New and different
Part of the coral honeysuckle vine on my front fence died this summer and has been looking brown and spindly, even reproachful, ever since. Last weekend I spent a couple of hours clipping the dead vines and untwisting them from the wire fence. I don’t know why this usually-hardy plant died, but I look at its death as a chance to plant something new. Because that end of the garden overlooks my neighbor’s driveway, I wanted something evergreen and about 4 or 5 feet tall for screening. I settled on three bamboo muhly grasses. Their feathery, bright-green foliage should provide a pretty backdrop for the garden year-round.
A snowberry clearwing moth, or bumblebee moth, came flying around while I was working. I’d never seen one before, and initially I did mistake it for a large bee. But as I learned on the internet, it’s actually a day-flying sphinx moth, AKA hummingbird moth, AKA hawk moth. Many names for an undercover moth. We’ve seen white-lined sphinx moths (in fact, last summer we captured several caterpillars and raised them to adulthood before releasing them in the garden), but this visitor was new and different.
It was feeding on the ‘Indigo Spires’ salvia and pausing to lay eggs on the living portion of the coral honeysuckle vine, which I didn’t have the heart to tear down. I’ll wait until the eggs hatch—I wonder how long that will take?
Later on, I was driving down Balcones Drive and noticed unusual landscaping in front of the new mansion rumored to have been built by Apprentice runner-up Amy Henry. Eye-catching, in a Dr. Seussian way. I do love the silver ponyfoot cascading over the edge of the metal planting boxes. Very Big Red Sun. I’m not as taken with the green balls, but the leaning yucca adds a fun bit of quirkiness. A little something different among the oaks and hills of Balcones Drive.
What a great photo! Hawkmoths must have a wide home territory — we used to see them in my garden in Northwest Connecticut every summer. They especially favored the Nicotiana alata. We had so many, that when a hummingbird actually showed up one afternoon, it took a minute to realize it was the bird, not the insect. I hadn’t realized Silver Ponyfoot was a native plant — I’ve grown the selection ‘Silver Falls’ in containers, in CT and here in OH. But it looks amazing to see a huge planting instead of just one or two draping out of urn. We’ve had several frosts, but mine still looks good, so I haven’t had the heart to toss it yet.
Thanks, Renee. Yes, they must have a wide range indeed. And I am learning just how many different types of hawk moths there are. —Pam
‘Seussian’ – quite an appropriate description, Pam! Your hawkmoth is a beauty, and your photo is stunningly clear. Next to a creature that size, the salvia flowers are substantial blossoms – makes me want to see a similar Salvia geared to our proportions with a foot-wide flower!
I keep planting ponyfoot and sometimes it lives, sometimes it croaks.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
That moth was a tricky bug to photograph. But sometimes the chase is half the fun. —Pam
Your photography is addictive and I’m hooked – good thing eye candy isn’t fattening.
Thanks, Susan. —Pam
I’ve never seen bumblebee moth before, and I haven’t driven up Balcones in months. Maybe I should get out more.
I had never seen one before either. We live close enough that she might be in your yard tomorrow, so watch out! —Pam