The Infomaniac Garden Photos Event 2023

 To those who made it through the Terrifying Triffidery pre-show relatively unscathed* - and to those who sensibly avoided it - welcome to the 13th annual Infomaniac Garden Photos Event!

 This year the totally non-binding and entirely voluntary theme is wildlife and we have quite a few creepy-crawlies in amongst the foliage and flora for you to cast your eyes upon - as well as one or two rather larger specimens! 

 But before we begin, a big thank you to everyone who has submitted photos - and to those who have yet to do so but will do in the next few days (there's bound to be at least one - maybe two?) - without you, there would be no Garden Photos Event. 

 And big thanks also to The Very Mistress for allowing me to continue with the GPE in her stead.

 Speaking of, the first garden photo that was submitted this year - which does include wildlife - was from The Very Mistress herself: 

 

 And here's what she had to say about it:

 

Dear Mr. DeVice,

 

Before you say anything, yes I know that my entry last year was a duck. Deal with it! This is a DIFFERENT duck.

 

This female mallard is cooling off in my back garden on a hot summer's day in Ontario, Canada.

 

I expect you'll complain that there are no plants or flowers in the photo. Look more closely. There's a dandelion in the background!

 

I encourage others to provide fresh, clean water for the critters in their gardens. They need it, and they appreciate it.

 

Lord love a duck!

 

Hugs,

The Mistress xooo

 

 There was only mild complaining.  Barely even a whine.  And, disappointingly, no actual wine.

☙❧

 

 With the thanks - and the duck - out of the way, it's time to examine the Terrifying Triffidery and reveal who sent in what.  If you haven't yet had chance to peruse the various triffids and would like to hazard a guess at what they were propagated from and who sent them in, I'd advise you to scroll no further and click here.

 

 All done?  Guesses made?  Excellent!  Here are the triffids and their photographers:

 

 

 Triffids #1, 5, 6 & 12 were photographed at a safe distance by Ms Scarlet:

I'm not exactly sure what the "long-eared owl" really is other than some type of seed pod, but Ms Scarlet stuck to a theme and provided eerie & atmospheric shots of a variety of seeds.

 

 T #2, 4, 7 & 9 by Melanie Reynolds:

From Mels herself: "Both mushrooms showed up in my wood chip pile this fall. The crab spider was on one of the allium bulbs waiting for a meal. It's lucky it didn't choose the same allium globe that this flying beast preferred mere inches away: A Gold Digger Wasp, which is actually a pollinator and not an aggressive human harasser. It's roughly 2in (5cm) long!"

 

 T #3, the Bat Monster, by Jon:

Jon's reveal: "The "Hideous Bat-Monster" is actually Salvia 'Love & Wishes' [poss. hybrid of S. buchanii and S. splendens].

 

 T #8 & 11 by me:

My bathroom Phalaenopsis orchid masqueraded as an alien from the abyss, while a passionflower on my green gate waved one of its stigmas in front of Camera suggestively.

 

 T #10 by Maddie:

"Here is my Terrifying Triffid picture. The triffid in question is actually one of the seed pods from the Datura 'Ballerina'. Once the blooms are done, a few of the stems where the bloom was will produce a seed pod. Trust me, it's not one of my balls with an infection!!!!!!!"

 

 and T #13 by Dinah (although, Dinah didn't send it in, I nabbed it from her blog):

 A footwear hatecrime of this magnitude can only warrant an equally severe response, surely? :

 

 

Well done to everyone who guessed or deduced correctly.  As you all know by now, there are no prizes because the Infomaniac Garden Photoes Event is NOT a competition! 

 

* I'm sorry if Gavin-the-Gardener wasn't up to much cop keeping you safe.  I had him up all night strangling my triffid which I'd inadvertantly allowed to escape.  Fortunately it made a beeline for Gavin's room (aka, the garden shed) where Gav managed to keep it contained despite much thrashing and flailing.  He also had to contend with his own rather more monstrous triffid (I didn't realise he'd grown one of his own, the daft boy), so he had both hands full!  Anyway, he eventually managed to subdue them and is sleeping it off now still covered in triffid gunk.

☙❧

 Oh, before we move on to the next GPE post, I have an announcement to make:

 

 Due to extenuating circumstances, dear Savvy has had to bow out this year.  So, like last year, I scoured the last 12 months of her blog to see if I could find any house plants lurking in the background of family photos and the like.  Unfortunately, there were rather fewer photos this past year than last, and none contained any trace of greenery.  Except this one:

Two plastic palm trees in the "garden" of Big Girl Matrix's Calico Critters house, as seen here.  There is also a snake (albeit plastic again), which kind of meets the "wildlife" theme (the miniature horse and the dog in a dress do not, though)

 You may think I'm reaching somewhat by including plastic plants, but there is precedent for such things - see exhibit X (as in LẌ) from 2018.  (A scroll through the comments of the linked post will reveal that it was none other than the Official Plant Spotter of Hexenhäusli Device and its Extensive Witchdom, nay, All of Blogdom Itself, Jon, who pointed out the plastic nature of dear LẌ's entry).

Savvy did send this lovely bouquet to make up for it though.  Isn't it beautiful!

☙❧

 So, that's 2023's Infomaniac Garden Photos Event officially launched! 

 Now, if you'll excuse me, with all of Gav's time taken up getting to grips with the triffids, I must bring the Official Hexenhäusli Device Lumberjack up to speed in order to deal with the rather alarming amount of wood around here.  It's going to be hot, hard work, so he's already getting prepared... 

 

 Pop back in a couple of days or so for a look at Peenee's greenery and a shiny treasure!