Hornworm

BY SKEETER

 I showed you my front porch last week. In that posting, I also showed you my two pots of coleus, pentas and creeping jenny plants. Here you see one of those plants after I had pruned the coleus a bit. It had become top heavy and fell over during a windy storm here in my GEORGIA GARDENS.

 24 hours later, here is the same plant! Yep something has eaten the Pentas plant out of both arrangements! 

 At first, I thought the deer or bunny had been in the front porch area but found that odd. I have never seen either of them on the brick work in the 15 years we have lived here. Upon closer inspection, I found the culprit. Two huge Hornworms! Look at their size compared to my finger.

 One is in the brownish color with large spots along the side. Nope, those are not big eyes but rather spots to fool predators. These are not the tomato or tobacco type hornworms as they have white V shaped lines and these do not. Click HERE and you will see the tomato type hornworm on my tomatoes from 2013.

Here you see the green one. Aren't they just the neatest looking caterpillars ever? Tina, I bet your chickens would call them a treat.

I do believe these things will soon morph into Sphinx Months if not, then some sort of moth. I find them most interesting and beautiful. Yep, I find some creepy crawlies beautiful. They have not touched anything else in the mixed pot. I will leave them be and let nature takes it course with my HORNWORMS, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Pest Worm/Caterpillar

BY SKEETER

 My GEORGIA GARDEN has seen some Pest's lately. I must say even a pest, this Pack Saddle Worm/Caterpillar is one cool looking critter!

 Look but DONT TOUCH as this is a cat with a bite! Bite in the form of a painful sting from those fuzzy little hairs you see. Also this guy has fake eyes on his rump as you see in this pic.

 Here, you see the face and mouth munching on my Banana Tree. Isn't this a cool looking critter? We just let it enjoy the tree for a couple days then it went on its merry way.

 What is the Saint doing to his Bald Cypress Tree with that long pole and brush?

 He is pulling out Tent Worm nests!

 At this stage, they do not look like Tent Worms. Click HERE to see more on Tent Worms. Maybe these are fuzzy baby's.

 Our Tomatoes are long gone and were most enjoyed by us this summer. As they began to fizzle out, we spotted this Horn Worm. We found it neat how this critter holds onto the stem of the tomato plant.

 The worm munched on this and another small and not so pretty tomatoes for several days. 

 Not to be confused with Raspberry's but what we assume to be Hornworm poop! Ewwwwww.... See the worm has moved onto another mater in the background.

 Now comes a mystery Pest for us. Here you see the Trolling Motor on our boat. Look at the White dots to the left and right of the name brand.

 Zooming in you can see one of the holes better. This is where the Motor Cover is screwed onto the unit.

Once we break the white coating, a nest is revealed.

 And a Pupa falls out! These things will nest in any small hole they can find. We find them in just about every screw hole on our boat! We have no idea what they are but they can wreak havoc on machines such as Weed Whackers, Lawn Mowers, etc. We once discovered one on the boat motor clogging up the water out take! The Saint had to jump into the lake and remove it from the motor before it over heated and killed our motor! Does anyone know what these things can be? We are baffled and do NOT take kindly to these PEST WORM/CATERPILLARS, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

A Post for Birthday Boys

What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?

Frogs and snails

And puppy-dog's tails,

That's what little boys are made of.

in the garden....