Posts tagged with "insects":

Tomato hornworms are very large caterpillars that can grow up to four inches long. Adult caterpillars are bright green with white stripes and dark eye-like spots on each section of their abdomens. Coloration on young caterpillars is typically lighter but with similar patterns. They’re fairly easy to identify but not always easy to find as they blend in with the foliage of their favorite food, the tomato plants in our gardens. You’ll likely find evidence of tomato hornworms in the form of dark green or...

I consider myself lucky to live in a part of the world that makes gardening immensely rewarding without having to work very hard. Western Sonoma County northern California has a relatively short, mild winter, a warm summer moderated by proximity to the coast, and a long autumn which extends the harvest time of heat-loving crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, melons and peppers. My husband and I always plant vegetables in the part of the back yard that has a seasonal creek run through it in the winter...

Last Saturday I was sitting on the back patio reading. Next to me were six Riviera Mix lobelia plants that I had started indoors, blooming nicely. While flipping through the pages of my book, I heard a distinct hummingbird-like sound, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bumble bee-shaped insect hovering. Upon getting a closer look, the insect was a good distance from the flowers and was feeding by way of a long proboscis. The insect’s wings were beating fast, moving similarly to the manner of a...