Inspiration

Tiger Swallowtail

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, along with the Monarch, is one of our most recognizable butterflies. You can identify it (usually) by its large size and bright yellow color with black tiger stripes.

Male tiger swallowtails have a few orange and blue spots near the tail.

Females have both a light and dark form. The light form (left) looks a lot like the male, except it has more blue on the hind wings. The dark form still has the blue spots, but it is otherwise very dark with no yellow.

Squirrel Proof Feeders

People have been asking about squirrel proof feeders and these are available. 

Cold in Cuba? Records set!

Early Wednesday morning was the coldest that occurred in Cuba for the month of December for at least the last fifty years, an impressive set of 31 minimum temperature records.

Of these, nine are in absolute primacy to the value of 1.9 degrees Celsius, reported in the Matanzas province town of Columbus, which ranks among the five lowest recorded officially in our country at any time.

As reported by Mr. Eduardo Vazquez Forecast Center of the Institute of Meteorology,other very significant minimum occurred in Indio Hatuey, 2.0; Bainoa, 2.5, AguadaPassenger, 2.7; Jagüey Grande, 2, 8, Union de Reyes, 3.2; Tapaste, 3.4, Melena del Sur and Santo Domingo, 3.6, Playa Girón and Jovellanos, 3.7, Santa Cruz del Sur,4.0, Ciego de Avila, 4 , 1; Esmeralda and Cienfuegos, 4.5, Guines, 4.6; Batabano, 4.7, and Santa Clara, 5.0.

Also excel in Trinidad of 5.7, 7.2, in Veguitas, 7.8 in Guáimaro, 8.0, La Jíquima(Holguín), and 8.8, in Manzanillo, which are absolute records for those locations of central and eastern regions. In the capital city of Casablanca season the thermometer dropped to 12.1 degrees, the lowest this winter season there.

The national record cold is 0.6 degrees Celsius, set in Bainoa on February 18, 1996. Searching files found that all three values below yesterday in Columbus, are 1.0,Union de Reyes, and 1.2, in Indio Hatuey (January 21, 1971), and 1. 8, in Guira deMelena, 11 January 1970.

Birds of a feather - eat together.

  

I think these are starlings in their winter coats.  It has been such a long time since I have seen one that I am not really sure that is what they are.  If anyone can correct me - please do!

Peonies

I have had these peonies for many years but they didn't really do very well in the places that I had them planted.  They grew but didn't produce a lot of flowers until I moved them into this planter a few years ago.  The soil here is very rocky and the stones in the planter were mostly dug up when I was making other flower beds or just laying on the ground.  For a first attempt at building one of these, I think it turned out just fine.   

Mom's Willow

A couple of years ago I went to a funeral that had a fantastic idea - the owners of the funeral home actually planted a tree in memory of the person who had passed.  As the city was quite large and the area quite flat, it was in need of open spaces and trees.  That gave me an idea that although I already have lots of trees I did not have many flowering shrubs or showy trees.  I tried to think of the person that I was dedicating it to and proceeded to plant shrubs and flowering trees in their memory.  My mother was a gardener and spent many hours in her flower and vegetable gardens but also liked shrubs and trees. Her favorite tree was the willow.  There is a wet sloping area at the base of a large rock in my yard that I had previously tried to grow an apple tree in but between the wet soil and the deer, it did not survive.  However this willow has flourished and grows more beautiful every day.  My mother would have loved it.