the bark tree

2012 seedlings

Lots of little baby seedlings coming up!  So exciting!  Here are a few Larkspur (Consolida ambigua), which I sowed from a packet in fall.

Nearby is a hoard of Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damescena), self sown from a transplant I put in last spring.

Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) came up volunteer as well.  I hope they'll retain the brown color of the type I planted last spring, but it's likely they'll revert to plain yellow.

California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), sown from a packet in fall, have popped up in several places, but this one is the most robust.

And one of my favorites from Wave Hill: Verbena bonariensis!

Caterpillar identification

Found these guys crawling on my fading pansies and used the caterpillar photos on DallasButterflies.com to identify them.

Judging from their photos, this is a Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) caterpillar, which is in the same family with the Gulf Fritillary and the lovely Julia butterfly.  I'm not sure this is the right food for them, but perhaps it was suitable.  The pansies are all gone.  

Looking forward to seeing the butterflies!

Rain barrel

Haven't shown yall my Christmas present!  Brandon found this quality rain barrel at an estate sale.

The Mahonia fortunii that was in this location, which was getting pounded by the rainfall that pours down from a corner in our gutter-less roof, got a new home.  So it's a great spot for a wonderful garden helper.  My new plantings love the extra rainwater!