There's a snake in my boot!

Actually there's a frog in my tub! Tub of plants, that is; not my bathtub. This little guy pictured here has been hiding out in the shady, cool tub of water that happens to be holding some of my experimental plants. I was curious about what kind of frog it is. Florida has lots of native frogs but also is now home to an invasive frog, the Cuban tree frog Osteopilus septentrionalis. And you thought there were enough Cubans in Florida! Supposedly this species has been in Florida since the 1920s; individuals probably arrived as stowaways on ships. How do I know it is a Cuban tree frog? There is a definitive test: touch the top of the frog's head and feel if the skin moves when you push it around (you can test this on your own head; your skin should move). If the skin does not move, it is a Cuban tree frog. This frog had skin well attached to its head, and it felt pretty weird to touch.

The battle continues

My tactic to attack the aphids was simple. Start by smashing between my fingers as many aphids as possible, then bring in reinforcements in the form of ladybugs. About a week ago, I released ladybugs onto the plants to eat the aphids. It was obvious that they were doing their job; I got to watch as aphids crawled away when the big bad ladybug appeared on their leaf. Of course a few ladybugs flew away, but the majority stayed on the leaves or the base of the plants where I put them. A week later, one ladybug remains. I don't know why that one decided to stay when all the others took off. It is possible that ants who were tending the aphids attacked most of the ladybugs and this one has just been lucky. I caught two ladybugs mating, so it would be great if there were ladybug larvae hanging around! Unfortunately, the aphids are coming back. Yesterday I covered all the plants in soapy water after removing as many aphids as possible. Soap supposedly repels the aphids, but I'll have to do another aphid inventory to see if this works...