Mini Jack Pumpkin Sprouts

I ordered some Renee's Garden Mini Jack pumpkin seeds online via Amazon. We planted them during the last week of August (which is really late for planting these). Our first sprout appeared on September 5th and about six more showed up on September 7th, the day these photos were taken. Here is the first sprout, noticeably more mature than the others -
The next two photos give you an idea of how the rest of them look just coming out of the ground. According to the seed packet, these take 80-85 days to mature before harvest, so we might not have baby pumpkins in time for Halloween. But that's alright - we're still going to have lots of fun watching them grow!
We're not completely sure what we are going to do with the mature squash yet, so any recipe suggestions are welcome! I would like to try cooking some of the flowers. I had some awesome pumpkin flower dishes in Oaxaca and I'm anxious to try making a few on my own. The squash should also make some awesome decorations - we're already making a list of who we'd like to gift some to if we end up with a good harvest.

Mini Jack Pumpkins
Cucurbita pep0
Pumpkin in Spanish = la Calabaza

Fun Fact:
According to a diccionario of mine, la calabaza is also defined as "una persona ignorante" - someone who is ignorant. Interesting, especially since "pumpkin" in our language is often used as a term of endearment. :-)

SFA Mast Arboretum and Children's Garden

Photo Post!

On Labor Day weekend John and I took my mother and my sister to see plants at SFA. Here's my mom resting on a large tree trunk -

Some plants that remind me of Jurassic Park -

Some Agapanthus orientalis, "Gold Strike" African Lily. I want some.

Mom and sis sitting on a swing bench, checking out some photos they took on their cool superior phones -

Tips on creating a butterfly garden. (Click photo to enlarge)

Butterfly on Lantana

Does anyone know which butterfly species this is?

John and sis checking out a water feature that John actually helped build -

Said water feature -Have a nice day!

Indian Mustard Sprouts!

On Sunday, we replanted our herb garden. Today (Tuesday!) we already had a bunch of mustard sprouts!! What you see here are sprouts of Brassica juncea, which is not the same mustard that comes in bright yellow plastic bottles. (However, it is sometimes used to make brown mustard.)
We're growing this particular mustard for things like salads, soups, and a few Indian dishes.
Of course, as these little guys grow, we'll have to spread them out a bit. we've started them in the herb garden where there's room, but many will move to the vegetable garden.

According to the seed packet, these fellas are supposed to take 10 days to germinate. Ha!