Rabbits this July

This summer has been quite different from last year.  During a spate of 100+ degree weather, the pests started eating any young growth in my garden.  They prefer nice, young, sweet leaves to the older ones. That is when I put up the fence around the Cone flowers.

They are still around, making themselves to home even in the courtyard.  If I let the Black Oil Sunflower seeds that fall from the bird feeders germinate, they will find the sprouts and blatantly help themselves, stripping from the bottom up.  The trick is to pay attention and pull out any new growth from the bird feeding area.  The seedlings seem to sprout and grow 5 inches over night.  Then here come bunny scouts for the goodies.

I have watched the little pests stand on their hind legs to eat the seed heads from the Dallisgrass, which is a pest of another sort for lawns.  Nasty, obnoxious stuff.  However, if I could get the rabbits to eat ALL the seed heads, problem solved.  Not that that is going to happen.

Plants in my garden that don't seem to appeal to rabbits; Penta, Salvia, Obedient Plant, Chrysanthemums, Turks Cap, Lavender, Rosemary,mature Zinnias Moss Rose (Portulaca), Tickseed (Coreopsis), Phlox, Blackfoot Daisy, Plumbago and tomatoes.  Oh, yes, also mature Cone flowers .

My plan is to experiment with larger, space filling plants the rabbits don't like.

Pink Beauty not such a good thing?

I took some pictures of this moth Pyrausta inornatalis in early July this year.  Have never seen one before. It is tiny.

 

I was fascinated for nearly an hour with a "pink" moth.  Upon further investigation, it is not a good thing to see on the Salvias?

I found a web site that has discussions regarding the moth.  The moth is specific to Salvia. When you see it, it is looking for a place to lay eggs.  I will take their word for it and check for eggs on my Salvia.  So far, Haven't seen much damage from anything other than heat.  My lovely white Salvias have turned an odd, all be it, a wonderful plant to photograph, that may be affected by the larva??  I know nothing of the life cycle timing, so will just check the plant carefully.

Regardless of possible infestation, it is a lovely, delicate, tiny moth.


I was actually taking pictures
of bees when the moth flew in.

Things happening on a lovely rainy morning

We have had 2 lovely (mid 70's)  mornings with a light rain.  Not really enough to wet things below the mulch, but promising never the less.
While I was out communing with nature and watering, I had the joy of seeing a possum lumbering across the place, chased by a mocking bird.  Then, I saw movement up in a tree and watched a tiny downy woodpecker hop from branch to branch. There is also a lot of activity on the pokeberry bush. Doesn't get much better than this.  Thank God for my being able to be out there to see these things and thank God that I can see these things!!

Speaking of mulch: mornings like this give me an opportunity to visit my plants.  A little talking and commiserating with their sufferings and checking why some are not doing so well.  I found out why my lovely Autumn Sage (salvia greggii) has not been doing well.  I have always been able to count on it flowering when other things are not.  I had put down a 3 or so inch layer of shredded hard wood mulch.  In checking for moisture and mole damage, I discovered the ground under the mulch and the landscape cloth was completely  dry AND riddled with mole trails.

So, this opened my eyes, big time.  I am not going to purchase shredded mulch again.   Sure it covers nicely and stays in place, but it will pack down and form an impenetrable mat.  I learned that years ago and then forgot.
That said, in order to give these poor plants a chance, I have to remove the mulch mat and landscape fabric and add some compost, fill in the mole trails (think I will use up my old hot peppers taking up space in the fridge)  Maybe this will encourage the little darlings to go pester some other plant.

This will take a bit of time, as when it heats up I head for the AC.  I do my garden chores from daylight til the sun is peeking over the trees.  I try to stay in the shade as much as possible, so actually have to plan my work to be able to end up in the shade instead of sun before it gets too hot.