A Tale of Two Morning Glories

Common Morning Glory (Ipomoea purpurea)

     The other day, my daughter pointed out that blue morning glories were once again winding their way up the side fence and gate.  She also reminded me that a more purple morning glories was trellising its way up the fence on the other side of the yard.  Yesterday, in the dampness of the stormy morning, I took the photos you see.   Then I did a little research.
      I discovered I have two kinds of morning glories growing in my yard.  Look at the same of the leaves.  See the difference?  Now, look at the shape of the lowers themselves?  That's different, too.

Ivyleaf Morning Glory (Ipomoea hederacea)

 

Also, I learned that both of these morning glories originated in Central America.  They were introduced as an ornamental plant, but they 'escaped from gardens and became naturalized,' according to my National Audubon Society Field Guide.  Both bloom from June to October so we will be enjoying them for awhile still.
 

Tobacco Hornworms

     This morning as I was picking some lovely tomatoes from my garden when I spied a green caterpillar-looking creature eating the tender new leaves of a tomato plant.  The critters can be seen in this photo I took. They are in the upper middle to left of the photo.  After consulting my sister (a more experienced gardener than myself), I determined they are tobacco hornworms.  My sister said to remove them and squish them, which I did.  And there were LOTS of them, too.

 
    Tobacco hornworms and their relative, tomato hornworms, can decimate a plant in short order, so I will be checking for more each day for the rest of the season.   To learn more about Tobacco Hornworms, visit this website:

http://growyourtomatoes.com/hornworm.html

Earthquake!

     Tuesday afternoon I was sitting at my desk, minding my own business, working at my computer.  Suddenly, my monitor began to wobble and a bookcase began shaking and hitting the wall.  In fact, the whole room shook a little bit.  It didn't last long, but it was something I'd never felt before.  Others in my house felt it, too.  We quickly found out it was an earthquake!

     The eipcenter of the earthquake was in Mineral, VA.  This 5.8 quake was felt as far north as Canada, and as far south as South Carolina, maybe even into Georgia; as far west as Ohio and all through the New England states.  We felt some tremors here afterwards and there have been aftershocks, too.  This was  the strongest earthquake to hit the east coast since 1944 when one took place in New York.

     Helicopters flew around the Washington Monument soon after the quake, looking for damage, and sure enough they found some cracks in the upper portion of the monument.  The monument is closed for now.

Summer is Not Over Yet!

I haven't posted in a bit.  The summer has been zooming by, but it is not over yet!  Hurricane season peaks in a few weeks and we might be in for a hurricane visit later this week.  Irene is expected to make landfall somewhere on the Atlantic seaboard.

A few weeks ago, our family vacationed at Sunset Beach, NC.  The view was outstanding and I was able to identify a bird I had not seen before - Boat-tailed Grackle.  We also saw mockingbirds, red-winged blackbirds, some kind of swallow, mourning doves, some kind of gull, pelicans, egrets, starlings and cardinals.  Who knew cardinals lived at the beach!  We also saw bunnies and some kind of rat.

Upon arriving home, we discovered the hummingbird moths were in full-force, sucking nectar from the four o'clocks.  I was glad to see they had survived last year's repeated attacks by Rusty, the Mighty Hunter.  We also discovered the crafty squirrels had been in the bird seed can.  Ah, the fun they had!

And today, one of my daughters noticed something moving around in the back yard.  She investigated and found an Eastern Box Turtle.  He did not shyly pull into his shell as you can see.  
Visit this website below to learn more about Eastern Box Turtles.
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/midorcas/research/Contribute/box%20turtle/boxinfo.htm

Silver Spider

My daughter found this little silver spider in her room a few days ago.  It's on the container in this photo.  I couldn't identify it, unfortunately.

Spring For A Day

We have been having a heat wave of sorts here in North Carolina.  Many days with temps in the 90's.  It is too soon for this.  But today, we've had Spring again, for today anyway.  I busied my kiddos and a helper with outdoor chores like weedeating, moving my herb cart, and more; only to be waylaid by a large colony of ants.  I am just thankful they aren't fire ants!

The herb cart was providing protection for the ant colony, so they swarmed in crazy motion once it was moved.  And once the cart was in its new location, more ants were discovered on the cart's bottom shelf.  I found this out the hard way - even non-fire ants can bite!  So, the cart has been sprayed with water in an aggressive fashion and left in the yard to dry in the sun.  

Ants were also noted on the concrete squares when my daughter moved the planter containing oregano.  I sprayed the ants with insecticidal soap and hope it will shoo them away.  Once the newest planter has some holes drilled in the bottom, I can replant the sage.  It is in great need of a larger space.  A few more tasks like bringing the cart back in from the yard and the herb garden will be functional again.

Swarming Red Bugs!

One day last week, my daughter called me to the backyard.  She was staking a rose bush and noticed some red bugs  swarming on the tire of her sister's car.  "WOW! was my first response.  I hadn't seen this particular bug before.

After doing some internet research, we identified these busy red bugs as Boxelder Bugs.  Not really a problem bug, so we just watched them and let them be.  For more information about Boxelder Bugs, visit:

Boxelder Bugs vs. Lady Bugs
OR
http://angelasentomlabnotebook.blogspot.com/2010/06/boxelder-bugs-vs-lady-bugs.html

Black bears spotted!

About a week ago, in one of our local golf course communities, Carolina Trace, two black bears were spotted.    First, a full grown bear was seen.  The resident turned on some outside lights which scared the bear away.   Then, about twenty minutes later, a cub came into the yard.  It left, too, without incident.  Others in the community have also reported seeing bears this spring.  Just imagine if you were on the golf course and saw a bear on the green.  What a story to tell!

Black bears are common in North Carolina's coastal and mountain regions, and sightings in central NC happen.  It will probably become more common in the central region, though, as the bears' mountain and coastal territories are shared with more and more human development.  According to Steve Godfrey, the park ranger at Sanford's San-Lee Park, "black bears aren't typically aggressive toward people," but "it is important to remain calm and avoid approaching them."  Godfrey says they will fight if they get scared.

The quoted portions of this blog entry come from The Sanford Herald, 19May2011.

For more information about black bears in NC, including how to prevent confrontations with them, go to:
http://www.ncwildlife.org/Wildlife_Species_Con/WSC_Black_Bear.htm

Update from Our Place on the Map

Not long after my last post in January, our one-of-a-kind 3-legged black miniature poodle, Cajun, began going downhill.  She had been sick with breathing problems, and continued joint pain in her remaining back leg.  It became apparent that the breathing and the pain were too much, so we again did the hardest thing for the second time in about 8 weeks.  Afterwards, Cajun was laid to rest in our yard, under the pine trees, alongside her frenemy, Jake.  She is sorely missed, so much that words cannot describe the loss.

I expect, though, that Rusty believes he ran those two dogs off all by himself!  He continues to be the mighty hunter.  This spring he has already captured several critters, including a small live snake that he brought into the house.  One of these times, I need to video the capture and removal of one of Rusty's live presents.  It is always an amusing episode!

Now, onto the opposite of amusing.  On April 16, an F3 tornado came through our town.  My home and property was spared, but the tornado destroyed half of a neighborhood around the corner from me.  The tornado warning came over the weather radio, sending my daughter, Katie, and I (and Rusty) into a protected hallway.  Soon afterwards, we heard the sound of a train, and the lights went out.  A few moments later, we heard a high-pitched whistling sound as the tornado left our area and headed to the next neighborhood in its path.  Our town has been in an upheaval since.  Business and homes will be rebuilt and repaired but the landscape of the town cannot be fixed.  And the lost lives and possessions cannot be replaced.

So, that brings us to now.  It is a glorious afternoon here.  My garden has been started.  It will be a small venture this year - tomatoes, herbs, bush beans, and garlic which was planted in the winter.  The garlic has another month or two to go.  From my office window, I am watching a pair of twitterpated cardinals, the male feeding the female.  So sweet!  It rained earlier today, so Rusty is curled up in a chair in the kitchen, waiting for the grass to dry a bit more.   I am thankful to have a kitchen chair, and an office, and a garden, and all the rest.  Tornadoes make you notice and make you thankful, too.

Christmas Weekend Snow

The snow finished melting away today with the 60+ degrees weather, but it was pretty while it was here.  The unexpected 8 inches might be all we get this winter so I was sure to take several pictures.  Here are a few.