Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, October 9

Hi, everybody! It rained a little on the fires in the mountains near us yesterday! Some of the Giant Sequoias were lost, but not the really, really big ones, some of which were wrapped in foil.

How is your weather treating you and your garden?

Mystery Bugs-to-be

Hey KT, I had a late, late comment yesterday on the garden thread, my sister was visiting and we were out all day, but I thanked you for the shout outs. Anyway, I found this on one of my pepper plants and I have no idea what it is and I was wondering if anyone else does. It is hollow and very light and airy. Wanting to know if it is a good bug or bad bug before it all hostaes...

WeeKreekFarmGirl

Anybody know what it is? Looks like it has a seam sewn on one side. But . . .

Critters that better get ready for winter

Meanwhile, Jewells sent this photo:

Found this little guy hanging around my parsley. I thought he was pretty!

With some luck, that little caterpillar could become one of these:

But first, it will have to become one of these:

Diapause is basically the insect's version of hibernation. Butterflies can enter diapause in all four stages of the butterfly lifecycle, however, each butterfly species uses one particular stage (two in a few species) to enter diapause and survive the winter.

Amazingly, in preparation for diapause, the egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), or adult butterfly actually starts producing a form of internal antifreeze to prevent damage from freezing weather during the winter. Some of the butterfly species that overwinter as a chrysalis (pupa) include but are not limited to the Swallowtails as well Checkered White, Mustard White, Orange Sulphur, Clouded Sulphur, Elfins, and some Skippers.

Overwintering tips included at the link.

There are more interesting details on butterflies in winter here:

At 5 degrees below zero, butterflies were the last thing on my mind as I brushed the fluffy snow from the porch. But as I swept away the last flakes along the railing, I noticed a small, brown sack about the size of a Tootsie Roll attached to the wood. It was firmly held in place by fine threads. Back inside, with a warm cup of cider and my field guide, I identified it as the chrysalis of a black swallowtail butterfly. Many black swallowtail caterpillars had fed on my dill plants in the nearby garden for most of the late summer. Could this pupa be one of them?

All butterflies develop from egg to larva (caterpillar) to pupa (chrysalis) and finally to the winged adult that we see fluttering around. Each species has evolved a strategy that allows it to successfully survive the winter in one of these four life stages. For example, swallowtails pass the winter in the pupal stage, like the black swallowtail I found on the porch. Skippers - quick little butterflies whose identification can challenge even avid butterfly enthusiasts - spend the winter as caterpillars. The beautiful little coppers and blues remain as eggs through the winter. Monarchs glide to more hospitable temperatures in the south. And some, like the mourning cloak, hunker down and spend the winter as adults.

Most temperate-zone butterflies survive the deep snows and frigid temperatures of New England in a stage called winter diapause, in which metabolic and respiratory rates are low and slow. The cold itself is not a direct hazard to the butterflies - rather, it's the formation of ice crystals in body tissue that can quickly be lethal. To keep from freezing, butterflies reduce the amount of water in their blood by as much as 30 percent and then thicken it with glycerol, sorbitol, or other antifreeze agents. Mourning cloaks can withstand temperatures down to minus 80 degrees F, but only if they have time to produce these antifreeze agents. If you put a mourning cloak in the freezer on a warm summer day, it will quickly die because it lacks any antifreeze.

Science!

Edible Gardening

From Dr. Mabuse in Ottowa:

Here are some recent pictures from my garden. I'm growing 6 or 7 different hot peppers this year, and here is an unusual one called "Monkey Face" because of its wrinkled appearance, which is supposed to look like a monkey. To my mind, it looks a lot like the Grinch, especially while it's still green! The other pics are of the damson plum tree, which produced 15 lbs of plums this year (it's recovering from a severe pruning due to disease 2 years ago). Also a Monarch Butterfly on a Joe Pye Weed flower. Feel free to use any of these you think the Horde might find interesting. Cheers!

Peppers in Ottowa!

Love Damson Plum Jam

Gardens of The Horde

Plants with stories:

My nic is "from that time". Have enjoyed AoSHQ for years, mostly lurking, especially on the Garden thread where I have little useful to say. I'm purely in a stealing mode there.

The rose seems to bloom in early June, shut down for a couple of months, then give a second effort in mid-September. I know nothing about tending roses. I've hacked it down at random seasons over the years, thought I killed it a couple of time, but it carries on. I should keep track of when and why, but I don't.

This is my backyard in Providence RI. I don't grow much, but have about a half dozen different bushes which I enjoy messing with. 1 lilac,, 1 japanese(?) rose, 1 butterfly, 1 small red thing, etc.

Thanks for your work on the thread, it's a gift.

Hope I have attached two photos, my butterfly bush, and some sort of rose.

The rose came with the house 20+ years ago, I've never been able to find out what kind it is. Tough little bugger to survive this long with me. Any identification and care tips would be appreciated.

Glad you enjoy the thread.

Any ideas on the I.D. of the rose?

The butterfly bush has a good story. My late wife bought two out of parade magazine twenty years ago. Planted one in each corner of the backyard in early fall, next January had eight to ten straight days single digits and below then freezing rain. Come spring, nothing but sticks in the ground, but wife wouldn't let me pull. The following year, one showed a few leaves and grew to a foot and a half. The other stayed dead and was pulled.

The third year, and ever since, has grown like wildfire. I cut it back to 4 - 5 feet, and it tops out at about twelve. The bees and butterflies love it, and it reminds me of the wife every time I see it.

What a great story. It has overcome its early hardships. Magnificent. Your wife did a good thing.

From Diogenes:

This is my second Fall Clematis. It's taken several years to get to this point. I love it.

I love it, too.

Gardening and Puttering Tips and Light Reading

redc1c4 sends an Oktoberfest special on how to clean up a yard. Perhaps while drunk.

And here's a piece on 48 hours of medieval agriculture.

Last night we milked cows for breakfast. Three of the girls who had been chopping wood while we were getting the milk, refused to drink it, even though we were kind enough to boil it. The Germans didn't and they have had to relocate to the bathroom. It suits Fredi just fine because it means he now has two spare rooms.

We spent the morning doing farm work. It's all included in the "become a real medieval farmer" tourist pack. It's an experience that makes the posh girls go crazy and spend the days looking for Urban Outfitters labels on bats hanging from the room's ceiling. But it all seemed pretty lame to me. And quite puzzling from what the locals tell me. The farmers here don't understand how someone would leave an office in the big city, and travel hundreds of miles to dress up like a bush and spend the day in the sun plowing and without water. Even the farmers themselves have water and cold beer in the fridge, their tractors have more technology packed into them than many NASA rockets have, and have subsequently rid themselves of almost all work that might make one sweat.

Hug a farmer. Or a tractor dealer.

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at that g mail dot com place

Include the nic by which you wish to be known when you comment at AoSHQ,
unless you want to remain a lurker.

posted by K.T. at 01:34 PM

| Access Comments