Butterflies were definitely enjoying the heat this morning as they visited all of our flowers. Play the videos below to see the butterflies and their larvae (caterpillars) at work.
Just as the caterpillars (larvae) of Monarch butterflies exclusively eat milkweed, the larvae of Gulf Fritillary butterflies eat various species of the passion vine. The plant below is a passion flower vine. Watch the video of the Gulf Fritillary caterpillars enjoying the vine.
The zinnias at the front gate were showing their age. There were too many plants in a small area and the crowding caused an early demise of some of the plants. Therefore we pulled these plants up. Some of the seeds that have already fallen to the ground will sprout by next week. The new plants will be flourishing shortly. The old plants (seen below) will be allowed to dry and the flowers will be cut from the plants. We will then dry the flowers and harvest the seeds to plant another crop. The paper bag in the slideshow below holds seeds taken from the flowers that were in the back yard from our first Zinnia crop this year.
Slideshow below: The very first of our string bean bushes has sprouted. It looks pitafull though. The watermelon plants on the hill are finally starting to grow.
Below: Learning Curve: We found that the high heat and humidity will take its toll on ripe pumpkins. Below left is a pumpkin that we let stay a little too long in the field. We also found one of the smaller pumpkins we already harvested was baking in the heat. Jackie said it is time to move these pumpkins inside until we distribute them.
AMPD has a birthday party. Happy Birthday Elle! (Enjoy the party by flipping through the slides below)
Trip caught a nice RED fish in Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Max is in Grand Isle, Louisiana and visited the Tarpon Rodeo.
Courtney is with her son, Monroe, as he shows off his catch of the day while on Tuscaloosa Lake. Colson (middle) is more into rocks, so he shows off his rock collection. Cousin EE (on the right) is coming up the hill with his big catch of the day.
Below: Quinn sent pictures of the groundhog they spotted in Colorado. Look closely at the top of the rock to see the groundhog.
