Motley Monday - April 21, 2025

 The weather was nice this past weekend, and things are happening in the garden.  And the yard, since some of the happenings aren't due to my cultivation.

Like this Himalayan blackberry (not from Himalaya at all, but Armenia and Iran).  So hard to get rid of.  It's mixed in with the Virginia creeper and climbing rose and popping up nearby.  I suppose I could make sure it gets water and hope for nice plump berries.

You may have heard of Luther Burbank, a botanist who developed hundreds of strains and varieties of plants.  Well, we have him to thank blame for this very invasive blackberry. He imported seeds from India in 1885, where the resulting plants thrived in Santa Rosa, CA.  It escaped cultivation and is now an invasive species in most of the temperate world, and very much so in the Pacific North West.

Always last to appear in spring is Gay Butterflies Butterfly Weed.  Most years I dig around looking for it.

The catnip is incredible right now.  I brought in a stem of it for Benny and Baby Cat.  She daintily eats a few leaves, he gorges on leaves and the entire stem, snorting as he does so!

The setting sunlight through the iris.

A crane fly.  My family has always called them, and I am sounding this out phonetically as we don't know how it's spelled, migalehinx.   Mig-a-lee-hinx.   However it's spelled, they are not daddy longlegs.  They are not mosquito hawks.  The do not eat mosquitos.  Some species eat nectar, but most don't eat at all.  Really. They only live a few days and their entire focus is to mate and lay eggs.  The larvae eat decaying matter in soil, some species on the roots of plants, which can cause issues with lawn lovers. 

Part of the herb garden with Persian catmint, sea thrift, blue-eyed grass (see below), and creeping wallflower blooming.   I've been working on the herb garden area, it's almost cleaned up and looking good!  I'll share later this week.

I thought I'd lost the wild grape, and quite a bit did die off this past winter, but some survived.  I'm glad, it's such a pretty plant.  I'm not sure why, by the birds do not eat the grapes. 

Borage in the Sun

Honeybees are loving the geum.  Or honey bees.  Which do you use?  Is there a difference?  Is there a right or wrong?  Turns out they are both correct, but used in different contexts.  Honeybee is used in scientific writing for the genus Apis.  Honey bee is informal and refers to a bee that makes honey.  So, in this case, I should use the two word honey bee. Except it IS the common honeybee, Apis mellifera.  So, I'm still not really clear!  A search of this blog reveals I've used both throughout the years with no consistency.

I got a new sprinkler at the Dollar Tree.  A few weeks ago the one closest to me re-did the store and, while I get turned around now, it has a lot more expensive items.  A lot of brand names, priced for them on the packaging. 

I used it yesterday in the Toss Garden; the strawberries were wilty.  They ran rampant while my back was turned and are mingled with the emerging mints and yarrow.