June 2015

Grape Vines … TLC

June 30, 2015 Nature

Yesterday, I whacked the weeds under and around the grape vines, for air circulation – and to prevent the weeds from competing with the grape vines for resources. And then this morning, Jerie pruned the vines, removing ones with the black rot, pruning excess leaves, and making sure the growing clusters of grapes weren’t touching anything. After that, I sprayed them all sides wet with Serenade. Which contains QST 713 strain of Bacillus subtilis. This was for the black rot. Where the grapes get blackRead More

Pond Chapel

June 26, 2015 Nature

Zoomed in on a Gladstone

June 26, 2015 Nature

The Gladstone blossom opens only for a few days. So, it needs to be especially enticing. To that end, in the blossom’s dark orange center, there’s a pool of sweet syrupy liquid (clearly visible above), with which the flower of the Gladstone water lily attracts its pollinators. And in this one (from our pond today), you can see entombed in that clear sweet syrup, a bug. I’m betting it stayed too long. And in that blissful syrupy late afternoon, did not notice the petals slowly closing around it, as the sunRead More