What's Eating My Tomato Plants?

Almost overnight, my flourishing tomato plant morphed into a mass of defoliated twigs. The dastardly devourer of my beloved tomato plant has appeared throughout the years in my vegetable garden as the ultimate master of disguise. It is the larva of a hawk moth, commonly known as the tomato hornworm. Besides being difficult to spot, it can consume an entire plant quickly if left alone. Today, I picked off 9 of these monsters of varying sizes, some as large as 4 inches long! If their population continues to flourish on my tomato plants, I may have to resort to spraying with Spinosad, but so far, I have been able to spot them, pry them off their foliar buffet and save them for my grandson's chickens - an appropriate punishment for attacking my tomato plant and an apt metaphor for the circle of life.

Ethereal Beauty with a Message

Meandering through the Franklin Park Conservatory's glass-enclosed gardens in Ohio, I loved the combination of plant collections with paintings, collages and Dale Chihuly glass sculptures. There was also a special exhibition of Aurora Robson's works displayed amidst this botanical setting. She is an artist advocate for plastic pollution awareness and uses discarded materials, primarily plastic bottles, excess packaging and junk mail to create ethereal, beautifully vibrant art. The white and clear creation suspended from the ceiling is titled, "Be Like Water" and she used 9,000 clear plastic bottles and 80.000 bottle caps. Her artistry is beautiful to see, but also inspirational to be more diligent about what we use and throw away.

Playing with Food

So many things to see and do at the Second National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa, California and so little time. John, Bruce and I were able to go for two days, but still we had to rush through many exhibits. We lingered a long time, however, at Chef Ray Duey's astounding, magically extraordinary fruit and vegetable sculptures. Can you guess what the red roses are made of? - the lowly potato. His works of art prove you can make a career out of playing with your food.

Tahitian Gardenia: Heat and Humidity Lover!

Years ago, John Bagnasco gave me a Tahitian gardenia (Gardenia taitensis) and I potted it up in a container. Every late spring and late summer it would gamely bear buds, but they always opened up into brownish-beige shriveling and puny wannabes instead of their reputed 3" wide, creamy white, pinwheel-shaped blossoms. This month, while man, beast and most of my garden suffers from the heat and humidity vapors, the Tahitian gardenia has finally come into bloom perfection! Its heavenly-scented flowers are large, creamy white and make a stunning contrast to the glossy, dark green leaves. Although not native to Tahiti, it is one of the few cultivated plants endemic to the highland shores of the South pacific. Whatever its origins, I now know what makes it happiest: heat and humidity.

What's Growing In Our Gardens?