The Very Hungry Caterpillars....
On Sunday, September 24th several dozen caterpillars, offspring of beautiful pipevine swallowtail butterflies, were spotted on an Aristolochia vine rambling along the west side of the front side walk.  By early Monday morning the vine was no more and the brownish black critters with orange "spikes" along the length of their bodies had crawled to the east side of the walk to devour the Aristolochia growing there.  Two hours later the favored food here too had been eliminated.  The caterpillars appeared frantic and were crawling in all directions.  Some settled on Digitalis lanata plants and were seen chomping a bit on the flower stalks, but not the leaves.  By noon the future butterflies had disappeared, hopefully to find protected locations in which to form their chrysalis and transform into blue winged "flutterbys".

Cool temperatures mean it is time to plant
With flashes of lightening and crashes of thunder autumn came to Austin.  Night temperatures in the 60's and even 50's now mean that we can now plant greens to enjoy all winter.  With concerns of contamination in commercial supplies what could be better than to rely on your own garden rather than the grocery store!  Ann Marie already has Swiss chard, kale, spinach, bok choi, beets, radishes, kohlrabi and turnips  sprouting in the garden.  Collards and lettuce have been planted but not broken through the soil yet.  Lettuce, spinach and kale will continue to be sown every two weeks to provide fresh salad all winter long.  One of the front flower beds has been planted with red mustard and chervil, pansies will be added in November.  Another bed will feature rat tail radish, the flowers were butterfly magnets last winter and the seed pods provided a tasty addition to stir fries.

A Sweetie of a Pelargonium
Ann Marie is a collector of Pelargoniums.  Earlier this year she found one at a nursery in Austin whose fragrance seemed familiar but the name "Mimosa" was unknown.  She purchased one for Horsetail Haven and one for the Gardens of Festival Institute and identification attempts began.  When the plant came into bloom it was identified as being "Sweet Miriam" but where had that "Mimosa" name come from???  While searching for other information in The Herb Society of America's Encyclopedia of Herbs by Deni Bown, Ann Marie came across a photo of Pelargonium "Sweet Mimosa".  Hmmm, it had lovely pink blossoms with darker markings just like "Sweet Miriam".  Could it be that all three plants are one in the same?  YES!  This was confirmed by Pelargonium expert and past president of The Herb Society of America, Joyce Brobst.  Regardless of the name you find it under, this is a charming plant to add to your collection.  The blooms which appear in the spring are very attractive and the aroma is "fresh and pleasantly pungent".