Nature's gems

While walking from my car to my office this morning I was greeted by dozens of little jewels glistening in the grass. They were itty bitty spiderwebs. I'm guessing that they're always there, and that I only noticed them today because we had a particularly foggy morning. It's amazing the little surprises that nature can hold. What amazing things have you seen recently in your garden?

P.S. And yes, I promise to add more photos of garden goodness from my trip to Portland! I've just been busy with other work-related projects.

Sick crinum update -- mites!

Sick crinum update (normal photo)
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

Here's what my crinum is looking like these days. A few of the leaves have fallen off since the last shot. I talked with a few people about the office about its decline and Tom suggested it could be spider mites.

Bingo! I had seen some webs on the plant but had assumed they were from beneficial spiders. When I looked more closely, sure enough, there were spider mites on the undersides of the leaves. Apparently they were sucking the plant dry.

It was too late that night to take chemical measures, so I blasted the plant with the hose, which is often a good first line of defense against insects. Then later I treated the plant with a pyrethrin-based insecticide. I would have preferred an oil-soap spray, but I happened to have the other product handy.

I'll reinspect in a few days and see if the mites have disappeared. If not, I'll need to treat them again.

Io moth caterpillars

Io moth caterpillars
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

While walking in from lunch yesterday, I noticed that the 'Forest Pansy' redbud at our office had some serious munch marks. I flipped over the leaves and, lo and behold, there were several io moth caterpillars hiding out.

I just love the color of these caterpillars--almost an electric lemon-lime color--so I like to get close and really admire them. But it's best not to touch--they have stinging spines on their bodies (see the tufts?), so it's a good idea not to touch them.

Caterpillars typically go through several stages before pupating and turning into moths or butterflies. These caterpillars are probably first instars, based on their markings. In time, they'll develop into io moths.