Sunday, October 10, 2021

Banana Bouncing Back


Take a look at our Chinese banana tree. It rebounded just fine after last winter's freezes. Now it's so lush and big we can barely get around it! We vowed to take better care of it this winter but the leaves will inevitably die back, I think. (It's so large I'm not sure how we could cover it all.)


Indoors, one of our Thanksgiving cacti is already blooming away -- at least part of it. The other three all have buds. The one at the top will be the same color as the middle one, and the one in the foreground on the floor will be a sort of salmon pink/orange. Beyond that you can see a smaller plant on the bottom shelf -- that's a rooted cutting sent to me by blog reader Frances last year. It should eventually bloom white.

I'm surprised we have flowers already. Is there such a thing as a Halloween cactus?


Yesterday, Olga got excited at the prospect of a walk, so I thought I'd take her to the cemetery. But no! She was insistent that we walk southward instead, and she took me down the gloomy and somewhat scary Billy Fury Way.

There's more vaccine graffiti on the right. Remember how I wondered earlier if a similar piece was anti-vax? Well, seeing this, it's a definite yes. That's a "No Entry" traffic sign behind the needle. (The piece I pictured in that last post has since been painted over, by the way.)


I have no idea why Olga wanted to take this particular route, but she seemed happy with it, and then we went home.


Finally, I set up the garden cam a week or so ago, and captured more footage of the local fox(es). I apologize in advance for the indelicate footage of the fox relieving itself. What can I say? Nature! There's also a nice daytime shot of one of them, showing off the color of its fur. (I'm unclear whether this is one animal or several. I know there are multiple foxes around, because we hear them quarreling at night.)

My cold is still with me. It's not terrible but it's uncomfortable. I spent most of yesterday morning on the couch reading, and I plan to do so again today.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great to see the fox in the daylight.

Moving with Mitchell said...

It still fascinates me that foxes are so common in your city garden. But it does look like a tropical paradise.

Mary said...

Perhaps you can cover the banana tree with an old sheet whenever a frost/freeze warning goes up.

Mr Fox, like most dogs, is simply marking its territory. :)

Bob said...

Fox Toilet Cams!! You could start a trend.

And that path looks a little iffy, and the name, Billy Fury Way, doesn't help!!

Sharon said...

I love seeing the foxes again. I also like those blooms on the thanksgiving cactus.

Ms. Moon said...

You've created a jungle for the foxes! I bet they love your garden the best of all the gardens around.
Keep resting!

Anonymous said...

I love seeing the foxes there. They must really love your garden so much.
I hope you feel better soon, Steve. Take care there.

ellen abbott said...

sorry to hear you're still laid low by your cold. rest and fluids. dogs know what they want. Minnie has been wanting to go down the road at the end of our street for a while now but it's always too late in the day by the time it's cool enough for an extended walk but last night I let her lead me along. and you might think Billy Fury Way is scary but it looks interesting to me though I suppose scary people with no good in mind could be easily hidden.

37paddington said...

Billy Fury Way does look a bit scary. But your plant life continues to thrive, clearly well tended.

Red said...

I must take a look at my Christmas cactus to see if it has buds.

Margaret said...

I've never seen a fox in the wild, so I find it very interesting.

Edna B said...

Your fox is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. My cactus plants blossom on and off throughout the year. That's an adorable photo of Olga on the walk. Glad to hear you're getting lots of rest for your cold. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

Kelly said...

How fun that you have a "garden cam"! (we call that a game cam around here) Lovely to see the fox in the daylight. Red foxes are so pretty.

Good for Olga for making it clear where she wanted to walk. Indulge her!

Allison said...

Olga rules! You will walk where she wants to walk. Resistance is futile.

The Padre said...

She Is So Damn Cutie - What A Look - Heal On Brother Reed

Cheers

Janie Junebug said...

Olga looks so sweet. She is a good girl. I know it. Do the foxes do any damage to the garden, or do they limit themselves to arguing and fertilizing?

Love,
Janie

Steve Reed said...

It's a really beautiful color, isn't it?!

Steve Reed said...

They really are all over the place in London.

Steve Reed said...

A sheet might work, and we have king-sized sheets so they should be big enough.

Steve Reed said...

Billy Fury was an early rock n' roll singer, kind of the British Elvis. He recorded at the old Decca records studios near that path -- hence the name.

Steve Reed said...

The Thanksgiving cacti never fail to impress.

Steve Reed said...

It really IS very jungly back there -- our wilderness zone!

Steve Reed said...

I think they'd love it more if we didn't have the dog! She still sends them fleeing every now and then.

Steve Reed said...

Olga has become more and more certain about what she wants as she gets older. She's downright obstinate.

Steve Reed said...

We haven't had to do much lately -- the garden pretty much takes care of itself at this time of year.

Steve Reed said...

I bet it does! If not yet, then soon.

Steve Reed said...

Come to London! They're all over the place! We used to have one near our house in Florida that lived in a culvert beneath a driveway.

Steve Reed said...

You must have a different type of cactus -- or maybe a few different types? Ours always bloom in October and November, and then that's it until the following fall.

Steve Reed said...

(Our Thanksgiving cactuses, I mean. We have a couple of other regular cacti that sometimes bloom in the spring.)

Steve Reed said...

I'm sure it's marketed as a "game cam," but since we're not hunting anything it's a "garden cam." :)

Steve Reed said...

It's true! She's a tyrant!

Steve Reed said...

That's the "Oh-God-ANOTHER-picture?" look.

Steve Reed said...

They don't do nearly as much damage as the squirrels. The foxes smell a bit pungent but they don't hurt the plants.

CW said...

We had a fox visit our deck the other night. The next door neighbor has a closed circuit camera installed on his deck and he happened to be sitting out there watching the trains run by below when he spotted the fox coming down our back stairs. He swung the camera around and caught it as it was moving around our garden railroad. It apparently came onto the deck to feed out of the cat's food dish.