The extreme heat and excessive humidity wilt even this mighty "Mammoth" sunflower.
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Bugs, however. . .abound in the gardens. Above a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly on one of the thousands of zinnia blooming.
My strategy with all bugs is to let the bugs eat what they will. Plant cultivars in multiple locations and hope for the best.
A glass sunflower spider (Green Lynx; Peucetia viridans). Look closely she's just beside the flower in the middle of the image.
The female constructs one to five 2-centimeter (0.8 in) egg sacs in September and October, each containing 25 to 600 bright orange eggs, which she guards, usually hanging upside down from a sac and attacking everything that comes near. Remarkably, one of her means of defense is to squirt venom from her chelicerae, sometimes for a distance of about a foot (300 mm). The eggs hatch after about two weeks, and after another two weeks fully functional spiderlings emerge from the sac. They pass through eight instars to reach maturity.
The zinna are stunning again this year. These are the toughest yet bred from years of selecting for the hardiest and largest headed varieties.
The Mexican Sunflower (Clavel de Muerto; Tithonia rotundifolia) are growing everywhere. . .like weeds. This one, about 3 weeks old. . .sprung up near the pond.
Florida Stink Bugs and Leaffotted Bugs
A Stink Bug (Proxys punctulatus; Palisot de Beauvois) or a Leaffooted Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus) on one of the sunflowers.
Stink bugs (Pentatomidae) and leaffooted bugs (Coreidae) are important direct pests of many seed, fruit, vegetable and nut crops. Recently they have become serious pests of cotton because of the reduction in pesticide use resulting from the eradication of the boll weevil and the implementation of genetically-modified cotton.
Stink bugs and leaffooted bugs have similar life cycles. Eggs are placed on the host plant in large masses. The nymphs and adults feed on a variety of herbaceous weeds such as Crotalaria spp., Yucca spp., Jimson weed, grasses (bahiagrass) and many crops including corn, peach, pecan, peanut, soybean and tomato. Four or five generations may occur in a single year. Stink bugs usually overwinter as adults but may remain active all year when the weather remains mild. Stink bugs are very mobile with the adults moving from crop to crop as the season progresses. When crop and weed hosts mature and die in the fall, stink bugs move into pecan orchards or other woodlots looking for food and overwintering sites. Some stink bug species overwinter under the bark of trees.
Dell-Roy Jackson, one of 3 black cats now inhabiting the yard. That's my size 12 blue-socked foot under his head. He is going to be a very big boy. Dell-Roy is completely vetted now.
Dell is a dominant (though now neutered male) he wants to fight with all the other cats. Nightly we have a cat caucus and crisis on the front porch then come the raccoons.
My Kapok or Silk-Floss Tree (Chorisia speciosa A. St.-Hil.) is finally taking off. It has grown about 12" in the past month. The 30-foot tall Kapok Tree at the bottom of the hill is now actually smaller than this one that was a gift. The large tree, down the hill, succumbed to the cold winter and is now little more than a sprout. It did, however, survive the repeated blasts of 20° F. My tree will remain potted as long as I live at this latitude so I can move her indoors those few nights a year when we have cool weather.
The Bombacaceae or Kapok Tree family contain 9 genus of trees. These are native only as far north as the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Evidence of raccoon visitation in the night.
We've Read:
Given his statements and actions leading up to inauguration, isn't it about time Trump be declared a Russian spy?
Raccoons Invade Brooklyn
Though New York may be better known for its rat population, the city abounds in raccoons. Their precise numbers are not known, but their encounters with people have increased.
Though New York may be better known for its rat population, the city abounds in raccoons. Their precise numbers are not known, but their encounters with people have increased.
Zinédine Zidane is not a nice guy, and that's what makes him a Football God, according to Raymond Domenech.
Mosquito Born Zika Virus:
A Peril to Babies in Brazil
Prompts Government to Discourage Pregnancies Months Before the Olympic Games
A little known virus spread by mosquitos, Zika, has caused a huge surge in babies born with microcephaly, a rare, incurable condition. No one knows precisely when the Zika virus made the leap to Brazil from Africa, its place of origin. Some researchers suggest it could have arrived during the last big sporting event held in Brazil, the 2014 World Cup. Of more alarm to Americans, the virus has now made its way as far north as Barbados.
Why Do We Feed Wild Animals?
A sense of personal redemption is intimately tied up with the history of bird-feeding. The practice grew out of the humanitarian movement in the 19th century, which saw compassion toward those in need as a mark of the enlightened individual.
Photo Ark
Capturing Endangered Wildlife Before its Too Late
US photographer Joel Sartore is spending a decade taking portraits of the 12,000 species in captivity worldwide with an emphasis on those facing extinction.
Welcome to the Anthropocene
5 Signs Earth Is in a Man-Made Epoch
The evidence of global changed caused by humans speaks for itself. Check out the Bloomberg Carbon Clock.
Mosquito Born Zika Virus:
A Peril to Babies in Brazil
Prompts Government to Discourage Pregnancies Months Before the Olympic Games
A little known virus spread by mosquitos, Zika, has caused a huge surge in babies born with microcephaly, a rare, incurable condition. No one knows precisely when the Zika virus made the leap to Brazil from Africa, its place of origin. Some researchers suggest it could have arrived during the last big sporting event held in Brazil, the 2014 World Cup. Of more alarm to Americans, the virus has now made its way as far north as Barbados.
Why Do We Feed Wild Animals?
A sense of personal redemption is intimately tied up with the history of bird-feeding. The practice grew out of the humanitarian movement in the 19th century, which saw compassion toward those in need as a mark of the enlightened individual.
Capturing Endangered Wildlife Before its Too Late
US photographer Joel Sartore is spending a decade taking portraits of the 12,000 species in captivity worldwide with an emphasis on those facing extinction.
Welcome to the Anthropocene
5 Signs Earth Is in a Man-Made Epoch
The evidence of global changed caused by humans speaks for itself. Check out the Bloomberg Carbon Clock.
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