A Mole

We had an encounter with a bigger mole this year (I had a post about a smaller one that looked like a tiny mouse, no bigger than my pinkie.) It seemed like it was caught by Lucky, one of our 5 cats, and brought into the house. Good thing that it was still very much alive with no wounds that I could see.

I had to take photos and videos first then I released it back outdoors.

I planted Camote....but...what are these????

I planted camote tubers (cut in half) in black plastic pots indoors during late spring, when nights were still too cold.

One day when it was like summer hot, (though still cold at night) I let them out on the porch to "harden" them prior to transplanting to my veggie garden.

That afternoon, when I was about to bring them back inside the house, I noted holes on the leaves...what the????



Found these golden specks on the underside of the leaves...wow...so beautiful...wish I could use them for jewelries...



A closer look...



I googled and found out they are tortoise beetles...specifically infesting the family of sweet potatoes...(Ipomea? if I remember it right)...apparently they do not last all summer...

Darn...I planted sweet potatoes mainly for the leaves...I miss blanched sweet potato leaves eaten with bagoong isda with some kalamansi juice (I have to sub with lemon), some ginger and onions, tomatoes, plus fried or grilled tilapia or bangus....

oh well.... :(

Clematis

It looks so artificial with all the big blooms it has...but this is real...growing under the shade of an arbor...very eye-catching! It motivated me to buy two clematis plants...I hope they, too, will have blooms as prolific as these!

My Hanging Baskets

I did not make them myself. Instead of planting seeds and transplanting them to baskets once bigger, I opted to save myself some times and effort and frustration (because I do not have the talent/greenthumb) by getting several pretty ones either from WalMart or a nearby greenhouse. The big flowery baskets are the ones I got from the greenhouse.

Fuschia (both the white and the purple) is my favorite. Then the orange begonia. The others are okay, but they do offer contrast in colors. Pretty to look at while sitting at the swing set on the porch. Combined with listening to the sound of water dropping from the fountain, it is so Zen-like at this time of the year.

My Gardening Summer Project for 2009

I had two containers (medium size) that I placed on the porch (they had identical plants).

I had two window boxes that had different plants in it.

My MIL gave me her extra annuals to plant in my annual garden bed. Before I planted them, I had to re-condition the dirt by rototilling, adding compost, and fertilizing it.

Gardening can be a lot of work, but it definitely has its rewards.

Crocus

 

This plant is one of the earliest blooms I have in my garden. As soon as snow melts, they are peaking out already. I have white and yellow, striped lavender and plain.

Spring is Almost Here!

It is that time again when I receive a lot of catalogs for home garden.

I particularly like the Spring Hill Nursery for their selection, which includes hardy species of bamboo and banana. Yeah, aside from bringing a tropical theme into my immediate environment, having these two around will enable me to cook with bamboo shoots and banana leaves (if the fruits of the banana are good for eating or cooking, then that will be a welcome bonus).

I have just ordered some flowers from them with a promo they sent earlier. Now that they sent me a catalog as well, I will order those items and some more flowers. They do have a promo ("Put us to the test") to cut the total price in half after I make my choices from that catalog. Sweet!

Mulching my garden

My SIL and MIL were very kind to volunteer to clean up and mulch my garden. Not only were my husband and I very lost as to how to approach it, I was also breaking out with rashes every time I would attempt to weed...They felt sorry for me.

So one day during a fall weekend, they, together with my FIL, husband, and kids, worked on my flower garden while I was at work. Here's their finished work...very neat!


Am I lucky or what???

A Mole

Our favorite pet cat Midnight thinks she is a mighty hunter (a tiger?) and she always tries to impress us by hunting small mammals such as this vole (see its size relative to my pinkie). Mice, birds, and even butterflies are among the victims. We try to scold her every time, and if the poor victim is still alive by the time we see it, we set it free.