So, my little Einstein...that was originally supposedto be a Polish hen, is not a Polish hen. Now, as the girls developed, it became more and more obvious to me that Einstein was making a departure from Phyllis in the looks department. Phyllis's hair just got bigger and more impressive, whereas Einstein's never really got any fancier than when she was a pullet. Phyllis's waddles came in pretty good sized in the last two months...Einstein..nada. Phyllis has also gotten a good bit bigger than Einstein. Einstein has feathers on her legs...Phyllis does not. I kind of knew that Einstein's feather pattern really wasn't Polishesque. Now, I guess I've just been too busy to bother investigating this divergence of appearance. But I've been inspecting them a lot more lately (because they have the Pox) and it just couldn't be ignored any longer. After a tad bit of research, and some toe counting, it appears I have myself a Houdan...

Einstein, the mottled Houdan

Houdans have five toes total, Polish have four. That's the clincher. By the looks of it Einstein is a mottled Houdan and may even be a bantam at that. She's the smallest of all the gals, but was the first to start laying. Phyllis has continued to grow, but Einstein has stayed much smaller. I have to say, I'm kinda glad to have a Houdan. I'm already planning my spring 2010 acquisitions...still trying to decide what to get...anyone have any votes?!

These are the cutest violas! The 'Four Seasons' Viola series is a mounding/spreading type of viola that has a bit better heat tolerance on average. They don't trail quite to the degree that 'Purple Rain' does, but they really fill out a container or basket nicely. They produces masses of small blooms. This is definitely my favorite new series of viola to come along in a while...and now just happens to be the perfect time to plant them.

Viola 'Four Seasons White & Pink Wing'- stunning. A lovely combination of white and lavender/pink. Tons of blooms.

Viola 'Four Seasons Purple & Bronze' - a very unique color combination, love it. The plants look really full.

Viola 'Four Seasons Blue & Yellow' - a more traditional color combo, but it looks like it's going to bloom gangbusters.

I used to have a kitty cat named Pierre.  He was super sweet...and super pretty. A blue Russian type mutt, Pierre never met a stranger. He loved his mommy and would have been happiest if I just carried him around in a papoose all day. But, seeing as he weighed about 22lbs..that was just not going to happen! Anyhoo...I had to put him to sleep last summer. Very sad. Pierre had a special talent...a talent for sniffing out the very moment an orchid flower was about to open...so he could eat it. Yes, eat it. I used keep a bevy of orchids in my house, but due to Pierre's tastes that collection dwindled. I have a penchant for Paphiopedilums (slipper orchids), but those were some of Pierre's favorites. I even resorted growing them in glass cookie jars so I could keep a lid on them until they bloomed, but it never failed that Pierre would chomp the flower off just as I removed the lid to let the bloom emerge. Well, now that Pierre has moved on into the Light, I've started "acquiring" again. Here are a few new lovelies...

Paphiopedulum hybrid (Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Raisin Pie 'Hsinying') x Sib 

Paphiopedulum hybrid (Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Raisin Pie 'Hsinying') x Sib

Now...both of the above are labeled as the same hybrid, so I'm going to have to do some research on those...

Ok, so chicken pox (that we get) and avian pox (that chickens get) aren't the same things...but my chickens got it...the avian pox that is. Mosquitoes were so bad in September with all the rainfall, that they must have transmitted it to my birds.
 

I started having a drop in egg production about a month ago. One of my Polish stopped laying completely but I thought it was because she was molting. Then I got 3 eggs with no shell...which I also figured were coming from Einstein because of her molting. Then I started to see scabs showing up on her back where she'd lost feathers. Thought the other gals were just picking at her. But, 3 days ago, the telltale scab spots started showing up on everyone's combs or waddles...What a bummer! Everyone is eating as normal and none of them seem to be having any respiratory problems, so I'm hoping it just manifests itself in the cutaneous form and won't get too bad. I'm still getting about 1-2 eggs a day, I'm assuming from the two biggest girls. I got some xenodine I'm going to apply to the one that's molting and try to get a bit on the rest's combs...but they don't really like being handled too much, so we'll just have to see how that goes!

You can read more about Pox here:  Backyard Chickens.com So for those of you in the area with chickens, keep an eye out for it. There is no treatment other than vaccination, so you just have to ride it out and make sure they are eating and drinking normally.

This is what I planted this weekend....

Still time to get broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and other cole crops planted. Don't forget cool season herbs like dill, fennel and cilantro. Chard, sorrel, lettuce and spinach can go in the ground as well. In this bed, I ripped up a few 'Golden Mama' Tomato plants on their last leg. They were still covered with fruit, but I'm going to make green tomato pickles with what I harvested from them.

This is also the perfect time to plant pansies, violas and other cool season color like Iceland Poppies, foxglove, snapdragons and the like. They will perform much better next spring if you get them in the ground before the first frost (Avg. here is Nov. 17th). I usually do a combo of purples, blues and whites. But every once in a while I shake things up with some orange! I know...livin' on the edge, eh? LOL. So this year's cool season combo is blue and orange, with some purples here and there. (Didn't have the heart to pull out the pretty little gomphrena in the photo...maybe next week). I also planted up some hanging baskets with 'Purple Rain' trailing pansy...fabulous!

There are worse things to do early on a Sunday morning than chasing butterflies...I spent a good portion of the morning doing just that after I discovered I was surrounded by a bevy of beautiful flutterbys of all shapes and colors. These gals/guys were not easy to get pictures of so I'll apologize for the poor photo quality. I also have not yet taken the time to properly ID the species...so feel free to vote!

This giant beauty has the most beautiful splash of blue that flashes bright in the sunshine. Her she is perched on some Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara'. Below, perched on Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'.

Some beautiful Monarchs and another orange species...the Monarch was huge..couldn't get a good photo of that one...plus another little yellow skipper...

T'was such a lovely day...

Here is a question I received from Carrie.."I'm new to the whole strawberry pot thing - and pretty much gardening in general.  I have one terracotta pot with about 12 plants, from which I got 0 (!) strawberries this year.  The plants themselves look great.  I think I have a lack of sun issue.  My question is this: What do I do with it over the winter?  Does it need to come inside?  Do I just cover it if a frost threatens?  Will the plants die back & then grow again in the spring?  I am pretty sure they are an ever bearing variety. Thanks, Carrie"

Hi Carrie!
Yes, strawberries need a full sun location, at least 6 hours of direct sunlight to produce well. But often the very first year they won't produce much. They are perennials so you'll get more fruit in following years once the plants are better established. Because they are in a container, they will be more susceptible to freezing temps. I usually just grab my strawberry pots and put them in the garden shed and pull them out when it's nice outside. Or yes, you can cover and wrap them with frost cloth during freezes. Make sure to water the container before a freeze. They will lose about half of their leaves and go semi-dormant during the winter (depending on where you live) so they won't need nearly as much water, but you'll still need to water them now and then. Sometimes terracotta can crack in the winter, if water is trapped in clay, then freezes and melts. So wrapping the pot is a good idea anyway if you leave it outside. Now for those of you in much colder Northern climates, the pots will definitely need to go indoors for the winter.

So, I love bugs...all sorts of bugs. I draw and paint lots of pretty flowers, but bugs are one of my favorite subjects to render. Especially with high quality colored pencils. I can sit for hours and hours obsessing on all the tiny detail. This here is a drawing I've done of a rhino beetle in all it's glory. Aren't they amazing and beautiful?

Did you know...Rhino Beetles are the strongest creatures on Earth? The rhinoceros beetle can carry 850 times its own weight. That's proportionally more than an African Elephant can carry! That's the definition of a badass if there ever was one. Badass beetle!