Dear Ivy,
I’m learning about plants and love the Pothos plant. My question is this: I looked up your blog saw how to clone a Pothos so I did it. It’s not dying, but it’s not growing the roots yet out of the nodes and do I have to wait until Spring or Summer to do [...]
Just as soon as it arrived, Summer is escaping. Kind of like a good friend whose visits never seem to be long enough. I think we have a wonderful Indian Summer coming, and some warm days ahead. That said, Fall is creeping up on to the back porch like a stray cat. There’s no denying [...]
I was lucky enough to be visited by my favorite exo-skeletal, ectotherm a few days ago! I found him sitting in my sweet potato plants in my back yard garden (Or, as I like to call it, my Yarden…)
A praying mantis!
These are probably my favorite bugs of all time. So cool looking, so [...]
I know, I know, it’s not really endless… But I could live this way forever
I was out in my back yard the other day, lounging in a blue baby pool (don’t judge me) to cool off. My house was built in the 20’s and hasn’t had many updates since. The lack of air [...]
One of the things I love about Summer is the influx of life into my little world. Spiders and bugs and their whole miniature food chain, acting out their life cycles right in front of my eyes! Birds swooping in and out, rodents scuttling under the fence to look for shoots and leaves to eat. [...]
Here’s a photo of another of my favorite garden defenders!
A dragonfly! They are members of the family Odonata, and they are always hungry! A dragonfly can eat its own body weight in bugs in an hour! They help control the mosquito population, which gives them big points in my book.
This one is an exception to [...]
I’d like to introduce you to some of your best friends
This is a Flat-Backed Millipede, from the order Polydesmida. This little guy is an integral part of the food chain and the Chairmen-of-the Board of the Decomposition Committee. These arthropods do not bite or sting, and are a big help to have in [...]
When the heat gets to be too much, set your plants in a few inches of water. This will allow them to fully absorb all the liquid they can hold, without you having to worry about over or under watering. You can spray or mist the top of the plant and get all the dust [...]
I’ve been harvesting quarts and quarts of raspberries over the last few weeks! A couple times a week, I go out in the back garden and pluck a few quarts of the delicious fruits. The plants I have are called “Everbearing”, and they should produce all Summer. I pruned them back really heavily at first. [...]
I’m so happy! I just found an itty bitty baby praying mantis!
The picture is a little blurry because he’s soooo small, (he was less than a centimeter long) but when this little guy grows up, he’ll be a ferocious predator that will help protect my plants! These helpful bugs are the reason I refuse to [...]
