October 2026
October 1, 2026
Another month has passed and we are now 100% positive that our 30 gorgeous pipevine plants will have to be destroyed. One of the plants produced buds that opened into this giant calico flower. With certainty we can identify this as the flower of the Aristolochia littoralis/elegans pipevine plant. We knew it was a “Dead End” plant for our local pipevine butterflies, but we didn’t know exactly which species it was until we saw the flower. Note: In earlier entries, I explained that we bought these huge, healthy plants thinking they were Wooly Pipevine, or Aristolochia tomentosa, which is acceptable for our local butterflies.
October 7, 2026
We finally did it! We cut the exotic plants and spread them on the ground to allow them time to reduce in mass before placing them in a garbage bag for disposal. While they were on the ground, Luis drove over them with the tractor and the odor they exuded was strong and overwhelming. We read that because of their toxicity, no plant parts should be composed, buried, or burned. Now we understand why! This failed experience has made me so sad. What a waste of money, time, water, and energy over the last few months. We now have to remove the root balls and destroy them, too. Green shoots are already sprouting from the remaining stem stubs!
October 10, 2026
It is worrisome, that we have had fewer mason bees using our tunnel habitats this year. The photos above show the only two cells that have been used to build nest chambers. We did add a large stack of logs that have holes drilled in them, and I know a few of those have nests, but there should be more! We are doing the following things to give them the best habitat possible:
We provide a dense planting of native plants with spring to fall blooming flowers.
We provide natural- and constructed-nesting areas with replaceable nesting materials.
Our native bees don’t have much competition from non-native bees.
We do not use pesticides.
Due to the drought we have experienced, we have not added a wet area of clay-rich mud for nest construction. I think we need to add this to the garden in 2027.
We never know exactly how or why something other than pollinators will be attracted to our garden. This Sunday morning, as I walked around to check the bird feeders, I found a very scarred young cat hiding in an old pot. I think she has been purposefully relocated as she acts scarred, not feral. The dead leaves inside the jug made a nice bed. My husband and I believe in T-N-R (Trap-Neuter-Return) and we have already provided this for 7 cats. I had hoped to help this juvenile, but she disappeared when I went to get the carrier.
I hope someone will adopt her or provide T-N-R for her if she becomes part of a stray cat community. Reminder, if you see a cat with a left ear that is ear-tipped, they have been spayed/neutered and released.
October 13, 2026
Until recently, I had never purchased or propagated white-flowered native plants like the salvia Greggi and lantana pictured. I love color! The rooms in our home are colorful, and I strive for a colorful garden filled with yellow-, red-, blue-, and pink-flowering perennials. However, over the last five years, I have incorporated a large collection of white-flowered plants because they are so important for nocturnal pollinators. If you would like to attract more beetles (fireflies) and moths (sphinx and luna), get rid of as much artificial light as safely possible. Remember, security lights can be motion-activated leaving your garden dark the majority of the night. Darkness is important for your nocturnal pollinators which are using their low-light vision to find flowers that are reflecting moonlight. Thus, our newly acquired interest in white flowering-plants.
This tub of sweet basil was given to me by my friend Kim D. She is a prolific gardener with one of the healthiest and most productive vegetable and herb gardens I’ve ever seen. I’ve never raised this much basil at one time, so it is nice to have a friend who keeps me supplied. (This is the second time in two months that she has given me this much!) I use it to make pesto with varying nuts – almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pinons. I’m thankful that pesto freezes so well so we can enjoy basil year-round. In case you don’t need all the basil you produce, it is a nitrogen-rich plant that can be used in compost piles and earthworm bins. It contains 3% to 4% nitrogen and the plant itself is about 90% water, so it breaks down quickly.
October 16 2026
Yes, we now have white Turk’s cap, too. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center notes that “it is likely a recessive genetic mutation in the pigment”. Most gardeners I’ve talked to agree that pollinators are more attracted to the red flowers, but I need to put a camera on the white ones to see how much activity there is at night!
We plant Hill Country Asters or Texas Asters so we can enjoy them this time of year (Symphyotrichum eulae). These hardy, drought-tolerant plants bloom from September until the first freeze, but they are at their most magnificent the end of October. They make me think of Halloween and pumpkin pie. These asters have aromatic foliage that deer don’t choose as a first course if there is something available that they like better. After the first freeze, we will thin these plants and make about 30 new pots for our 2027 Reclamation Garden.
Some of our late spring cosmos plants are still blooming. We also have a few plants that emerged from seeds in early summer, and they are still producing nectar for our pollinators. We will leave the seed pods on all these late bloomers so birds will have access to supplemental food and wind can disperse some of the seeds. In the spring, we look for volunteer seedlings to transplant to desired locations.
Every year before Halloween, we cut back all of our non-native milkweed plants. This year, there were sixteen Queen caterpillars on the plants we were getting ready to cut. We relocated them to an aquarium and supplied them with fresh native milkweed stems every day. In this picture you can see the chrysalises they formed hanging from the lid and numerous newly emerged butterflies. Fifteen of the caterpillars survived to become Queen butterflies. It was amazing to be part of this process in such a hands-on way. Normally in our gardens, caterpillars go on walk-about, find a place to form their chrysalis, and we have no knowledge of when they emerge ... which is the way it should be.
I ended my September Journal with an entry about the checkered garter snake that lives in our garden. I have photographic proof that he found our demonstration earthworm bin! I caught him making himself at home inside; talk about an all-you-can-eat buffet! You can see part of his body in the photo above, but I like the fact that the “No Entry” sign is also visible. I don’t think he cares! Notice how pointed his tail is. He is not harmful to humans in anyway. Garter snakes do not have fangs. A bite from their grooved teeth would be painful, but not deadly; however, we do not pick up snakes of any kind.
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