Adventures with Cecropia

Friday morning(June8 th) presented us with a very interesting surprise. Several weeks ago while digging plum trees Bill came across a chrysalis on one branch. He cut it off and stuck it in a pot of soil on the end of our outdoor potting table. En route to pick up tools in the shed, I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye. Lo and behold the chrysalis had a full fledged moth emerging. It was still clinging to the stick and remnants of the pupal sac, and gently opening and closing its wings.

I rushed to get my camera and took quite a few shots.

My brain didn’t clue in as to the species for awhile, but eventually Cecropia came to mind. Checking on internet images, that notion was reinforced. The species is Hyalophora cecropia.

It is one of the largest moths in North America.

It was quite interesting to note the typical moth characteristics. The heavy body, which we feel is indicative of a female; the feathery antenna, which upon some research also seem female-like.

This link has a very nice pictorial of the lifecycle, but I had to look long and hard to actually determine a usable comparison of the male and female antennae.

Most of the pictures were taken in the morning, but I went back in early evening to see if it was still there and took a few more.

I rotated the pot holding the stick and moth and was promptly “peed” upon, or so it seemed. I returned it to the original position and it shot another stream against the side of the shed.

We are wondering if this was some defense mechanism or the emitting of the pheromone stream done in the evening to lure a male mate.

The presumed “lady” was gone by Saturday morning. It would be nice to think she has a chance to mate and lay her eggs during her short life. It certainly had no toxic effects upon me, nor have I been deluged with would be suitors!

Spring Update

Blogging has been pretty much neglected as this spring has barrelled along very speedily.
We had our usual business getting some plants off to Halifax for the ARHS Member Sale plus the quite large task of hosting our sale here at home on May19-20th. That event went well. The entire weekend cooperated with lovely weather.

Here is the view of some set up....Magnolia sieboldii potted up.

Plants arranged in the front yard....

We found quite a nice rhododendron while foraging in the nursery beds. From the ARS2003#113....'Helsinki University' x 'Kalinka'. The plant was dug and actually replanted in a proper spot.

The blooming of the rhododendrons is charging along, although this season has quite diminished flower buds. Some weather weirdness of last summer is likely responsible for far fewer flower buds on many plants. Still lots to look at and try to keep some tabs on.
We came across a very pretty bloom on a 2006 seedling. Records show it was from leftover seed from a 1999 exchange. 'Goldfort' x R. vernicosum(peach)....cross made by John Weagle. A branch was broken , so we brought it in for a bit of a bouquet.

The editor for this Blog is acting very strange today. Hard to say how this may actually translate!

Back to Reality

We really did enjoy those few days with temperatures in the mid-twenties, but now we are back to the real spring. Well below freezing last night and a cold wind blowing today. The sun seems like a moot point.
We did a few outdoor things in the last few days.
Bill started his annual rake up the sticks campaign. It is truly amazing how many branches from birch trees can be deposited here and there.
I did the usual massacre of the grape vines....such a waste of time, since they really don't do much anyway. One PeeGee hydrangea got pruned. These pruning jobs seem like a safe way to get at some outdoor jobs.
Bill has eyed some black knot in the plum trees , so that will need attention very soon.
The spring blooming Heaths are blooming. We have very few. One quite large patch of pink and a little bit of a white one. If they had ID's , they are long gone.

It was cool enough yesterday that the crocus had gone back to sleep.

The snowdrops don't seem to mind the vagaries of these spring days, They continue to pop up everywhere.

Since it is forecast to remain quite cold for the next week or so, I expect it is time to get some seeds started under lights. This is usually the week I start peppers, parsley, basil and celeriac.

Spring 2012, DAY2

We are enjoying these few days of beautiful warm weather, even though the long range forecast is for below average temperatures for most of the next two weeks.
The first crocus made their appearance today. They are a little group of C. tricolor that are in the bed just beside the house.

This group of snowdrops have popped up in the middle of the lawn.

All this warmth stimulated me to do a bit of reorganizing and cleaning up of the rather messy sun porch. Our overwintered plants really think spring has come with new growth and swelling buds the norm.
I did quite a serious cutback of some Buddleia that spent the winter inside. Perhaps Bill will persuade some of the cuttings to grow. There is a branch from a lanky young Bay Tree , as well. They can join those that are downstairs under lights.

I seem to have one large Rosemary plant that has survived for several years. Getting newer plants to survive being brought indoors to the sun porch has been an exercise in futility.
This is one of our "cloned" Blue Heaven rhodies, which did not get planted in the garden last season. Guess a bit of repotting and a later planting is in order. The new growth will emerge long before it is safe to put this outside. No telling if we can persuade two bursts of growth.

We also have several tissue culture plants that have been with us for a couple of years. There are two lovely little Pieris compacta, which will inevitably put forth their new growth while still indoors.

There are several pots of seedling Hellebores which we need to transplant. These have been having an identity crisis, since they look very different from most hellebores. They were from the ARHS Seed Exchange last year #089 H. argutifolius . We have also determined they may not be the hardiest of the genus either.

There are a couple of other pots that have some sprouts from another seed lot ARHS2011#90 H. foetidus ex 'Wester Flisk' , which have been pretty slow to germinate. 
We received a package from Lindenberg Seeds today with a bag of three nice Begonia tubers.(Double Pink). We have other things on order which will be along in due course. 

The seeds arrived several weeks ago. I expect it is just about time to get some of those started, as well.
The cats have been enjoying the sunshine and are getting into their in & out routine.
This is Ringo relaxing.

All in all, a pleasant day with not much snow in sight!

Spring 2012, day one.

Spring is here with a vengence, the temperatures are in the high teens and snow is retreating about as fast as it could. 

The fresh snowfall we had last Thursday is nicely disappearing.

Going for a walk all the way to the back garden still requires a bit of caution.

I took the less steep route, not really wanting to slither downhill in an undignified fashion. 

 

The little Witch Hazel bushes are in bloom. They are seedlings of H. mollis, and while not overly flambuoyant are pleasantly fragrant.

 Snowdrops are in bloom, but no crocus color just yet. It is always interesting to see just how quickly they pop up after the snow retreats.

Our purple Hellebores will be quite awhile and the other groups are still snowy. 

The pond is usually full at this time of year, still lots of ice.

The sun was bright and the rhododendron leaves were very shiny. It doesn't appear there was any amount of winter damage, although I spotted some leaf tip burn on a new plant near the pine trees. 
The "Bear Cubs" are looking quite happy in spite of their snowy surroundings.

This is a small R. dauricum seedling which will among the first to bloom. They will gradually lose their dark purply winter color.