Thursday, June 11, 2015

Horsetails, and Other Mysteries


These are horsetails, prehistoric plants that have been called "living fossils." I came across a thick stand of them in the cemetery while walking Olga. I think they're pretty cool. They were growing densely, even out into the lawn, and only after reading about them did I realize they're considered an invasive garden pest. Well, I guess that's why they've been around such a long time -- they're very fit in the Darwinian sense!


I may have mentioned that I planted an envelope of wildflower seeds in some of our pots on the patio. They're just tiny sprouts now, but this one is already blooming! Unfortunately the squirrels have repeatedly visited the pots and churned the ground over a couple of times, digging for god knows what, so I'm not sure what's going to grow to maturity. Supposedly there are poppies in the mix -- I'd love to have some poppies.


This is a flower on one of our St. John's Wort plants, which were growing here naturally. (Well, we didn't plant them, and they're growing in some unlikely places, so I think they're natural or at least garden volunteers.)


And finally, I keep trying to photograph our little fox, but that guy is so quick and timid he's hard to capture. This is the best I could do -- his back end disappearing beneath the fence to the neighbor's property. We've seen him up close many times, though, running back and forth across our patio by the back door. His tail is filling out a bit.

Why won't he pose like Fred Fox up in Yorkshire? Maybe he does during the day when we're not around.

The appliance repair guy came yesterday and sorted out the washing machine. He simply tightened a couple of pipe joints, and when I ran a load last night I saw no evidence of leakage. The dishwasher, on the other hand, may have breathed its last -- he said some circuit boards were fried, so the landlord will have to decide whether to try to fix the machine or get a new one. I have a feeling I'll be doing dishes by hand for a while.

5 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

Brother Fox.
I love seeing pictures of these, to me, exotic plants. Thank you.

Vivian said...

its a shame you had to move!
love the pictures of the beautiful flowers!

ellen abbott said...

I've been trying to get a photo of the male cardinal and one of the juniors on the tea cup at the same time but I'm just not quick enough, or slow enough as the case may be. I have a pot of horsetail though mine doesn't have the smaller fronds? coming out of the joints, just the single tall shaft. and it must be contained because it is indeed invasive and will spread everywhere.

e said...

peeks into your garden. Glad things are mostly sorted in the house.

The Bug said...

Well, now you're 2/3 back to normal! Love the flowers & that fox tail - ha!