I've never seen this before. A monarch caterpillar making the "j" shape and about to form a chrysalis on the milkweed itself.
Two others...

Winter garden in various stages of growth as of November 28th. A rabbit is nibbling on some of the lettuce, but I think I have enough surpluses to cover the loss. My broccoli all are tilted to the east thanks to the big westerly wind the other day. Most things are growing reasonably well so I should be getting some harvests spread out over the next three or four months. So far, it’s been kohlrabi and herbs and a bit of lettuce, soon arugula and more lettuce then maybe some bok choi. Spinach has been disappointing as it is either too hot, too cold or too wet to germinate well, but there’s still time to plant that.

I still have time for more onions and garlic to get planted. Might try peas next to the fava bean patches not pictured.

That’s all looking great! Good luck in the bunny battle lol.

PlainJane wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 10:21 am That’s all looking great! Good luck in the bunny battle lol.

I went out and raised up and hopefully plugged all the gaps in the netting. We have a number of gray fox that skulk around so maybe they’ll also lend a hand.

Some pots of winter flowers. Hanging basket of alyssum, calendula, violas, and dianthus.
At the far end is a grow bag of lantana, but the plant will suffer damage if there is a frost. Some pots of cheerful looking violas.

Everything coming along nicely @karstopography.

Did all I’m going to do, the rest is up to the weather.

Last month, when much of the country was under the effect of the freezing polar event, I went through extraordinary lengths to save some potted flowering plants. They are blooming beautifully right now. There is alyssum, violas,
amaryllis "Tinkerbell," and flowering prostrate rosemary.

The survivors of the Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve 18°freeze. The lettuce, chicories, garlic and celery came through with the least amount of damage. All but 2 broccoli died and the survivors aren’t so strong looking. The Brussels sprouts did a bit better, but most of those also died. Even my bulbing onions died in spots. Bulb Fennel largely survived but lost some growth layers.

Some of the more marginal looking plants that I left standing after the freeze have all subsequently died and that reassured me I didn’t remove plants that might have recovered.

@karstopography you had quite a bit survive those brutal temperatures. I'm rather surprised.

Fabulous job protecting your plants, karstopography. The survivors look great. The cabbages look mighty!!

I've had a few monarchs that "hatched " in the last couple of days. They came from chrysalides that were formed before Christmas and survived the sub 20 degree polar air that much of the country was having a problem with last month. I don't know how they survived, but they did.

She's a nice looking butterfly that was born yesterday and she's near his broken chrysalis, drying her wings before taking flight.

Today was beautiful so I went to a plant nursery to check out what they had this early in the year. I got a hanging basket of geraniums and a hanging basket of fuchsia. I have never possessed a fuchsia plant. Should be interesting.

The pollinators there were out and about enjoying the flowers.

Spring is showing itself.

Crepe myrtle leafing out: Wild oxalis springing up everywhere: Carolina jessamine attracting bees like crazy: Chinese ground orchids sprouting up with some showing buds: Four large pots of nuns orchids sending up bloomstalks: Grow bag of tulips:

July 5th last year .....

The garden as of February 8th.

Leeks! Not a garden photo as such, but here's the official start of 2023 growing thanks to the generosity of @PlainJane
Taken a few days ago. They're more than twice as tall now.

Direct seeded the various salad greens in this bed pictured the last week in December. Now I’ve got more than I know what to do with, but I’m using as much as I can and giving away whatever I can to whoever will take it.

My 18° surviving fava beans are blooming in a big way. Tasted a fava bean bloom raw and not a fan of the flavor. Beany and sweet, but with a housecleaning product ammonia aftertaste.

Radishes are going strong. So is the celery, fennel, escarole, among others. In spite of the wipeout 18°freeze in December, this season’s winter garden is still giving us more produce than we can use up.

My fava beans also taste sweeter than normal this season and thankfully no weird aftertaste.