Re: hummingbirds NOW Tomato Hornworms

I'm so glad I don't live up north any more. We moved south in 1981, after a
couple of the worst blizzards and cold spells in the NYC/No. NJ area. I
haven't been back since.

It was 82 when I got home after teaching a landscape design class this
afternoon. The So. Leopard frogs are singing, and crickets, too. Most of the
birds that visited the waterfall on the pond did so in pairs. I'm enjoying it,
but also remembering 1992?when it was in the 80's for a week before we got a
foot of snow. gale force winds and 8 degrees. I think that was on the 13th.

Daryl
Zone 7a/Georgia
Gardening on Heavy Clay

----- Original Message -----
From: "Maria Olshin" <marolsh@ptd.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] hummingbirds NOW Tomato Hornworms


> Tomato hornworms are members of the Sphingidae family, as are the
> clearwing Sphinx moths that look so much like hummers. Manduca
> quinquemaculata,  the Tomato Hornworm, is not a clearwing moth, and
> grows up to be the Five-spotted Hawkmoth.
>
> When I had a large buddleia in bloom, it was covered with the little
> flying lobsters, as well as many other butterflies and insects. Alas,
> buddleia is marginally hardy here, and I have seen few sphinx moths in
> the last couple of years. The hummers always come back but since the
> elevation here is nearly 2000 feet, they first show up in May, and
> don't settle in until around Memorial Day.
>
> Mud season is well under way here, and last week's three inches of snow
> is disappearing fast. There was very little snow this season; my
> driveway was plowed only three times, although there was plenty of
> rain. The lake is still low and there won't be much snowmelt this
> spring. This morning I saw several skeins of Canada geese flying
> northward, and even though the lake is still 95% iced-over, there was a
> hardy soul out in a canoe, exploring the edges.
>
> Maria in NE PA, zone 5b
>
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