Finally got pictures....

 It is going to be a scorcher this week. It was 95 today and is going to increase all the way to 101 by Friday. The garden survived and actually.... the tomatillos in the west bed are in full freaking bloom and Manny is still on duty.

Now you see him, now you don't. I discovered that they can change their color to mimic their surroundings, which is why he is that tan color to match the browning leaves and sometimes looks a bit green. I also got a video of him shimmying when the wind picked up and ruffled the leaves. Another form of mimicry to look like one of the leaves. Amazing stuff!

The red hump caterpillars are still decimating the trees. I noticed all the pellets on the ground and looked up to see that branch almost completely naked. Wow. Wonder if I should sweep up some of the droppings for fertilizer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What it looked like around 1:45 today when it was 93. I watered the west bed last night but not the raised bed or the south bed because they were looking damp still. So I watered a bit in the heat of the day just so they had it overnight to soak up.

And all better once the sun went down. Look at all those flowers on that bush! I also discovered that tomatillos are indeterminate which means they will keep growing and flowering and fruiting until they run out of energy or it gets too cold. It is possible that the 15 or 16 husks I'm seeing may not be pollinated. I also tried to get a picture or a video of a bee that was actually hovering around that bush in the evening. Yay!

Hard to see but there's four smaller ones on this bush and that one up at the top may well be actual fruit. I asked in the garden group and two people (one is the resident garden expert) has said they fill the husk as they grow. YAY!

I dug my finger into the soil to check for moisture and it was very, very warm and barely moist so that's why I watered in the  middle of the day. The poblano has another fruit on it yay!  I really wish I could mulch under the plants in that bed, it would make such a difference in their health.

Will try and remember my phone in the next few days but I doubt anything dramatic will be happening other than wilting and watering. You can barely see the line of clouds to the south horizon, which is what is causing our current heat spike, tropical depression or something.

And I leave you with Manny the dancing Mantid.