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≡ DOG DAYS OF SUMMER ≡

An old book cover. I got this one in a thrift store a while back...I wish books were still made with these linen-like covers and neat embossed stuff on them.

Anyhow, let it be noted on my not so scientific record-keeping ways that it's been in the mid to high 90s of late so not much has been going on in the garden by way of me actually doing stuff other than weeding and the occasional transplanting when rain chances are higher than the customary 30%. That, plus the darn ear issue...but I am optimistic that soon I'll get to planting some more seeds, building the designated compost site (right now all compost just rests on a good old-fashioned pile)...blah blah blah...

≡ TRAPPED IN THE LAND OF MIXED FEELINGS ≡

Often I feel truly guilty when I walk around our garden...See? I am growing a Strawberry guava, a plant considered by many to be an invasive in South Florida. It is a shrub that needs cold protection here in my 9b zone (Central Florida) and I think that is why it is not considered an invasive in our side of the railroad tracks. But when I chat about it with people who know I feel like I get The Look.

I do, however, have an explanation that sounds pretty good to me: it appears that guavas do protect citrus from the dreaded greening. There is also a down side to this as some studies show a higher incidence of other citrus maladies...but in my book those are not as deadly as greening, so I am sticking to my guns here.




So there. It's out. I am growing a (currently tiny) strawberry guava. Unfriend me if you will. I am still going to grow it. After all, we do have eight different types of citrus trees, which adds up to a pretty sizable investment for thrifty me.



The other source of my emotional pain is that I just killed a spider and its unborn pups. For days I merely marbled at the sight as the missus set up her nursery right next to my computer table on the outside of my window. This allowed me to study it without fear of being bitten or startled by it. Every day felt like a bit of a National Geographic time while I watched the spiderlettes grow inside their funky sacs which look unlike any I'd ever seen...all fancy and spiky like some miniature Medieval torture device.

And I hope I don't ever see them again.

But it is unlikely. Once one has one BROWN WIDOW, I just read, one is likely to host many more. I am talking possible infestation here.

Personally I'd never even heard of brown widows, black widows, yes. Brown, most definitely not. Generally speaking, they won't bother you unless cornered or feeling provoked. They won't go after you like a brown recluse spider would...however, when I read that their venom can kill a child, or worse, a pet, I immediately thought of our two outdoor cats who refuse to be house pets. So out I went and killed the darn thing. They can also kill the elderly or an adult with a weak inmune system...but that is not as important.

I cringed and literally (and audibly) apologized to the poor thing prior to doing the deed. But after I read that each sac has about 18 pups inside I had no choice. Plus these guys can get in the house real easily...and, unlike their black counterparts, they are not picky as to where they live and set up their nurseries. Black widows favor damp & shady/dark spots, while the brown dudes will even set up shop in the middle of your garden. And I say your garden because they ain't staying in mine!

Doesn't reading this make you itch all over and literally feel something crawling up your ankles?

You are welcome.

Argh...there was more to share but the dreaded summer thunderstorms are here and I must unplug everything. Such is life in Central Florida...lightning capital of the U.S.A.

Should you need me you'll find me right by this nook...

≡ AMERICAN BEAUTY BERRY ≡

Flowers loved by all sorts of pollinators.

All around awesome wild-life shrub.

Berries loved by birds. Also, bland but apt for human consumption.

Leaves rubbed on one's skin make for the best mosquito repellent.

Literally care free, drought tolerant, heat tolerant, cold tolerant.

So there you go. Plant you one.

≡ BONELESS ≡

We sure have some odd folk living in our garden. This guy rests like this for up to an hour at the time. Just like that. Boneless.

Gardening pics and info will come back soon, I felt like animal week this time.

≡ HAIRLESS ≡

This poor little guy feels so naked that he only comes down to eat around noon when all the other squirrels are sleeping.

≡ SYDNEY ≡

≡ FLEETING LOVE ≡

That's what many of my neighbors are afflicted with: the Fleeting Love disease. They take in animals. Let those animals love them & depend on them. Then one day the person in charge decides they will move or they simply don't feel like caring for their pets any longer. So they just let them out.

And, fortunately (for the pets at least) they inevitably turn up in our garden. This is Maevis the almost-skeletal cat (left outside and pregnant by a neighbor who shall remain un-named), this her outside our front garden table eating our own cat's food. Quite possibly the first actual meal she's had in weeks.

Maevis has since then had her kittens and, surprise surprise, managed to bring them here (from about a block and a half away). Now I'll have to wait until they trust me enough to put them in a carrier and bring them to a no kill shelter together with yet another handsome monetary donation.

I doubt this kind of heartless people would read gardening blogs, but if you are on the fence and pondering what to do with an animal you've cared for and actually considering "just letting them out," just know this: the responsibility and care of your animals will always fall on someone else's shoulders. That goes out for you CraigsList folks listing your animals for free and letting them go away with anyone without finding out what kind of a home they will actually live in. Enough said.