I made a basket for my vanilla orchid with elm sticks and hemp cord and a hanging macrame style thingy to put it on the wall where it will get better light throughout the day.

Invasive but handsome and healthy castor plant.

Bee plant starting to bloom. I knew more binomials when I started my botany degree work than I do now 🤣

I have always wanted a vanilla orchid. Now we have to find out if I can keep it alive. In a few years maybe we will find out if I can get I to bloom, successfully pollinate, and get like $8 worth of vanilla bean off it. 🤣

Arboretum native meadow. Pulled hellllllla weeds and nonnative grasses out of this section yesterday.

Since I’m reposting political horror show content now, here is a palette cleanser. Ceanothus ‘dark star’ (I think)

#yellowsunday

Pio Pico house, January 2025

Little elderly honeybee. She was moving very slowly, probing for nectar on a windy day, so I gave her some honey droplets.

These are not the bees that need saving.

We are on the cusp of garden spam season.

These two colors together in the garden are very satisfying to me.

We have let these non-native, volunteer violas do their thing the last few years and we have several lovely groupings of them amid the hummingbird sage and oregon grape. I like them, even though they are probably a little more invasive than my yard goals prefer.

Finally got some rain, making things feel sprouty and sane for a minute

1, 2 - Baja California Senna grown from seed - Senna purpusii; 3, 4 - Silver Cassia senna native to Australia - Senna artemisioides.

Lil spikeys on eggplant buds and adjacent leaves. Lil spikeys is the science name.

Thinking bout thos beans

In these trying times…cat.