“Aw, I make a great ladybug, don’t you think ESP?”

“Oh yeah, looking real good now Lady Gaga!”

Ladybug!  Ladybug!

Fly away home.

Your house is on fire.

And your children all gone.

All except one,

And that’s little Ann,

For she crept under

The artemesia plant.

In Britain ladybugs are referred to as ‘ladybirds.’  It is believed that the word Ladybird was substituted for Ladybug in the American version of the nursery rhyme, due to the word association with Firebug meaning an arsonist or pyromaniac.  There has been some speculation that the rhyme originates from the time of the Great Fire of London in 1666.

photo by Steve VanGunda

Farmers of old knew the value of having the ladybirds around, reducing the amount of pests in their crops, it was traditional to cry out the rhyme before they burnt their fields following harvests.

I have a bumper infestation of ladybird larvae and ladybugs on my artemesia this year,

I had no idea this plant was such an attractant or host, another good reason to have a bunch of it.

I caught up with another large ladybug looking creature that was actually a beetle, a Milkweed Leaf Beetle:

Labidomera cliviollis

 

It was clambering around rather clumsily in this feather grass, the grass not able to hold it’s weight.

While we are on the subject of insects:

This metal dragonfly from the creative iron-working hands of Bob over there at: http://dracogardens.blogspot.com/ was a real hit in the Patch this week, and no accidents so far Bob!

It gets a tweaking at every opportunity:

The scorpion hook has taken pride of place in our hallway, I hung it down low for the hobbits to hang their coats on, the pincers are great for holding their Tolkien rings.

Thank you!

The elder hobbit now keeps asking…“so who is Bob”?

Oh yes, someone giving her gifts?  She has to get to the bottom of it.

One last bug communication I overheard this week…

 

“Wait lads!  Let me make sure the coast is clear”…

(Dog Whistles back over shoulder) then moves a bunch of legs in a series of marine-like gestures…

Winged reproductive termites

“Go! Go! Go!

I first noticed these alates (winged) or primary reproductive termites when a mocking bird dove over my head, did some mid-air aerobatics to snag a couple as they emerged from the side of my house. I quickly honed in with my camera…first one, then a few, then they began streaming out of my house like bats coming out from under Congress bridge.  This exodus is referred to as a dispersal nuptial flight, it is commonly referred to as swarming.   If I wasn’t there taking pictures of the event I am sure the birds would have been in a full-on feeding frenzy.  When the alates receive the proper cues (warm temperatures, bright sunlight, low winds, for example) they will leave the colony and fly away to start their own.  Male and female termites shed their rainbow colored wings and will pair up when a suitable mate is found.  When termites swarm they are often misidentified as “flying ants”, due to their visual similarities.

“Enough of this insect nonsense ESP, move with haste towardeth the plant talk!”

 

Central Texas has had some sporadic light drizzles this past week, and a little rain…

…drizzles that left water jewels defying gravity on the grasses…

and a dusting of dew on my hearts…

“Yes, yes” (obligatory noises).

…moisture that made the ragworts perspire.

Along with the moisture naturally came the now traditional, ESP snail hunt…

…and quite the bounty there was to had for nimble picking fingers, by the time they had finished, this bucket was three quarters full. 

When the sun made it out again, later in the day, I was emphatically summoned to the back of the garden for some sushi…the goldfish! Oh no the goldfish!…Could they? Would they?

“Allez cuisine!”

Thankfully this was the vegetarian feast that was awaiting me at the end of the garden, complete with post-oak chopsticks.  I thought the bamboo husks were a nice Michelin-star touch from my elder hobbit.  While I was devouring my garden sushi, (holding my head back and dropping it to the ground),  I noticed that my oldest clump of giant timber bamboo had developed fresh growth at it’s base…

…the funny thing was, the foliage was variegated?  Very odd, but I am not complaining.

The sun also dried out the barbed seeds that have now formed on my feather grasses, not sure if I should go around and strip these seeds now before they have a chance to blow around and germinate, what would you do?  I must have…

“Hmmm”…

“A million seedlings?”

My loquats are in loquat heaven with the recent moisture, combined with a rather wet winter.

My stone crop waterfall is also starting to bloom with tiny white pendants that hang over the slabs.  This great little plant seems to grow where there is no soil.  I think it is now rooting on the debris that my Post Oak is emitting.

My Gaura lindheimeri parasols have also opened up this week.

Blue Lousisiana Iris are also popping into their tropical prime.

This one was hiding an unmentionable…

No, not him!

an unmentionable that was making one of my two Alice in Wonderland strawberries blush.

Can anybody Identify this plant?  It is about three feet tall.

 

And to finish…a 180 view from my new bench.

Stay Tuned for:

“Men in Black-foot daisies”

 

 

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punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)

14th century planet Earth techniques.