Venus Flytrap Mossarium

It's been awhile since I've posted. It's been a rough week - temperatures above 100 ravaging my fall squashes.

My one solace can be found in the little mossarium I put together for my son. He's fascinated by carnivorous plants so we found him a Venus flytrap. It was not doing well in the little pot so I put this together and it is now thriving. The bottom is a glass pot found in the bathroom section of Cost Plus for $3.99. The top is a glass plate found in the kitchen department for $1.99. The rest in yard gravel washed, activated charcoal, reconstituted moss and Spanish moss that grows freely in our yard.

Mad about trombetta

We're getting a fresh crop of fruit. Last week we had some blossom rot. It was hella hot which may have had something to do with it. I added some calcium as the plant works so hard I thought it might need it. Pretty, though, eh?


I was curious as to what was causing this pattern of destruction on my sunflower leaves. I could not find any bugs anywhere near. The other day I found out - the bushtits - not much bigger than hummingbirds - sit on the stalk and peck away as if it were their own personal salad bar. Cute.


Eggplant is one of the prettiest plants in the garden - big scalloped green leaves with purple fuzz, deadly nightshade flowers and defensive thorns. Made a lovely stir fry the other day with Japanese eggplants and homegrown shiitake mushrooms.