Spiders and me
It's spiders season and I hate hate hate spiders. I know spiders are good bugs but they just freak me out. Fall is the season when spiders come out to mate and die. If you look around the house and your garden, you'll begin to see more spider webs and a big fat spider will hang in the middle of the web.
I try to ignore them as long as they don't startle me. The smaller house spiders don't scare me as much but those that hang around in the garden are big! Usually I leave the small spiders alone because they are good bugs for the garden, but when Fall comes, the big ones come out to haunt me. Don't you hate it when you run into spider webs?
I was doing some gardening work on the deck and my husband pointed out to me that my 'favorite' creature is back! I was not happy when I saw it, I knew spider season is back. I literally had goosebumps. I'm beginning to think I have a condition called Arachnophobia. My husband tells me the only way to conquer the fear is to face the fear, so he said maybe I should just let the spider crawl up my arm. (YEAH RIGHT!!)
Here's a picture of it hanging in mid-air. No I was not standing as close as you think, I was brave enough to take this picture because I had a long zoom lens on my camera.
At the beginning of the season I used this bug spray around my deck and it seems to be doing a good job. At least this was the only spider I've seen so far, it was worst last year.
Don't make fun of me but I have these spider traps inside the house. :-)
Deadheading – The night blooming Cereus style
I've blogged about the Night Blooming Cerus before and I just couldn't stop talking about it because it's such a cool plant. It's part of the cactus family. When you see this awkward plant, you would think twice about getting it but don't let it fool you. When you see it in bloom, it will take your breath away.
This is not the kind of plant you find in the nurseries, people who have this plant probably got the original cutting from a friend or family (I got the cutting from my Uncle in CA). This odd plant only blooms in the evening, and only ONE evening. Since the flowers only last a few hours, it literally opens right before your eyes. It's sometimes called 'Queen of the Night'. I can't believe people make perfumes out of this plant! OK I promise this is the last post about this plant, I promise! 
Barbara from Garden Gone Wild has a blog post about this too-Night Magic.
Here are some pictures of the spent flowers after a night of blooming.
Articles about succulents
Here are some interesting articles I read about succulents. Succulents and cactus are becoming more popular!
Five tips for gardening with succulents
Succulent suggestions abound in beautiful book
Cactus and succulent container gardens
Creating cactus garden dioramas in containers
Anna Goeser of Pot-ted creates adorable succulents container arrangments with miniature cactuses, succulents, rocks, glass, and toys. Also check out the containers on Pot-ted's site, they're unique and some of them are affordable.
