and bury it, and she said she didn't want to, just in case it turned out to be some new species of fungus. Wonder where she got the idea that you could find new plant species in your own back yard?

Anyway, lest you think her backyard is just a haven for disgusting looking fungi, here's a picture of some yarrow flowers she has blooming now. She has a lot of flowers growing in her back and side yards, basically wherever she has sun. I'll post a complete expose' on her garden on my regular garden blog someday soon.

The Entire Hoe Collection!

The Entire Hoe Collection!


American Standard - An Old Standby



Pointed American Hoe – Red, White and Blue



Plow Hoe, From Poland



The Winged Weeder – A Super Hero Hoe!



Grub Hoe, When You Need a Hardworking Hoe!



Collinear Hoe – Sharp!



Putter Hoe, But Not For Golf



Gooseneck Hoe Coming After You



Push Hoe – When You Are Tired of Pulling



Half Moon Hoe on a Foggy Morning



Rogue Hoe Dog - Sharp, with a nose for weeds!


Scuffle Hoe - For the indecisive - do you push it or pull it?


The Garden Hoe - A Gardener's Best Friend, and A Weed's Greatest Foe


Three Old Hoes


Stirrup Hoe - Cuts down weeds like a true champ!


A Ro-Ho Gardener, a unique hoeing machine!


A good American hoe, well-used, but still very useful.


The Cobrahead, no weed is safe from it's quick strike.


The Circlehoe, runs circles around weeds.


An old Asian hoe, reminds us of the timelessness of gardening and gardening tools.


The Deck Digger, because even decks need to be hoed on occasion.


This old grub hoe has a secret past!

The Let-Us Weeder... good in the lettuce patch and any patch!

The Hooke ‘n Crooke™, it's more than "just a hoe", it does everything!

The hoe●dag®. As handy a hoe as I've ever used. It digs, dugs, dags, and I love it!

The Fork Hoe, perfect for moving mulch and cultivating the hard-packed soil!

The Corona® Garden Hoe. Red-handled, professional quality, a good hoe for any garden.

The DeWit Pull Spork Hoe from Garden Tool Co. When you can't decide "fork" or "hoe", you can't go wrong with a spork hoe!

The Rake 'n Hoe. It's a hoe... and a rake!

The Corona oscillating hoe. It works on the push and the pull so you can weed twice as fast.

The Broot Garden Weeder. As tough a hoe as you'll find among stirrup type hoes.


From time to time, I get a few questions about my hoes, and a request or two to show them all in one post rather than in individual posts. Well, here you go, for all to see, my "hoe collection" on display.

Does anyone have a favorite hoe that isn't like one in my collection? If so, let me know, I'd love to hear about it!

Yes, I've got a few hoes on my "want" list, like any good collector who has a collection.

Yes, these are mostly working hoes. I do use them, some more than others.

Oh, and how did I get the hoes posed like they are? I used a "MacGregor Tool Butler" of course!

(This post last updated May 16, 2009, with my newest hoe and a few links to sources.)

Happy Hoeing, Everyone!

Variegated Phlox

I like variegated leaves, so naturally, I purchased Phlox paniculata "Creme de Menthe". However, sometimes variegated leaf plants send up shoots that aren't variegated. I need to get aggressive and cut out the green shoots and give the variegated side a chance to grow or soon I won't have a variegated phlox at all! The blooms are pink and white.

Lost Label - Sundrops?

I've lost the label for this plant, but I think it is a variety of sundrops, Oenothera, perhaps the species is fruticosa. The flowers are nice and bright and open all day long. The foliage is slightly variegated or mottled with gold.

Or, who knows, this could be something else completely. Like I said, I've lost the tag.

I do know this self sows a bit, but with some hoeing up in the spring, I can contain it to more or less this one clump, so I wouldn't be afraid to share a start of it with others.

If someone recognizes this as something else, please comment!

Japanese Tree Lilac

I once again have lilacs blooming. My Japanese Tree Lilac (Syringa reticulate 'Ivory Silk') is just beginning to bloom. It doesn't smell quite as heavily as some other lilacs, but if you get up close and smell the flowers, you can definitely tell they are lilacs.

I think this is a good small tree for the garden, and not planted nearly as much as it should be. This tree should only grow 15 - 20 feet tall and 10 -15 feet wide. Fall color isn't the showiest, but that's okay because I like the bloom, which occurs after most of the other spring flowering trees like pear trees, crabapples, and redbuds have finished blooming. The only other tree I can think of that is also blooming right now are the catalpas.

By having several varieties of lilacs, I now have lilacs blooming from late April through early June, with just a week or so at the end of May without a lilac in bloom. I just need to find a variety to fill that one week gap and I'll have almost 6 weeks with at least one species or another of lilac blooming! See this previous post for more info on lilacs.

Spiderwort, Last Picture, I Promise

I do love spiderworts this year, but wanted to point out to others that it is definitely a morning flower. As the sun comes up, it opens its flowers and is quite nice for a good part of the day.

However, once the sun heats up in the afternoon, the flowers close up and by evening you have a plant that looks like this.

But come morning, the flowers will all open again. This is definitely not a flower for an evening or night garden.

Spiderwort - a range of colors

Here are 4 different spiderworts (Tradescantia) currently blooming in my garden.

Mock Orange

This is mock orange, Philadelphus x 'Buckley's Quill' The first picture is a close up of the flowers, which are very white and fragrant. Pretty, aren't they? They are in full bloom right now in the garden. The second picture shows how it looks in the garden and shows it's growing habit. Kind of a mess, isn't it? That's the problem with mock orange, it provides about two weeks of interest while it is flowering. The rest of the year it is a somewhat awkward shrub with big tall branches coming up out of it. I don't think it helps that I put three shrubs in a space that maybe should have only 1 or 2 shrubs.

Spiderwort - A better picture

A much better picture of the Spiderwort from the previous post. It's really starting to bloom now. I think it will keep this up for most of the summer. It's a keeper! (Tradescantia 'Blue and Gold') I think I will see if there is a variegated spiderwort.

More Spiderwort

This is Tradescantia "Blue and Gold", it's primary feature is the yellow foliage. I like it because it shows up brightly in the garden, even without the bluish flowers, which aren't all that showy.

It also reminds me of my "blue and gold" team, the Indiana Pacers!

As with all spiderworts, it is easy to grow in a wide variety of conditions.

More Columbine

This is another type of columbine (Aquilegia) growing in my garden. The white flower in the back ground is 'snow-in-summer'. There are many varieties of columbine, and I think it is worthwhile to find a spot or two for it, even though it only blooms once in the spring. It is sure adding some bright spots in my garden right now!

Spiderwort

Here's an easy to grow, old-fashioned perennial worthy of a spot in the garden. This is spiderwort, Tradescantia virginiana, variety unknown. It does self-sow, but not to the point that you would not want it in your garden, but just enough that you have a few extra plants to share with others. It tends to bloom more in the morning, but blooms all summer long.

Columbine

I have several double columbines blooming in the garden. The one on the left is Aquilegia vulgaris 'Blue Tower'. The one on the right is Aquilegia vulgaris 'Pink Tower'. And the one in the middle is probably Aquilegia vulgaris 'Black Barlow'. The pink and blue columbine I know I started from seed in 2001. I'm not sure where I got the 'Black Barlow', but it is one of the darkest flowers in my garden. Starting perennials from seed can be economical, but does take some patience. It may be several years before the seedling gets to a size that blooms.