The Garden Thread - August, 2025

August 1, 2025 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[FamiliarFace]

Hello! Lots going on here the last few days. Most of it has had nothing to do with gardening in any fashion.

Number 2 son and his wonderful girlfriend returned from their trip to a few places in Europe. We kept their cat here, although she really didn’t like being here. Or maybe she doesn’t like me. Anyway, we all have survived the ordeal with few scratches (ok, I endured 3 of those over the days).

We rarely get to see our kids for long. That proved the case this time, too, BUT we did spend about 10 meaningful hours together, hearing about their trip and whatever adventures they took on. We are so glad that they had a wonderful time! They learned a lot about history of the places they went, and the art and architecture, the foods, and the culture of the peoples. They had a really good time. It made it worth whatever we did back here in their absence.

As a treat, I took their car to the car wash yesterday, in part because one of the pine trees that he parked under produced sap that smeared in their front and back windows. Then I felt compelled to vacuum the mats and seats. Then I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if I could get the dashboard a bit cleaner? It was very dusty. Before I realized it, I had detailed their interior completely! I guess I was in the groove, and didn’t want to stop until I would’ve been comfortable in it. It didn’t feel like work. I was a little worried that they would feel I overstepped my bounds, but they were actually TRULY surprised and very grateful!

They bought us lunch! That was a lovely thank you, BESIDES all the gifts they brought for us from their travels.

The weather today was exceptionally beautiful. Temps were lovely with a steady breeze.

After the kids left (with some shishitos as a parting gift), I noticed that another one of my potato planters looked ready to harvest. 5 baby red potatoes were planted around Mother’s Day, and today I dug up 25. Score!

[Pollard]

This is an auto air conditioning leak detection kit. Dye that gets injected into AC system, a UV light and yellow tinted glasses to see the dye better.

I wonder if yellow tinted glasses would help make tomato hornworms show up better under a UV light?

Click pic for Youtube Short video of hornworm munching under UV light

[MomwithHope]

Last year we had no worms, this year just a few. Got 4 off a bush in a big pot on the patio. 3 out of 9 plants down in the garden had a little damage but no worms, I had seen the birds last week leaving the garden, they eat them. I believe their season is over.