Whenever I notice something for the first time, it makes me wonder what other beauty I am obliviously missing.
Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Marjorie Channon’
Tag: garden
Ocimum basilicum
I find describing flavours to be very difficult. What does basil taste like? Hmm, tastes like basil.
I notice that the hydroponically grown plants from the supermarket have a milder flavour than my homegrown basil. I expect the direct sunshine and intermittent watering brings out the spice.
Callistemon viminalis “MacArthur”
We bought this Callistemon 10 years ago. It spent a few years in a pot before going in the ground, and now it’s well-established and close to its maximum size of 1.8m high x 1.5m wide. It feeds hooded orioles, house finches, lesser goldfinches, and maybe other birds too during the long flowering season, and brings us much pleasure.
I’m more of a purist about planting CA natives now, but I’m not sad about the select Australian trees and shrubs we’ve established here (no acacias or eucalypts, they are way too invasive).
Anthomyiidae
After picking sixty (60!) snails off our little orange tree this morning, I noticed this handsome fly on one of the ravaged leaves. I am no entomologist, so the ID could be wrong. Looking at the distribution map in iNaturalist, Anthomyia species are far more common in the Southern Hemisphere than the northern, so possibly I’m way off. I was attracted to the strong dark dots on the wings; I suspect that are a key feature for identification.
Selasphorus sasin
Ah! They grow up so fast! The baby hummers continue to provide daily drama and entertainment, but soon they’ll be out in the big wide world.
I love the feather pattern on their chins. Reminds me of Hallgrímskirkja.
vase o’ v.a.s.e.
Today’s arrangement brought to you by Verbena, Aloe, Salvia and Encelia, whose initials, I just realised, spell VASE.
limes
Lavandula
About eleven years ago, I bought two small lavender plants from Trader Joe’s and planted them on our hill. With minimal attention (except from bees), they’ve grown into thick, sturdy bushes about 1.5 meters tall and wide, that flower for months. Sixteen bucks, well spent.
very much alive
Sometimes it’s excellent to be wrong. I thought these babies were dead, but they are very much alive. We (and the camera) still haven’t seen the mama feeding them, but she must be doing so. Yay!
early blight
I was late planting tomatoes this year. There’s been a lot of rain, which I thought they’d appreciate, but they seem to be afflicted with some kind of fungus, most likely “early blight”. The remedy for all the fungal afflictions seems to be the same, a copper-based spray applied every 7 to 10 days. Continuing research over here …
hashiworks 