Good morning, gardeners, and all others who visit here!
Yet another very rainy, chilly week with more to come. All four rain barrels are overflowing. And WOW, fireflies are everywhere in the evening. A lot of crane flies are still around too. Everything is soggy! Total of 3” (+ or -) of rain this week; 3.41” May 1-5, 2019. Rainfall in Dallas TX for last month was 6.75”; year to date is 15.04”. Houston is under water, but then again, the city is built on a bayou. Austin is under flash flood warnings 5/8/19.
The low temperature in Dallas was 52o early Friday morning. Another cold front is moving in with more rain. Weatherman proudly announced last night that there is currently no drought in ANY part of Texas!
Climate change and species extinction are frightening and heart-stopping major headlines. Can one gardener have an impact on an extremely small patch of this planet? Maybe, but certainly not very much, I think. I would like to go to my grave knowing I tried my best.
Warning: There’s a bit of a rant on fracking and species extinction in today’s diary.
Re Species Extinction
If every gardener in the world decided to focus on just one local plant — or migrating, vulnerable or endangered species — as a priority to aid its continued existence, there might be hope...one urban/suburban/exurban/rural garden at a time. We holler, scream, and protest to no avail about pesticide use (damn Roundup and Monsanto/Bayer) that kills the native milkweed along the monarch migration trail over the great plains. And yet massive displays of Roundup are still center stage at the big box stores. How about we do something less blood pressure-raising on a smaller scale with a greater influence on our personal physical and mental health. There’s power hidden in numbers.
So, please, even if you’re NOT a gardener, buy just one native perennial bee or butterfly nectar plant, grab a shovel, make some room in a sunny place outside and plant something for the pollinators. We won’t have food to eat without the bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and bats staying alive and reproducing.
Re Fracking:
Here’s what got my Irish up earlier this week. A Dallas news station ran a special story about the miniscule burg of Orla, TX, outside of Pecos. The oil drilling/natural gas fracking boom is having immense negative effect on electricity, water, and roads due to uncontrolled growth. The Permian Basin is under assault once again by the greed for oil/gas. www.forbes.com/...
IMO, a Texas jewel of a city (Alpine) and Big Bend National Park, south of Orla, could be in serious geophysical jeopardy from fracking related earthquakes. (Consult Google to learn about Tarrant and Denton TX counties’ fracking-induced earthquakes/government nonchalance if you want to get nauseous). Great numbers of Monarchs migrate to and roost in Big Bend and Alpine. Big Bend boasts beauty beyond comprehension and includes a natural hot spring pool. Consider that fracking waste water disposal could be disastrous if it gets deep into the shale layers, affecting the natural spring. My antennae are quivering with angst that parts of the Basin will collapse and take Big Bend (and Monarchs) with it.
To combat the moral depravity and lack of conscience about the health of our planet emanating from The Occupant and his wingmen (heaven doesn’t want them; hell is afraid they’ll take over), my newest effort is a monarch and swallowtail butterfly garden mated with a bee and hummingbird haven. This worthwhile prize resulted from an enormous amount of hard, heavy work removing half my front lawn and planting and transplanting LOTS of perennial host and nectar varieties. The garden continues on the other side of the driveway. That small plot of dirt includes chives, tropical milkweed, salvia greggii, Jewels of Opar, penstemon — all bee nectar plants. Milkweed is a Monarch host plant.
Ongoing projects:
Transplant three sunflowers (already 18” tall — gift from neighbor); plant parsley, dill, zinnias, more coreopsis; another black and blue salvia; fertilize with compost tea; and build three ’puddling’ stations for butterflies.
Puddling stations are created with a large shallow dish filled with a sand/manure compost mixture, a few rocks, pebbles or marbles and water. Added to the big dish is a small dish filled with banana/orange contained in a net (easy disposal). The alluring fruity fragrances draws any butterfly to drink and feed. Butterflies need the salt and the nutrients in the water. No pictures yet. Two puddling stations will be located in the front garden and one in the back. A congregation of butterflies at a puddling station is called a kaleidoscope. Hope to have at least one kaleidoscope photo by the end of summer!
“Many species of butterflies congregate on wet sand and mud to partake in “puddling,” drinking water and extracting minerals from damp puddles. In many species, this “mud-puddling” behavior is restricted to the males, and studies have suggested that the nutrients collected may be provided as a nuptial gift during mating”.
http://butterfly-lady.com/butterfly-puddling/
Heh, heh. An aphrodisiac for butterflies!!
My friend, Judy, gave me a baggie of bee balm seed heads from her yard.
From the back garden:
While the butterfly garden still looks pretty sparse, it should fill in quickly with all the rain and temperatures ranging from low 60s to mid 70s. Most of the plants need 2 feet of growing room at minimum.
My efforts to help the planet are: solar panels, a hybrid auto, bike or walk on errands of a mile or less, 99% native plants, only organic soil amendments and fertilizers, water conservation, (monthly donations to water.org/...), dedicated recycling, and monetary and time donations to saving big cats (tigers, leopards, lynx) and polar bears. Here’s a painting I did many years ago as part of an awareness program on polar bear extinction vulnerability.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mother Nature!