Saturday, May 18, 2024

Misty May Day

Too much rain today to garden, 
but not enough to keep me 
from washing windows. 
I love to see May flowers 
through clean windows.


Here are Lily of the Valley 
growing and blooming 
under the birch tree 
with Lady's Mantle, fern, 
Iris, and a huge-leaved Hosta. 
Primroses and Bleeding Heart (bloom is past) 
line the stone path 
from the back yard to the front yard 
through this bed of shade-loving plants.


I have to clear the path each spring 
with my tiger teeth hand saw,
pulling out the Lily of the Valley 
root mass, but it's worth an hour
of gardening on my knees
and another hour of cleaning window panes
to enjoy both on this misty May afternoon.





Sunday, May 12, 2024

Prepping Patio Pots


A variegated, pointed-leaf 
grows about  12-16 inches tall 
with brilliant red-orange flowers.

has large blooms in bicolor
orange and yellow.
It grows 12 to 16 inches.

(a.k.a.Million Bells or Mini Petunia)
is a spiller that trails over the pot.
It has copious trumpet-shaped bright yellow
blooms that attract hummingbirds.

is a mounding filler plant with sturdy stems
and upright pea-like pink blooms
with peach and orange petals
tipped in purple.

or African Daisy
has bright orange-yellow upright blooms
on mounding leaves.


And as a thriller or upright focus plant, 
 the number one favorite of hummingbirds, 
Vermillionaire Cuphea hybrid
also called Firecracker plant.
It is also loved by gardeners: it takes heat,
needs little watering,
does not need deadheading or cutting back,
and blooms profusely in 
unique-shaped flowers
of orange and yellow and red held high
above the mounded flowers and foliage.


A pretty pot 
(actually a pair, one for each corner of the deck)
 to please us, our neighbors, 
and our "no-show" hummingbirds!
Maybe these brightly colored oases
will attract them 
when it warms up a bit?

A Quick Note:
Blogger is doing the sideways trick with my photos
which were taken in vertical orientation with my phone.
I can't solve the problem yet, but I'm working on it.
 
Another Note:
I now have to import my Google photos
from my Android phone
by sending them via email to my computer.
Then I save them in a temporary file
and import them to Blogger
and voila! they are oriented correctly.
What a lot of bother!!!
See next post.





Sunday, May 5, 2024

Fairy Walk at Salmon River


It was a cold April morning but the river was lovely. 
A great place to walk among the fairies!


My daughter and my two granddaughters joined me
 for the activity celebrating spring 
and the mystical folk of the woods.


Violet has a passion for making potions.


Lily likes to roam the woods. 
She looks like one of the fae in her elfin ears.


After making offerings for the woodland  folk, 
we had to place our offerings
 with gratitude in appropriate places.


The water fairies and the tree fairies 
hide in different places
 and have different tastes.


Rachel, a green witch, explained it all to us.


The moss fairies like to find something glittery
in their favored habitat.


We lost track of Lily but found her
along the stream bed, hidden away from sight.


Lily had been busy making a fairy house 
under a mossy bank by the river's edge.

We meditated with grandmother tree.
Our toes and noses were cold, 
but our hearts were warm with thoughts 
of these mystical beings of the early spring woodland
who would find our offerings --
even if we didn't find them.

May Day 2024

 On May Day, we saw our first hummingbird at the feeder.  

I put out an orange half 

when I heard a Baltimore Oriole in the morning. 

I quickly reached for my phone 

to use the Merlin App from Cornell


 to record and identify the call.  

Merlin confirmed an oriole sound.  

It took him a couple hours

 to be courageous enough to come 

to the railing of our deck, 



but he was gorgeous!

Happy May Day to All!


Monday, April 22, 2024

Earth Day 2024

 After a month including a solar eclipse, an earthquake 4.8,

 a deluge of rain, and temperatures 10-15 degrees below normal, 

Earth Day has finally arrived.

Last night was in the low 30s so I had to cover the plants

I had just potted up over the weekend.

And tonight will be the same!

Blankets for all new blooms.


Especially the new Ranunculus

I've always wanted to grow.

It's such a lovely color and

I love the petal shapes and transparency.


Other cold-tolerant flowers in my pots include: 

Osteospermum, Lobulalria, Calibrachoa,

Arctotis, Nemesia, and Stock.


Fortunately, the daffodils are fine.

The other pot with spring perennials

such as fern, Hosta, and Astilbe

should be okay too.



And my dahlia project in the garage

will be protected inside

as I try to encourage them to 

come back this year.



Spring marches on

to May Day!










Friday, September 15, 2023

Praying Mantis Spotting

I was watering the canna lilies 
last week and found a 
friend watching me.
Such a lucky find!
And he [or she}
was a bizarre beauty.
That praying mantis seemed
to interact with me.



The planters at the clubhouse have done
really well this summer.
The cannas are about 6 feet tall
and bloom prolifically.
The skirt of annuals at the base
has definitely balanced the 
splendor at the top.
They are all Proven Winners--
and I totally agree!

The mantis may have kept the insects
and other pests in balance too.








All Vines Blooming

 



I went out to the patio this morning.
It's in the low 60s temperature-wise.
The clouds are plentiful
and there is a stiff breeze.
What a surprise to find
all the vines blooming.


The moonflowers were still open.
Did they think it was night?
Thunbergia alata
was abundant in all its shades of rose.
And even the passion vine had many blooms.
I was concerned about it since it hasn't 
bloomed for many weeks.


No problem now!
There were many buds too.
But not many more days 
to show off...