Tuberose

The first tuberose has bloomed. The first one is special as it is left for the bees and the garden spirits. When I returned from my vacation in late July, after having left instructions on how to water the garden, I discovered that 1) Those instructions were ignored or at the very least barely humored, and 2) The tuberose bed cradled a sparse patch of anemic-looking tuberose leaves poking up from the soil. Not a good sign in late July. 

Normally, when watered properly throughout the summer, the tuberose is much more robust. There are dozens of sprouts, some clustered very closely together. In late July, when I returned, there were two wee patches no more than a few inches tall and drooping like deflated balloons. Honestly, it felt like there was no hope of achieving an enfleurage of tuberose this season. But I am happily wrong! They have rebounded and the flowers look and smell amazing. 

Now if something could be done about these damn fires and the smoke that fills the air almost constantly, this summer would be wrapping up as not so bad. 

Head Count

I decided that I was going to take note of the critters I have found in the garden. There has been for the past few years a mini-plague of grasshoppers. They haven't done too much damage as when I find them, I catch them and release them into the chicken pen where the hens make a meal of a juicy bug. Flies, obviously, a few mosquitoes, and lately praying mantises. Just loads of them, and always with some crunchy, munchy bug snack in their mandibles. And recently there have been dozens of lizard sightings, and just yesterday, a mouse! There are also untold numbers of visiting birds, some I've never seen before, with splashes of red or blue or white on their breasts or heads. The garden is small, but the life it nurtures is vast.