It's a White Marked Tussock moth. I figured it was some type of tussock moth. It turns into a drab moth but the caterpillar is so cool. That bush that took over is a Bush Clover (Lespedeza thunbergii). I got it as a little stick at a plant swap 2 years ago. The thing got huge! It was a much more manageable size last year. It had even been eaten almost to the ground by the deer twice earlier this season so I'm really surprised that it got so big. It does attract lots of butterflies and bees and it stays in bloom for a fairly long time. I just wish it wasn't so big. It dies to the ground over the winter. I'm going to see if I can dig any up once it dies back.

Good Morning Annette, I just love these pictures! I think you did a terrific job naming them. Seems correct to me. I love the Oxeye Daisies. Daisies are among my favorite flowers. They were in my 1st bridle bouquet a l-o-n-g time ago. :) The Prairie Oxeyes are short little daisies and have tiny blooms, but lovely in their own right. I saw them in the Carolina mountains when we drove the scenic route one time. They were taller like yours. They just light up the forests with their friendly faces. Lupines are Mother's favorite flower, as you know. They grew all over the arid foothills of the Santa Margarita Mts above our home in South Calif. There were Indian paintbrush, Shooting Stars, Mission Bells, yellow Johnny-Jump-Ups, Calif. Poppies, Red Sage (red native to So. Cal and N. Mexico) and Red Monkey Flowers, to name a few. The Yellow Monkey Flowers grew in the canyon with the tall ferns and Miner's Lettuce and Johnny-Jump-ups. The Shooting Stars grew at the base of the hills just at the edge of the Live Oaks near the canyon floor. I cannot recall all the flower's names. We kids called the Red Monkey flower Monkey's Blood flowers - we had all sorts of pet names names for the wildflowers. The Shooting Stars where we lived looked like a pretty lilac flower with a Bumblebee getting nectar, so I called them Bumblebee flowers. Your pictures brings back fond memories of my childhood home. Mother will enjoy looking at your photos. Mother's entire family were wildlife and wildflower enthusiasts, as well as Rock Hounds. We would ALL go for treks up on the hills every spring. Grannie and her elder sisters and their families and all of us would hike up the hills taking only a little sandwich and a canteen of water. The older ladies all carried walking sticks or canes, and God help anyone who "accidentally" picked one of those pretty flowers. You would get a sharp thump for breaking "The Family Rules". I don't know how those old English ladies managed those steep and rocky trails (They looked like they could be sisters of Queen Elizabeth, especially my grannie). They would not allow anyone to help them either. "I can do it myself, thank you very much!", with a dour face that meant business. The incline was very steep, having to climb on hands and feet part of the way to get up to the trail. Grannie usually wore jeans, but her sisters usually wore light cotton dresses. They all wore big straw hats, tied securely under their chins. Cotton gardening gloves were also part of their hiking ensemble. You had to be on the lookout for rattlers, especially around the granite boulders where they liked to hide during the heat of the day. The trail was made by rabbits and other wild creatures, but used by the family, especially us kids...my Grand Aunt lived on top of the mountain and a few cousins and we lived in the canyon, so that was how we went up to visit her. It took 3/4 of an hour to climb to the top. (It would take me a day to do it now!) It was a narrow little trail, that sometimes zigzagged a lot, but we never stepped off of it or took a shortcut. That was against the The Family Rules. ---------------------------- I got sidetracked....sorry. The Common Camas is sure a beautiful flower! My goodness! Not so common looking though is it? The Death Camas - I remember those! Oh, and those Columbines! What a beautiful orangey color! They are their best in the wild, aren't they? Look how tall and lush. That little wild rose looks much like the one in my meadow, except it is pink. These here are thornless - has a few tiny prickles, but not anything that hurts to touch or grab you when you walk by them. Sweet little rose in every way. I so enjoyed your trek out into the wilds. Do you ever go out to pick the wild blackberries in July-August? Those in the piney forests taste so good to me. Of course, you do have to watch out for the bears who also happen to like them. But we never had any trouble with them. Those are the biggest, juiciest, most delectable blackberries. Just wondering if they grow there. Surely they do. Thanks Annette. ~Annie

Herman, It has been a very hot, dry summer here. Very few rainy days. I don't think it was rain that caused the spliting. In fact, if I didn't water it regularly it wilted. These didn't just crack the second one split right in half. The first one had dried fibers in the center like sometimes you see at the eye end. The flavor wasn't bad. They took a long time to ripen. We will both have to wait a year or so and see what they produce when they mature. I'm making note of the name and will so label it until someone disputes it. Thanks and Happy figging, Peg

Good shots. That helicoptor must have been pretty close. I love the second picture. Linda