Wednesday, September 17, 2008

A Few Garden Surprises!!!

This past weekend we went out of town for a little r & r. Before we left I planted some leaf lettuce, arugula, cilantro and romaine lettuce seed. I planted the seeds in a large pot I have had sitting in my multi-use bed. This was on Friday evening and much to my delight and surprise this is what it looked like Tuesday afternoon.

I've not grown lettuce before so this will be interesting. I know I will have to thin this out but right now I'm happy. Another beauty I found in my garden is this.....

My Mexican bush sage is showing off right now. I really like this plant. It's a great fall bloomer with pretty color.

The last surprise I had in my garden was.......
So, someone please tell me this is a monarch butterfly in the makings!! They are all over my butterfly weed. Yippee!!!!

12 comments:

flydragon said...

Isn't is amazing how fast little seeds can sprout. Looks like you're going to have a bumper crop there. Love that Mexican bush sage!! And that certainly looks like a monarch butterfly in the making. Lucky you!

Susie said...

flydragon-I was amazed at how fast those little seedlings came up. Hopefully I won't have too many critters on them.

TC said...

Susie, it sure looks like a Monarch caterpillar. Aren't they stunning? And I love the pot your lettuce seedlings are in.

Susan Tomlinson said...

Hi Susie--

Thanks for visiting my garden blog. I completely agree about powdery mildew. I'm happy to report that so far the home made remedies seem to be working.

I love your pics of butterflies!

Susie said...

tc-That pot came from the nursery where I work. We have lots of beauties like that. You won't believe it but if those caterpillars were Monarchs they are now food that is being digested in the tummies of Blue birds. They were munching down on this just this evening. I don't know if there are any left.

Susie said...

Susan-glad your homemade remedies are working. Thanks for visiting my site and I'm glad you enjoyed my butterfly pics.

Unknown said...

Lovely photos, Susie. The Mexican bush sage blooms are so pretty! With all the Monarchs you'll be having in your garden later, I'm sure there'll be some stunning butterfly photos in the near future!
BTW the hibiscus blooms on your sidebar are gorgeous!!

Anonymous said...

That Mexican Sage is gorgeous Susie. I love the pot your lettuce is growing in. I need to thin mine too. :) That looks like a Monarch Caterpillar to me too.

beckie said...

Susie, what a great idea to fall plant in your container. You should have a bumper crop from the looks of those sprouts. Your Mexican sage IS pretty, and how great that it's a fall bloomer. My Russian sage is all brown now. Will have to think about getting some of that.

Another caterpillar-wonderful!

DP Nguyen said...

Oh wow! That's a huge crop you're going to get. Good luck!

That caterpillar is so pretty. I hope you get some gorgeous butterflies soon.

Susie said...

Kanak-I'm glad you like my hibiscus pics. Believe it or not I drag both of those in for the winter. They bloom nicely during the summer so I guess it's worth it.

Racquel-The Mexican sage is a great plant. I had another one as well but I accidentally killed it. Sometimes we gardeners need to leave things alone to see if they are going to come back or not.

Beckie-Get some Mexican sage. You'll enjoy it. Hope you had a great birthday!!

DP-After listening to you about fall garden planting I decided to plant these lettuces. A guy from work gave me the seed and so far, so good.

Sandy said...

Ah, I can tell you of my one gardening success, growing lettuce! It was even eatable!