Borage is Not Boring for Spiders and other Living Things

Last year's crop of green lynx spideys suffered a terrible loss when my Indian mallow (Abutilon palmeri) up and died suddenly over the winter. That big fuzzy-leafed shrub, attractive to so many bugs apt to become spider-prey, was home to three clutches of peucetia viridens eggs last fall. And so the tiny spiders, now on their second molt by the looks of this one, have had to make other plans. This one has taken residence just below the blooming cyme of this borage plant. I saw a few aphids, the random tiny files and some chew marks on the leaves, so the spider has something to hunt. Borago officinalis is reviled by some for reseeding itself with abandon, a characteristic I kind of admire in a plant, to a point. For now its hairy leaves and sky blue flowers create habitat for spiders and other living things.