Critters and Cubes
It was an exciting day for me yesterday for two reasons: I found a critter in the garden that I've never seen up-close before, and I finished a few more of my "cube" creations. I'll start the post with critters...
...beginning with perennial favorite Carolina mantis. This one has been hanging out in my potted walking stick bamboo (Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda) for a couple of weeks. I love when insects like this stay in the same place for weeks -- they almost become friends and I look for them every time I walk the garden. (If you imagine the multitude of bamboo leaf branches are the mantis legs, it becomes much more of a monster!)
This is the time of year when the Katydids add an ambience to the garden...
...their "singing" makes me feel good!
Okay, now on to the new critter, a surprise that made my day:
What is it?
It's a gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor), and it was resting on one of my elephant ear (Colocasia) leaves!
Despite the name, gray treefrogs are often green.
I was surprised at this one's choice of hiding spot, as it seemed quite conspicuous:
On second thought though, the dappled sunlight on the leaves...
...may have provided more camouflage than I thought.
I think my camera was starting to annoy him (her?) but this species has a more toad-like face than other frogs, and toads always look annoyed to me, so maybe it was just keeping an eye on me.
And now on to the new cubes!
Every time I add more to the "herd" they get even more attractive! The red and "brown mustard" ones are new, in case you haven't seen these before.
(The blue one is up on the deck now. Is it lonely?)
Like this chair? I found a pair of them at a flea market earlier this summer -- $40 for the pair was a fair price I thought.
I know I keep saying this, but more info coming soon about these stools/tables!
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OK, many things to celebrate here. The frog is amazing, what a wonderful visitor to have. The cubes - amazing. Wow. Have you decided to start selling them? LOVE.
Great photos of all your friends! I hope the frog is there to stay - what an asset to a garden. I'm more than a little envious... Love your cubes too. The table reminds me of my kid's Rubik's cube. He carries one with him wherever he goes. His record solving speed is a little over 13 seconds. I bet he would love a Rubik's table! In case you start making them to sell, I mean... ;)
I think the tree frog might be ticked summer is really over. I've seen tree frogs turn blue to match the trim on my parent's house many years ago.
Love the grumpy frog (you could start a new internet meme, replace grumpy cat) and LOVE the cubes. They are fabulous. Wish you were closer and I'd custom order a few.
You find the coolest things in your garden. I have to believe we have them, too - I just have to pay more attention! And your cubes are awesome - you need an Etsy shop!
Your macro shots are spectacular, and I do fancy having a blue cube on my porch next to the swing.
Your cubes are procreating! How cool is that. Still waiting for you to start selling them on your blog :-).
I've only seen our native carolina mantis once in 15 years of gardening. Chinese mantids are very common, and people seem to think they're beneficial but they're much larger than the native species and will eat just about everything, including butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds.
DC: I've never seen a single Chinese mantis in my garden here in St. Louis -- it's always been Carolina (thankfully).