Spotted this black rat snake dozing in a brush pile... Always thrilled to see my snakes...
I also watched a gopher tortoise grazing on native grasses and conyza... He totally avoided eating any blackberry leaves... Didn't have a camera in my pocket, though... Sure wanted to film it... it totally ignored me... That doesn't happen often... they usually run as fast as they can for cover...
Still trying to get seeds to come up in pots... that sand crusts, though... screens to protect the seeds didn't help much... but a bed sheet seems made to order... keeps the soil moist, keeps the birds at bay.... lets in enough light for the babies to come up...
Stachys floridana bloom. This plant can be one of the worst invasives... and still... I'm having so much difficulty growing food that it's worth a shot...
Here's the tubers... They were mighty tasty... Will see if any survive the voles now that I've planted them in the ground... these were container grown...
The voles are busily killing all of my iris...
They chewed most of the roots off this camelia... I rescued this one... but I have rootless dead stems out there in the camelia patch...
Surprisingly... the voles even chewed up this pokeweed!
The cross vine was pretty...
The mock orange seems to have peaked...
Caged hoary puccoon... This delightful native doesn't transplant... it's growing in the veggie patch... the cage is for it's own protection...
Striped corn from
Nan Ondra
