08.08.2021 A garden bouquet for you

 The gardens have been beautiful with all of our rain and hot weather. We have had many day lilies, tiger lilies and oriental lilies along with bee balm, daisies, black-eyed Susan, purple cone flowers, bachelor buttons and a few Sweet Williams, snap dragons, butterfly weed and some purple strife. Not all are in bloom at once and the colorful addition allowed to grow is our wild goldenrod. It does look pretty even though it is a weed. One marigold is also in bloom from seed! Many early morning hours and late afternoons are spent weeding, but some weeds just seem to flourish. It is a jungle out there.

We had some time today to relax on the porch this morning. I have a chair hammock not frequently used this summer because it was rainy, too hot or too buggy. But this morning was perfect so I used the opportunity to sit there and edit an article while the boys chased squirrels, chipmunks, froggies, each other and whatever else they could sniff. When I was done Gunnarr wanted to sit on my lap, wet paws and all. So both he and Fionnegan got a bit of a swing in the hammock as we enjoyed some really nice peace and quiet. Shorty just sits nearby on the deck and smiles and watches. He is probably thinking there is no way she is getting me up there on her lap!

This is a great chair. It is on the deck surrounded by gardens and flower pots. I adjusted it so I can rest my legs on a chair.  And yes, three of us can fit. We watched the birds - in particular a very noisy ivory billed woodpecker. When he flew over the yard, you could hear the wind whistling through his feathers. Magic.

 

Here are a few garden flowers gathered to share with you. Some of the flowers have little critters - froggies, grasshoppers and bees. See if you can sot them.

This is near the end of the season for day lilies. As the name indicates, each bloom lasts one day. There are 6 to 10 blooms per stem so we can enjoy them for a while. The garden has early blloing to late blooming lilies, so we have color for the entire season.

See anyone inside the flower?

The cone flowers have been in bloom for most of the summer. We are lucky that hte deer did not snack on them as Bucky does jump the fence to visit!

We had more tiger lilies this year than ever in the past. They grew threw the fence and propagated into two separate gardens. They are showy and gorgeous.

This lily is not only beautiful but very fragrant. They greet us at the front entrance with their appealing presence. Many flowers bloom per stalk and they last for a couple of weeks.

A flower garden needs a bird feeder or two!

Shasta daisy.

The golden rod adds nice color to the garden as the day lilies are waning.

Another pink oriental lily that is very fragrant. I have to grow them in post since the gophers and moles like to eat the tubers. Eventually we learn!

Geraniums are still in bloom.

Do you see the little froggie? Am afraid the dogs found him.

Planting for bees and hummingbirds has been successful. We need to do a little more work to get the butterflies here on a regular basis. We had a couple but can try to plant for more. There is an invasive plant that deters them from the gardens in the area and I try each year to pull out as much as I can. The bees don't bother the dogs and vice versa. 

Lovely purple lily. Deep and rich in color.

Queen Anne's lace - a wild flower that adds character to the gardens.

We have several different white varieties. They add their own special beauty to a colorful garden.

There also are a few different yellow and orange and purple varieties. There was once a large day lily farm near my house and each year I would purchase a couple more to add to the show. The owners drove by my house every day and would comment on how nice and colorful the gardens were. 

See the twins?

One of my all time favorites - wild black-eyed Susans. They grow in a few different places and I try to encourage their return each year. Here they are growing under the rhododendron. A nice safe place I guess.

Another all time favorite - a very fragrant orange lily. Beautiful.

Froggie on a lily.

Two stalks of oriental lilies. What a magical treat at the front door.

Purple bee balm complements the magenta bee balm. Both attract the hummingbirds and bees.

And let's not forget the hostas now in bloom. Try to hide them from the deer!

Rain drops on the petals. 

Another one of my favorites - a very beautiful delicate purple flower.

My big helpers, never far from my side, unless they are digging holes and chasing chippies!

At some point I should move that broom! It is in more pictures that I care to imagine.

I do hope you enjoyed the garden flowers that bloomed over the last few weeks. And I hope the pictures of the boys do make you smile! They are the sweetest!

And may you do something every day that makes someone else smile, too.

Until next time......

07.11.2021 Summer gardens, birds and a turtle

 Where is the time going? Meant to write a 4th of July blog but other things took precedent. If you read Shorty's blog - mydogShorty.blogspot.com - you will see that the boys were very happy with visits from dear friends and a turtle.

We have had a lot of hot days, cold days and  rain - some due to Hurricane Elsa, some due to other storm fronts. The gardens are a jungle, the baby birds have fledged, and the day lilies are now in bloom. 

One of my favorite flower is the Black-eyed Susan. This one grows wild in the gardens and I really do enjoy seeing where they will pop-up each year. Sometimes they are in the front gardens, sometimes the back, and sometimes in a flower pot or two. I try hard not to weed them out in the early spring and summer months - I try to remember the appearance of the young shoots to give them a chance to survive.

As I was cleaning out an invasive vine (I am very allergic to it and was covered head to toe) I noticed a female catbird a bit out of sorts. As I pulled hard on the vine I saw why she was all a twitter. Here was her nest with three little ones safely tucked in their nest in the middle of vines, rose bushes and evergreen boughs. No doubt she was pleased when I left them undisturbed, but probably very upset when I returned with a camera. Yes, I left the vines in place and will return some other day to finish clearing out the invasive plants and trim the roses.

Do you see the nest and baby birds?

.Look at those baby beaks! They are huge! I was trying very hard not to disturb Momma bird and chicks.

The chicks turned over onto their backs and were waiting for Momma bird to feed them. Momma bird kept an eye on me but never came too close.

They are just too precious for words. I went back twice to check on them during the week and was amazed how quickly they developed their feathers. They fledged later that week and I see young catbirds in the yard. There also was another nest nearby, without chicks, I suspect they already fledged.

The robin is sitting on her nest with one chick. She built her nest on a gutter next to a house.

 

And the worm goes down the hatch! Both the male and female robins fed the chick and took turns at the nest.

The earliest of the lilies bloom during some very heavy rains. Rain drops are on the petals.

A few more flowers for your enjoyment.

Some sunshine brighten the day.

Bergamot. 

Bugs, bees, pink cone flowers.

This flower covers a 40 foot tree in the backyard. The blooms are gorgeous.

This snapping turtle was tempting fate as it crossed the road in front of my driveway. He was huge. And a bit muddy.

And yes, I got done close to him to get a close up of his eyes and nose.

I do hope you enjoyed this bouquet of flowers from my summer garden and the pictures of the baby birds and snapping turtle.

It was a busy day and Shorty is ready for another nap. Yes, it is hard work keeping an eye on Momma doing her chores.

Fionnegan, on the other hand, is in full force talking to me. He loves to talk and bark and will just chat your ear off. Not to mention he profusely kisses. Gunnarr is generally the quieter one of the two and just listens patiently. He does hold onto my every word and sometimes I just talk to see how long he will hold my gaze. They are all my boys and I love them dearly!

I do hope you all are well and weathering the very hot then very wet weather we are experiencing.

Until next time, stay safe and healthy.