Tag Archives: garden

Fly, Dragon, Fly

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Isn’t this the most vibrant orange? I’m in love with this little guy.

Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata. 

Dragonfly species that are orange include a variety of skimmers, such as the flame skimmer, firecracker skimmer, golden-winged skimmer, or Needham’s Skimmer.

Orange dragonflies can symbolize joy, creativity, wellness, and sensuality. This relates to the second/sacral chakra, which is orange.

There is magic all around, if you stop and look.

As Robert Bly said, “To be wild is not to be crazy or psychotic. True wildness is a love of nature, a delight in silence, a voice free to say spontaneous things, and an exuberant curiosity in the face of the unknown.”

Me and My Shadow

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I thought about this: I’m lucky enough to experience a great deal of butterfly interactions; a continual source of joy and delight.

No photographic evidence exists to prove I’m telling the truth, but yesterday, as I was planting a bunch of California natives, a mourning cloak butterfly was fluttering all around me and then sat on my arm for about two minutes.

I tried to get to my phone to document this magic, but I couldn’t, so you’ll have to believe me. I guess she really really approved the locations where I planted the coffee berry and manzanitas!

This planting experience was a team effort: my son was on the phone with me when I was at the nursery having done the research about which specific plants to buy, and he also determined where each one should be planted. It’s not as much fun as having him here in real life. but we had a good time.

She came back today, blocking my way on the steps, so I was able to finally snap a photo.

Me and my shadow and her own shadow!

Mourning Cloak

Stay Safe, Yellow Butterfly

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Gale force winds, tree limbs down in the garden, neighbor’s pool toys are in my yard, umbrellas broken, lights flickering, and so much RAIN I can’t go outside because it’s dangerous.

This is a perfect time to share a photo gallery of this sweet little yellow butterfly who flirted with me on Sunday afternoon.

I can’t figure out if it’s a Sleepy Orange or Southern Dogface or California Dogface, Little Yellow, Southwestern Cloudless Sulphur, or Jamaican Yellow.

Whew!

I didn’t know there were so many yellow butterflies that look quite similar! (iNaturalist Butterflies of San Diego County).

Anyway, here’s a bit of sunshine on a rainy day. I hope all butterflies and birds and coyotes and bobcats stay safe and dry.

Yellow Butterfly

Not Quite Ready

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But when they’re ripe, they will be delicious. Let’s hope I get to them before the squirrels or raccoons.

Holiday Flower Photo Shoot

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Happy early Hanukkah! It starts tonight at sundown which is closer to 4pm now after that ridiculous time change.

Things are super dry here in SoCal and there isn’t much color in the garden but I have a spectacular Christmas cactus that decided to bloom on Thanksgiving. Also called Zygocactus, it’s really a Schlumbergera hybrid.

I’ve had this one for quite a while…

I found a pure white African violet at a local nursery and that’s the new addition to the fam. I hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing and fun Sunday!

Holiday Flowers

Sunday Blues

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It was hot again but not quite as hot as the previous day. I took a break from yard work and gardening projects to lie on the deck and gaze up in wonder at the pure blue sky.

I turned my head a bit to the right and this yellow coreopsis was my view so I had to snap a pic.

Day Moon, Evening Moon, and a Sunset

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It’s been a real Santa Ana here and SO hot and dry, the kind of weather where if you hang up washing on a clothesline, everything is dry in less than half and hour.

That’s what today is like, and yes, I still prefer the old school way to hang laundry outside and be kissed by the sun.

When I completed that rewarding task, I looked up to a day moon between the leaves of my loquat tree:

Last night’s sunset was EPIC…

…followed by the moon and I think that’s either Jupiter or Venus to the right of the moon, but I’m not sure…

Hawk or Roadrunner? Camouflaged by Nature

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It was just about ninety degrees here yesterday and today is even hotter. I climbed up the hill to check on the the fruit trees (the apple trees are flowering) when this hawk flew right over my head –so close that I could almost feel him.

It seemed as if he was hunting for something, so I stood absolutely still. I’m sure he was looking for a rodent and I didn’t want to disturb THAT!

A couple minutes later he flew back over my head and landed in this tree. Either he didn’t know I was right there or he didn’t care.

I only had my phone so I wasn’t able to zoom in any closer but here he is. I believe it’s a juvenile Red-tailed hawk with the longest tail I’ve ever seen.

At first my son thought I had sent him a pic of a roadrunner because of the long tail, but I think it’s definitely a hawk because the roadrunner that I’ve seen around here is much larger and also walked/ran on the ground.

This is an older pic of our resident roadrunner side by side with the hawk. I think the click of the camera really annoyed him because he immediately flew away and didn’t get whatever he thought he was going to eat. Sorry, Mr. Hawk!

Twisty Cucumber Vine

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Here’s the last of the summer cucumbers trained to climb up and around this singular post that seems to have the gigantic job of holding up most of the second story. Or it’s the third story, cos I can’t really figure out how this tri-level house works.

We had a HUGE thunder and lightening and rainstorm last night and my garden is SO happy. Fingers crossed this means we might have a rainy year and end the drought.

Bunny Love

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I’m writing this post from the dentist’s office where I’m waiting for the lidocaine to take effect. This time it’s merely to replace the temporary crowns with the permanent ones, but I have time to share a couple of photos from yesterday.

Happy October 1 from a couple of my bunnies.

They LOVE watermelon!