The lavender’s fading, but the bees are still enjoying it.
The English word lavender came into use in the 13th century, and is thought to derive from Old French lavandre, ultimately from Latin lavare from lavo (to wash), most likely because crushed lavender flowers would be added to water for bathing, and washing hair and garments. It belongs to the Lamiaceae (mint) family.
Twenty 7-12 year olds (and their parents) now know the difference between a valley oak and a coast live oak, though hopefully that’s not the only thing they gained from our time together 🌿💚
Most of the cacti in the bathroom bay window survived a month without water just fine. But this one’s looking a little worse for wear.
I think this Golden Orb Weaver is Trichonephila plumipes, sometimes called a Tiger Spider. Its web glows yellow, and the legs are a light orange colour, black at the joints. Big spiders are so impressive! This type is not confined to the tropics, so I hope to see more when travel to the sub-tropics.
There are some 750 different types of pandanus; I have no idea which one I was sketching! I love their aerial prop roots.
I did a bit of an audit on the acacias on my sister’s bush block. I counted five different species, four of which I am pretty confident on the ID. The fifth remains unidentified.
There are almost 1000 species of acacia in Australia!
The native milkweed hosts lots of critters, some beneficial to it, some harmful. The most famous is the monarch butterfly (both larval and adult stages) but it’s a bit late in the year for them now.
I’ve had these dragonfruit cuttings jammed in a pot for years. They periodically flower, but never set fruit. I should get them in the ground; they might do better if they could spread out.
I don’t think I’m over-watering the grapes. If anything, I’m under-watering. Why are some splitting?
hashiworks 