November- almost time for tangerines!

The Tangerine tree in the backyard is loaded with fruit this year. It is probably my best producing fruit tree out of the five (grapefruit, lemon, lime, tangerine and orange) that are planted in my yard. I picked a couple to put in the cavity of a roasted chicken but the taste is still pretty sour- they are not quite ready. They are almost completely orange now, thanks to the brief cold snap we had last week.

I can't walk past the Lavender Lady passion vine without snapping a photo or two. Looks like I am having trouble posting to my blog without including one too. :) They are beautiful though and when there was a chance of frost I covered the vine up with a sheet last week- I wasn't ready to give up my passion flowers for the year just yet.

I've not had good luck with this type of succulent before- either the birds eat them, or my son steps on them or they just die. I couldn't resist trying again though when I saw this little guy that had just started to poke out a little bud. He bloomed last week- pretty huh? Now wait and the birds will think it is breakfast- the little Cactus Wrens in my yard seem to enjoy my succulents quite a bit.


And a lovely pink rose- my pink rose bush is just full of buds and blooms this time of year. And they smell delightful too!

Happy November!

There is magic outside my office window

I've had an ongoing battle with the caterpillars and the passion vine that grows up over my office window, and stretches out along a piece of twine over to the bird feeder. Recently I've been losing the battle to the persistent butterflies who deposit their eggs on the leaves of the vine. The eggs turn into hungry little caterpillars which then form a Chrysalis and meta-morph into beautiful butterflies- all of this right outside my office window, distracting me from work. :) I recently looked out and saw an unusual sight- what appeared to be two brand new butterflies intertwined as though they had both just come out of a single Chrysalis. In researching this a bit- it doesn't appear possible, so this may have been a male attracted to a newly emerged female, or perhaps two newly emerged butterflies that came together. I could see the wings of one were still wet, and the other didn't seem to have unfolded hers yet. As I watched one of them unfolded its wings and began the steady flapping to dry them. Soon both were gone. Anyway, enjoy the pictures...click on them to really see the details.

Pretty cool huh? This is the reason I put up with the little buggers..even though they have mostly stripped the vine that once was lush and shaded my window. The portion of the vine that grows out over the twine is still mostly unaffected. I squish quite a few of them, and spray them off with the hose, but I don't use chemicals, and we both go on to fight a new battle..and I keep being amazed by the view.

The fruits of my passion

My Passion Vines thrive while many of my other plants wilt or fry in the desert heat. This one is growing up over the security bars on my office window and had started to try and grow in to the cracks where the window meets the frame, so I pulled it away at the top and started training it along two strings of twine that stretch from the security bars, over to the top of the bird feeder. The vine is growing crazily now along these strings, crossing over and making a little canopy. I was delighted to find two little passion fruits the other day- so far I've had hundreds of flowers but no fruit since the little empty one that was on the vine when I purchased it over a year ago.

I drove home from Maricopa last night in a huge sand and wind storm. Two semi's ahead of me collided which was scary, but no one else hit them. I got home to some rain and I can almost hear the weeds growing outside this morning. :)

Losing the battle...enjoying the view

Anyone who reads this blog even occasionally probably knows of my ongoing battle between the caterpillars and my sweet passion vines. I didn't have much choice but to share this year, having decided I didn't want to dust the plant and cause all that carnage, I settled in to watch for cocoons. This vine is growing up the security bars outside my home office window- and sure enough it wasn't long before I saw the first little caterpillar go topsy turvy and zone out ready for his big adventure.

The next time I checked he was about half covered with cocoon, and looking more and more like a dead passion flower leaf all curled up and brown- isn't nature just amazing? The finished product did look just like an old dry leaf, to keep predators at bay while the magic works. A second one also went upside down a day later, giving me two cocoons to watch from my office.

I figured I had some time to get the picture of the finished cocoon, but time flies as it does, and before I knew it, a mere 9 days later, the butterfly had flown the coop!

I quick glanced over to the second cocoon, and there was the little butterfly, already out of the cocoon, but not yet taken her first flight.

Pictures were taken through my office window- and some with my Iphone. Click them for a better view.

The butterflies have arrived.

The Passion Vines I planted last Spring have done amazingly well. The white passion vine completely covers my home office window, and is climbing around the cactus wood I have placed on either side of the window, in an effort to give it somewhere to go.

The Lavender Lady Passion Vine is in the same area, but it is planted near the bird feeder and the vines are climbing around and up it.

Last year when I bought these vines, I had a constant battle with the Gulf Fritillary butterflies, and their hungry little caterpillars that wanted to devour my vine. The vines were small and I mostly just squished them in an effort to keep some of the vine for myself. I knew I was in trouble this year, as the vines are out of control, and there is no way I could squish all the little caterpillars, even if I could reach all parts of the vine. So yesterday as I was out in the garden admiring the opening passion flowers what would come along but the first Gulf Frit of the year, happily laying egg after egg on the leaves.

So far my research into what might discourage all these butterflies has come up empty. Most people want butterflies, and I do too, in a way- I just don't want my vine stripped.

My latest Passion "Passiflora x alatocaerulea"

The warm temperatures and the garden springing into life, has made it just impossible to stay away from the nursery. Out of the 3 Passiflora I planted last year, two did amazingly well over the winter, and are ready to burst into bloom. The third, a red variety, Ruby Glow, died back pretty much to the ground, but the main portion seems green and a small leaf is starting to form so I think it will come back. I just love the Passiflora flowers, so when I saw this one yesterday, I just couldn't resist. I know it is a bit early to be planting but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the worst of the cold is over. It was labeled Passiflora x alatocaerulea and the flowers are a light lavender, almost pink color. The petals are wide spaced, so that the light green part that holds the bud- (can you tell I don't know the proper names here)- shows in between them, making the bloom appear lavender/pink and green. They are just lovely! After a little research I discovered the alatocaerulea is actually a cross between two of my other vines, the Ruby Glow, which didn't do so well, and the Caerulea which did really well. I wasn't aware the scientific name for Ruby Glow is alato. So now I have a whole family in the yard.




My neighbor gave me this wonderful heart shaped plant stand, so I planted the Passiflora in the ground and started weaving it around the heart. I think it is just perfect for it.



The vine looks so healthy- with several buds just waiting to open.

One thing that really attracts me to the passion vine, are the little squiggly whips (another scientific term) that it uses to attach itself to things. They form the most delightful little squiggles and there is always something interesting to look at, even when the vine is not flowering. And mine haven't really gotten to the fruiting stage. That will be a whole nother experience!

Heres to Spring and Passiflora vines and many many flowers!

To see pictures of my other Passiflora vines click here.

Bloomin Tuesday- November in my desert garden

I am really enjoying the slightly cooler weather and watching as the garden goes through Fall changes. Although I had some plants last Fall, I had only a handful and I didn't have the focus on my garden then, as I do now, so this feels like my first Fall gardening experience.
It can get fairly cold here but so far the days are still warm with much cooler nights. The average this week was 90s in the day and 48-50 overnight. I can't decide if I need the cooler or the heater but the garden seems to be thriving! When I lived in colder states, I would so dread the cold and ice and snow. I feel so blessed to be enjoying the sunshine and living in the place that is right for me.
Here are some pictures from my November garden. Hope you enjoy the little tour!
The Dahlia keeps putting out blooms- this plant has been incredible all summer long! It's mate, the pink variety didn't make it. I don't understand how two plants, bought together and treated the same could have such different results.

The little Baja Fairy Duster- another amazing little plant that is just bloom bloom bloom ever since it went into the ground.

The pink and orange Hibiscus both continue to bloom. Doesn't the pink one below look like a lipstick?

The Lavender Lady Passion Flower below has blooms that seem to want to shoot into the sky. They are actually lasting a few days now that the weather isn't so hot. The white Passion Flower isn't blooming currently but seems to be concentrating on sending out growth at every possible angle. It also has a couple of good sized caterpillars that I've let munch away, figuring I may as well share a little of the vine which is starting to be quite large indeed. Hopefully they will make their cocoons where I can watch! If they only knew what fame awaited them on the internet!

I'm not sure what kind of cactus this is in the picture below- I bought it before things like proper names mattered to me. Anyone know? This one bloomed in the summer and seems to be putting a new round of blooms out.

The little Blue Plumbago plant I bought is just blooming like crazy. I love this plant- it never missed a beat when being transplanted from pot to ground. I am thinking I need to plant more of these next year. I'd love to see it all over the fence!

The Sky Flower is gorgeous. I am anxiously awaiting the little golden fruits to form. This is another plant that has really impressed me with the way it took off right after planting.

See what is growing up around the bird feeders? This is one of three, and I think they are Sunflowers, sprouted from bird seed gone astray! I hope it doesn't get real cold and wipe these out!

The Lantana is just beautiful. The Texas variety is the first picture below. This plant has done really nicely and the yellow/orange/red colors are just striking. The next is the Purple Trailing Lantana. I have this in a couple places in my yard, and the area that gets afternoon shade is doing the best. The plants in full sun seem a little scraggly but still blooming some. The last picture is New Gold Lantana- one of the first blooms on some tiny plants I planted in August. I've got these mingled in with the purple variety in a sunny area.

Happy Bloomin' Tuesday! Don't forget to Vote!!!!!
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Bloomin' Tuesday- Will the real Lavender Lady please stand up?

My first Passion Vine purchased was labeled a "Lavender Lady", but when it bloomed the flowers were definitely not lavender. Take a look at the blooms from the original plant here.

I had purchased another unlabeled Passion and it has finally produced some blooms and lo and behold, this one is a true "Lavender Lady"
The blooms are gorgeous, a deep violet color, and when fully open they look like they are almost going to take off in flight.
Now if only my Ruby Glow Passion would flower. I read somewhere that the Ruby Glow doesn't flower in Arizona- I sure hope I can prove that wrong!

Which is your favorite?

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