Rain, Finally

We had an inch-and-a-quarter of rain yesterday, the first in a long time. I watered, sometimes, mostly in the front under the trees. September was the driest ever measured. Interestingly, mid-July is when things went badly off course. Up until then, we were even with last year, which was the wettest on record. But in mid-July, this year the water turned off, when last year it turned on at the same time. And also the year before (2017), the rains came in mid-July.

September Blooms

September continued dry - the dryest on record. The prairie plants did well, and it was the year of the ageratum, everywhere.

My full sun prairie patch

This vivid beauty is a bottle gentian.
I planted it several years ago, and haven't seen it recently.

This blue thing was planted by my landscaper
the first year I was here, 20+ years ago, and
continues to do well.

A good year for drought-tolerant goldenrood.

Woodland aster, spreading happily.

The white ageratum.

The blue ageratum.

August Blooms

Catching up on the garden, August was dry. Less hot than July, but hot. But some things bloomed.

Boneset - a eupatorium, volunteer widespread in the neighborhood.

Verbesina, popping up all over

It was the season for NY ironweed (the purple stuff),
and ageratums, which are everywhere.

Cardinal flower, of which I hope to have more, and pink turtleheads.

Fall Planting

Today is the kind of day that makes Fall the favorite season for some (I lean towards spring, myself). Low humidity, sunny, cool to start, warm to end. Most of the work I've done lately has been taking things out - bushes, trees, weeding. But today is for planting. This boring post is mostly my record for myself of what is going where, because without the record I'll forget. I've been known to inadvertently pull out things I planted, thinking they were weeds!

We've been way too dry for too long, so as I plant, I need to water, and finish with the sprinkler going for some time. I finally got some plants I had bought a while back planted. I pulled up some senecio from behind the tree trunk, and used that very prime spot to put in some Hibiscus moschutos. It should do well, if there is enough sun. I also relocated one of the lilies to next to the cranberry bush, trying to make sure there is a path to get further into the garden without trampling everything.

I've been throwing the senecio, and deadhead tops of ironweed and Chasmasthium grass, over the fence in hopes that they will spread there. Because it's downhill from inside the fence, I'm thinking they are less likely to spread back uphill into the more civilized garden. The existing ironweed and grass are totally volunteers spread by seed already, so I know they are opportunistic and hardy. I spent some time a couple of years ago rooting out the grass from areas that are now inside the fence, and I think I'm reaping the benefits of that work (in that there isn't more of it everywhere).

I received plants I ordered some months ago from Prairie Nursery, 32 small plugs of ferns and wildflowers, mostly flowers I already have some of, but want more of. Because they are plugs, I'm hoping I'll get them all planted quickly today.

Update: I did get all 32 plants done! (But it wasn't so quick.) For the record:

• Blue indigo along neighbor fence
• Geranium in wildflower garden
• Sunflower between log and fence
• Cardinal flower in bog garden
• Sedges down near fence
• Oak ferns between compost heap and spice bush
• Goldie's fern dark corner
• Bleeding heart in wildflower garden

I also watered for a total of six hours, moving the sprinkler every couple of hours. Things are looking lush!

My Deer Fence Works!

I got this shot as I came out of my neighbor's house, where I was feeding her cat while she was gone. I have seen from inside my house the deer looking longingly through the fence, but this was also good to see. The babies are cute, but voracious! And they try everything, they don't know what tastes good yet.

Pollinators

My yard has been a bonanza for all sorts of wildlife. With the increased sun in front, there has been a corresponding increase in flying, buzzing, activity of all types. In June, this St. John's Wort was a favorite:

Then in late summer it has been the mostly tough prairie plants where the tree used to be. One day, I saw this unusual guy - I think it's a "hummingbird hawk-moth", a strange chimera I was aware existed, but I don't think I've seen before:

And my volunteer verbesina (all over the neighborhood this year, but not noted by me previously) is the bees knees!

In other news, I'm learning how to play with youtube.

Bird Brains

I put up a new crop cage over my vegetable bed this year. It is a plastic structure with netting over it, including a closed top. At the bottom, it is tied down, but apparently not tightly enough. Repeatedly, birds have gotten inside and stuck. The birds are mostly cardinals, and because I can't imagine I have so many cardinals, it's got to be the same ones getting stuck. Apparently they are not capable of learning.

I set up an extra barrier along the bottom, and for a while it seemed to stop the problem, but then they showed up again. It's a simple matter to unzip one of the doors and shoo them out, but I worry about not spotting them and having birds trapped all day in the sunshine inside. So far, no dead bodies inside!