When I was organizing photos I shot yesterday, I noticed eggs on the underside of the damaged Datura leaves. They were so small I didn’t see them until I enlarged the photo. The shape of the eggs is fairly clear, but the image is not in focus.
Everything loves Datura and Brugmansia. Every seedling I transplanted to the garden, was eaten by the next morning. Even hidden plants, were found and damaged by the next morning. I hid this plant inside Hellebore leaves. Still somehow found and damaged.
South Hills SLO, CA
Calothurus
Cripps Pink, Pink Lady
Apple Tree with Three Types of Apples: Anna, Fuji, and Dorsett Golden
Anna
Fuji
Bee Showing Interest in Pink Lady Flowers
Last night I turned on the light over my work bench and found on oddity.
This little vessel has been hanging in my studio for decades. I fired the piece multiple times. Before the last firing, I bound it with wire and applied low fire lead glazes.
The oddity is a casemaking moth. What is it eating? Clearly not the glaze because typically the case that the casemaking moth construction will be the color of whatever it has eaten.
Recently looked through my stash of wood objects to use as an addition to a piece. The boxes were wrapped in plastic and stored in a wood bench. When I opened the drawer I found a green casemaking moth.
How did it even get inside? No clue.
I have cleaned my studio numerous times to remove the niches the moths like–undisturbed dark areas with fiber and plant material.
I have been forced to keep my stored completed work, work in progress and fiber materials in plastic. But, I can still find casemaking moths. It is frustrating, especially when I find that they have damaged something of value.
I use two methods for treating pieces and materials–place them in the freezer or someplace that becomes quite hot, like the trunk of a car.
The freezer shelf that is set aside for materials and work.
Recently found a casemaking moth on a wool I-cord that had been an embellishment for a rooster lamp that has been sitting on the china cabinet for nearly 15 years.
He looks lost without it.
I washed the I-cord in warm soapy water. Gave it a rinse, popped it in a plastic bag, and placed it in the freezer.
The courtyard garden needs cleaning and clearing. The drought offers loads of dropped oak leaves and pine needles.
Passiflora and Pandorea vines growing on the trellises need some care.
When I started to clean and clear the dead bits and the dropped oak leaves and pine needles, I saw a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar.
This morning I found another one.
Late for them to be hanging around the garden. Good that there is plenty fo food for them.
If they make it through the chrysalis process, this is how the will emerge.
The chrysalis of the Gulf Fritillary looks a bit like a dead leaf.
Plan to put the cleaning on hold to give the caterpillars a chance of becoming butterflies.
Ladybug Found Roaming around the Kitchen
Placed it on a potted Brugmansia that is infested with spider mites.
The concave area appears to be a malformation or some type of damage. The ladybug probably came to be in the kitchen after involuntarily hitching a ride on dandelions or kale that was purchased at the Farmers’ Market.
I sharpened the image to show the damaged area a bit better.
This morning I noticed that my little variegated agave had some yellowing sections. I first thought it might be the result of too much sun, not enough water, or maybe both.
On closer inspection I found an insect infestation.
I used a solution of water, alcohol, and Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap to remove the insects with cotton swabs.
The agave was placed in a sheltered space in the greenhouse away from other plants.
How did I miss the start of the insect infestation? I have not been venturing out much because of COVID and the lousy air quality from the California wildfires. Not able to care properly for my gardens.
It is not unexpected to have insects, especially spider mites, in my gardens. We haven’t had rain for months. I did miss seasons and those all day rains that can occur in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.
Agaves Allergic Reaction
Last week I began striping fiber from a dried agave leaf for possible use in a piece. What I found was the fiber was really too thin and that I am allergic to agave. I still have red welts on my arm. Today I tried to wear gloves when working on the little variegated agave, but it was too difficult to access small spaces. After I finished work, I washed my hands throughly several times. So far, no symptoms of an allergic reaction.