Walking into the grocery store just before Halloween, I saw these petunias that are such a dark purple as to appear almost black. I bought them and planted them in a container in the front of the house (one of the few places that gets some sun.)
I have trouble with the words “petunia” and “pansy”, continuously getting them switched. Getting an actual petunia plant hasn’t helped. They are pretty though.
It is a bit perplexing when you fill a watering can, feel the weight of the water, but when you tip it over to pour, nothing comes out.
The tree frog was the right size to plug the watering can, and was quite panicked when its tiny front legs couldn’t find purchase to pull itself out. After I took its picture as proof, I offered assistance. It easily crawled on to my hand, and was not wedged forever in the plastic tube. I returned it to the garden and was able to water the plants without further incident.
Last year I bought a sturdy plastic skeleton and secured it to the back of the wire deer in the meadow as if the deer was the skeleton’s steed. I had a different idea this year.
I noticed some chewed looking leaves on my pepper plants in my front window. Then I noticed one of the pepper fruits dangling strangely. I picked it up, and it wasn’t actually attached because a caterpillar had eaten through the stem. The culprit was caught because it was still inside the pepper. Like Peter pumpkin eater. Or maybe his wife. Peter Peter pepper eater. Or is that Peter piper and peppers. Hm. Any who, that’s a different rabbit hole.
So not only do I have pollinators in the house, there are consumers (besides my house spiders). For background, these plants were grown from seed in peat pots and store bought soil. They have never been outside.
My outside vegetable garden didn’t happen this year. I started basil and bell peppers inside, then waited to plant because a friend planted outside too soon and their peppers all died. Then it got hot (it’s Texas y’all), and the raised bed needed an overhaul because it isn’t draining, which is a yucky job in the heat. So now it is September and my peppers and basil are still in the window. The pepper leaves are a rich dark green and the plant is fruiting. What is pollinating them inside? I’ve actually had more fruit set inside than outside. Hm.
The seeds I started were labeled Bell Pepper Carnival Mix, and I am getting some different colors: red, green, purple. The peppers are quite small, probably because they are still in their starter pots. We picked and ate the pepper pictured above and were surprised at the heat, not like a bell pepper at all. It also is shaped more like a fresno pepper. So I’m wondering if my Carnival mix was a pepper mix rather than a bell pepper mix, or if smaller fruit from restricted growing conditions makes for a hotter pepper. Hm.
Critters and Craft 