Now that we are not in a second floor condo any more, there are critters to contend with, at least outdoors. I am still keeping most of my plants inside in the protective care of the Aerogarden planters with my little home brew passive containers along side and in the window sills. But having seen a neighbor's lovely Lantana plant with its abundant Spanish Flag colored blooms surviving the August drought and heat I had to clone it and now the baby is big enough to live outdoors and show off its own lovely blossoms:
So I got out the shovel and dug some pot-in-pot holes so that I could put this beauty in the ground without leaving it there permanently. But when I lifted the inner pot out from the buried pot that it nests inside, look who came leaping up through the drain hole:
Incidentally, the pot-in-pot system is working out great, and I need to get out and dig some more holes.
I am not expert on reptiles, but I think that one is a sagebrush lizard, although it could possible be a western fence lizard. If anyone has an opinion on this, please let me know!