Two Moths Fucking and a Shiraz-Viognier

I saw these two little lovers outside our front door this morning. Isn't the green amazing? It really stood out against the brick. I tried to identify them, but no luck.

I tried a Shiraz-Viognier blend last night. So for me, each wine variety has a personality. Shiraz is a serious, big, bold wine, with an undercurrent of fruit and fun. So is Zinfandel, if made well, even juicier, a little less bold. Cabernet Sauvignon is also big and bold, but with less of a fun side. Pinot Noir is serious, but with a subtler side, refined, sexy. Angelina Jolie. Cabernet is maybe a little more like Condoleeza Rice. I respect it, but wouldn't necessarily want to sleep with it.

I like Shiraz quite a bit, and can't come up with a movie star to describe it. The Marilyn Merlot thing is very wrong. She's not a Merlot. Maybe she's a Shiraz. Or Christina Hendricks / Joan Harris from Mad Men. She's a Shiraz. When I think of Merlot, I think of Rosie O'Donnell. There's more to say here. Maybe more on this later. Comments welcome.

So when you take a Shiraz and blend it with Viognier, what's that do to the personality of the wine? Here's what we tried:

Terlato-Chapoutier Shiraz/Viognier

http://www.terlatowines.com/wines/australia/domaine_tc/product.asp?Id=625

I have to say, I did quite enjoy what the Viogner did. The nose was fruitier, the flavors a little softer, maybe a little diluted from a typical Shiraz, more softly fruity, more apricot than black cherry. I still love the full-strength Shiraz, but this was a nice departure. Stood up to red meat just fine.

Color: Ruby red.

Aroma: Light Fruit / Apricot

Initial Flavor: Balanced mouthfeel.

Finish: Lingering, Gentle Tannin. Nice.

Overall Impression: Good-Good wine.

Again, scale is [Crap, Okay, Good, Good-Good, Outstanding, Nectar of Bacchus].

Explosions

There's pressure built up from the heat and dryness, and it's released with a good, blessed, drenching rain. It's been nice the last few days.

Color Explosion!

The rain has caused the Texas Rangers (Leucophyllum frutescens) to explode in color. Look at the blossoms littering the ground below the shrub! They look like this all over the city. I've had these shrubs at the last two places I've lived, and they're beautiful and really well suited to the climate here.

The other explosion that's been happening in the garden is the dreaded Silverleaf Whitefly. They started showing up around mid to late May, and now they're really thick on the squashes, collards, kale, and to a lesser extent, the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. These are some of the toughest pests to deal with.

How do you know you have them?

1) The veins on your squash plants take on a silvery color, which soon takes over the leaves. Stems also become lighter, eventually becoming almost white. This is the signature of silverleaf whiteflies.

Severe Silverleaf Whitefly Damage On Squash Plant

2) When you brush the leaves of your plants, a cloud of white insects flutters around

3) Inspection of the underside of leaves shows the larval stage. These guys are immobile, and are the ones that cause the real damage by sucking plant juices and excreting the silvering toxin.

Whitefly larva on underside of eggplant leaf

Zoom In Showing Whitefly (Bottom Right Center) And Larvae

I've been exploring ways to control them - lately, I've been using a mix of pyrethrins and neem oil, coupled in with some liquid seaweed extract for the health of the plants. This is an organic approach, and requires spraying frequently - weekly, even - but I haven't been able to keep up lately. I read recently that sprays of mild dish soap and water are effective. I've been exploring systemics (oh, no - the dreaded word for organic gardeners!) but I'm not sure I want to go there yet. Yellow insect traps (whiteflies love yellow) are another option. I'm also thinking about just letting the garden go dormant for the summer, maybe Mid May - Late August. Any thoughts out there?