Slow Start to Spring May 4, 2013

A single Big Smile tulip came up this year among the daffodils.  The daffies are almost gone, but hidden safely in their midst from rabbits and voles, a single yellow tulip bloomed this week.  It used to be a huge clump of yellow tulips in previous years but disappeared completely --and forever, I thought--last year.  Will wonders never cease?

 

And I was so glad to see it!  It marked 23 years since my mother's death in 1990.  I used to have a clump of red tulips (her  favorite flower) in the front of the house that bloomed each year on April 30th, but they have been gone for two years now.  A yellow tulip can lift your heart also!

 

We replaced the "kick bells" my grandsons loved.  This handcrafted kinesthetic sculpture was near the garage doors on Carriage Drive and welcomed all three grandsons (who each had to kick them to make a sound) as they visited Didi and Grandpa. We moved them here to South Hollow with us and they lasted three years until they were eaten by snow removal equipment two years ago.  I have the individual bells still but the welded stems that held them up were mangled beyond recovery.  Someday I may find a welder who can refashion them for me,

 

 

but in the meantime, this new sculpture will do.

 

 

We want our new granddaughter, Lily, to have some kick bells too. This one with a wind chime we placed in the back garden.  We put another one with three bells in front near the garage doors to greet her when she visits.  We just need to remember to store them inside during the winter!  And Lily may just gently tap them to hear the sound--unlike her boy cousins and their kicking!

 

We also bought a new Nyjer seed feeder for the goldfinches--and they have already discovered it. We had a squirrel we could not discourage so we hope this mesh feeder does the trick. The woodpeckers, the flickers and the chickadees still visit the suet cage.  The bluebirds come around once in awhile now.  I think they are busy nesting. They ate the suet all winter.  These birds didn't mind me in the garden just a few feet away from them today.  We hope Lily gets to see them sometime too.

 

 

So the back garden border is coming to life.  We have edged and mulched it and divided some of the perennials.  Today I planted a yellow columbine, a blue pincushion flower, and a clump of red thrift.  We'll see if the rabbits leave them alone.  They have not been slow to start eating my plants this year!

 

 

April 6, 2013 It's been a long time...

This little guy says it all!  It was a long, cold and snowy winter that followed a terrible end of summer 2012 and an even worse autumn.  But he/she stuck around to greet a weak sunrise on the first day of spring 2013.  At least the snow was melted off the roof by then!

And this gardener is ready to tackle the garden again.  In fact, today with the wind whipping but the sun shining, I did some clipping and raking trying to bring order to the beds once more.  It seems miraculous that after all the bad weather, plant disease, insects and other pests--the plants made it through to grow another year.

I found the missing sun dial in inches of mulch under the bird bath and set it in a bone dry basin.

 

Then I placed a newly purchased rain gauge near by with hopes that April will come through with showers to wet the earth and bring the plants to life.  You can see how dry the earth is--and that something is already eating the newly sprouting light green leaves in the lower right corner!

 

 

How can it be so dry when the snow totaled over 60 inches?

 

 

The mysteries of gardening!

And life, that we keep coming back for more...

 

State of the Garden Early August 2012

We have the "Hot August Blahs" in the garden currently as shown in this photo of an empty birdbath.  The deer have been drinking it each evening and to deter them, I have left it empty. If you look closely, you'll notice the deer have eaten the coral bells or Heuchera which surround the birdbath.  So they not only get a drink, they also get free nibbles!  The bar is closed.

The birds are not happy either, but there are not many birds because of the aggresive sparrow who claimed this part of the garden as his territory.  If you recall, earlier this summer we took down the birdhouse to deter the sparrow from rebuilding his nests and chasing all the other birds away. 

On top of that, the landscaper mowed the wildflowers beyond the fence so the goldfinches no longer stop by for water either.  They ate the seeds of the coreopsis, the rudbeckia, and the common mullein before it was string cut last week.

It's like a war zone--and the enemy is heat, humidity, insects, wildlife and our landscaper!  Interesting combination of opposing forces...

But the garden lives on giving what pleasure it can despite the forces working against it.

I found a bee in the coneflowers or Echinacea.

And a bee in the perennial sunflowers or Helianthus.

I found a beetle on the bloom of the new tree rose, but only one--so he's not an enemy yet!

I put some mesh over the other roses because the deer were eating them.  They have recovered from damage by Known Enemy #1.  I also covered the last of the daylily buds so that it has a chance to bloom before becoming a "munchie" at the birdbath.

The tree rose seems to have survived the deer because it is located in the far end of the garden behind some daisies. Stepping stones lead from between the daisies to the bench surrounded by Buddleia or butterfly bush, Cleome or spider plant, Cosmos, Gaura or snow fountain, Hardy Geranium or cranesbill and Alyssum. I call it the Secret Garden.

And I hope it stays that way.  No deer allowed!

The deer don't bother the Helenium or sneezeweed which are blooming right on schedule.

The Liriope or lilyturf also knows it is August and has put forth its spiky bloom.

And the 'Limelight' Hydrangea is blooming green and turning white as it matures. This one looks like a heart.  Maybe I'll declare a truce against all the garden's enemies--if they would just leave it alone!

Super Succulent

Sara just sent this photo of her succulent Hen and Chicks blooming in the container we planted together several years ago. Amazing bloom!  It has been an unusual summer...

End of July and Weird Weather Continues

It's July 31st and the weather continues either with downpours or extreme heat. The gardens look weather-beaten with sunburned hostas (if they were not eaten by deer) and hairy mold on the impatiens.  The petunias are gone, whether to insects or extreme weather I cannot tell. There is nothing left to investigate.  No leaves, no buds--just some stems.

But the wildflowers on the hillside are doing well.

Queen Anne's Lace

Black-eyed Susans

Grasses

Blue-eyed Grass?

A foxglove?  It seems impossible in this weather...

Wild Indigo

Common fleabane

Boneset with yellow or Pale Jewelweed

Coreopsis

and some blooms too small to capture easily in the wild:  hop clover, St. John's Wort, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Smartweed, and

Quite a variety and display despite the weather. 

But they are natives!

DSI = Deer Scene Investigators

While the Mini Pearl daylilies look fine (new bloom, yesterday's bloom and numerous buds),

daylilies in other locations around the garden, don't look quite the same.

It started with the small Rose of Sharon bush. I noticed sharp, 45 degree angle cuts on the lowest leaves.  This indicated rabbits.  But at the top, you will notice ragged edges of ripped stems.  Deer!

And what the deer didn't get, the insects finished up.

I wonder why the bud was left uneaten?

Along the backyards of four neighbors, the flower borders show deer damage.

The damage in my garden is minimal compared to the daylily border in my neighbor's bed (with the blue tear drop garden ornament) and the daisy and daylily border in the next neighbor's back border which continues the line of the fence along the top of the hillside.

They have no blooms left!

We have left on the rear floodlights, covered the blooms with sheets and plastic, sprayed several deer repellents, and turned over the birdbath when hoof marks were found near the water source.

With some luck and today's rain, the blooms may return. But tomorrow we begin

our 5th heat wave for the summer!  A gardener is always an investigator:  weather, insects,

disease.  There is always some type of invader. 

One known fact: the entire hillside of Black-eyed Susans beyond the fence is untouched by the deer.

July's Full Moon--The Summer Moon

When I went out in the garden this morning with the camera, I startled a sparrow.  She and her mate have been busy catching insects in the garden to feed their baby birds.  I love the reflection of the bright blue sky and the flower bed in the gazing ball top of the garden ornament.

The garden is lush now that it is truly summer, as proven by the Summer Moon (July's full moon)tonight.  And all those blooms and greenery mean the insects are plentiful also.

The butterflies have arrived as the garden's colors attract them.  The hollyhocks still have a little rust, but their bloom has not been affected.  Everything seems to be in balance in the food cycle of the flora and fauna.

Even the passing rains are balanced with the 90+ degree temperatures. This morning I found the Lady's Mantle covered with drops from last night's rain, just as I had found it earlier in spring.

I'll find some wood to knock on!

I'm glad I went out this morning to discover Nature in sync!