Uninvited house guests

Cold snaps mean the bromeliads and other sensitive potted plants come inside. Most years I clear out the spare bedroom but it wasn't an option this time. The pineapples can take up an entire room all on their own.

The pineapples that were on the front porch, moved to the living room for Thanksgiving break.

The ficus can take up a corner all by itself.

Ignore the pile of laundry on the loveseat.

And the ornamental bromeliads go in the back hallway.

These plants spend 9+ months of the year outside, so it's only natural that they have their own symbiotic relationships with other fauna. Unless of course the fauna comes in.

Meet Kermit. Tree frogs usually hang out in the bromeliads all summer, this is the first time one came along for winter. He disappeared before I could relocate him on a warm-ish day. I hope I don't find his dehydrated body somewhere. That's usually what happens to the anoles that come in.

And then there was this:

Good thing I'm friends with an entomologist who specializes in Integrated Pest Management. He identified them as acrobat ants. The pots went back outside. The ants got swept up and tossed outside. Then the pots got several rounds of treatment with some granules, soaked it in with the water hose, and waited.



So far so good.