Playing "I Spy" in the garden

There were tell-tale signs in the garden this morning..

    I learned last year when I saw my tomato plants, 

                   minus their leaves like this, 

                what I needed to be looking for ...

  

They are sneeky little things - 
well, actually not SO little, but 
you have to really look to see them!
They are good at camouflage.
I read that if you go out at night with a florescent light,
you can spot them more easily. According to Wikipedia,
 "Using an ultraviolet light source of 375 nm and viewed behind a blue-blocking 
filter (yellow or amber filter), a tomato hornworm fluoresces in bright green 
while a tomato leaf appears deep red/amber.

When you see the leaves like this, you need to go on the hunt for these caterpillars.
They are voracious eaters and they'll strip your stalks clean! 
Ask me how I know! (see post from last year!)
Now that the weather has gotten cooler, I'm hoping to get a new crop
of tomatoes before the 1st frost in Central Texas.

I SPY! 
Yes, that's YOU I'm looking at!

In my opinion, 

the only good tomato hornworm 

is DEAD ONE!

(no, I didn't take a picture of the smushed ones!)

It's "Fall Ya'll"!!

It must be September! 
Every year about this time I walk out in the garden trying to remember where I planted them. These red lilies never fail to surprise me!

It must be my forgetful age ... I'm always surprised by Joy!

Growing up, my dad called these 

"Schoolhouse Lilies" 

because they always appear 

in September.

The bulb is extremely hardy, 

surviving even our hot, 

sometimes dry summers. 

But after the 1st rains begin 

in the fall, they come back 

year after year. 

These particular bulbs came from 

my Dad's yard that I dug up after he died. 

I feel a special bond with him every time they bloom. 

This pretty, white coral vine started blooming 

several weeks ago and gets showier by the day!

I planted it last fall and babied it through the winter, 

covering over the root ball with a bucket 

every time we got a hard freeze. 

It was slow to grow but I don't mind a bit. 

It's so nice to have something new blooming 

after the heat of summer has passed and 

other summer flowers are starting to fade.

These little cuties we always called "Rain Lilies"

The leaves have been growing in my vegetable garden all year - 

looking like a garlic plant.

But today when I went out to look, the flowers had appeared!

How did I miss seeing them before now?

And last, but certainly not least, 

is my dwarf Barbados Cherry!

It has started blooming Again! 

I looked it up and found out 

that it blooms, not only in the Spring, 

but again in the Fall!!

A BONUS BUSH!!

In the Central part of Texas, 

we may not have the oranges and golds 

of our northern neighbors, 

when we think of a "Fall Garden" 

but September brings a flush of new blooms

and they signal "Autumn is Coming" to Me!