What’s Blooming Now

Just a quick recap of what’s happening right now in the yard.

Fringe Tree

My newest clematis

Mapleleaf Viburnum - one of the very first things I planted

Camassia - a native bulb

This is wild indigo- I’ve got lots of it because I love it

This rose became extravagant after the spruce fell and it finally got the sun it always wanted.

This is the pagoda dogwood - birds love the berries

My other red rose, and behind it, Tradescantia (can’t remember common name)

Native wisteria just coming on

An extra bit of bling I got at the nursery

A nice combination of geraniums with woodland phlox

I’m drawing a blank on what this old reliable is called

No Baby Robins Here

After the robins built their nest by the front door, I looked up robin behavior, and I learned they mate for a season and come back to the same territories. The male and female look the same, but they behave differently. Both contribute to building the nest. After the nest is done, one egg a day is laid until there are three or four. Then, the female begins brooding, for 50 minutes of every hour, and the eggs all hatch at the same time. The male is generally gone by then, hanging out with other guys. The female provides food until the hatchlings are fledged and finding their own food.

Once it was clear the robins were committed to the nest, I made a real effort to avoid the front door, except for the daily nest check. I put my camera on a long selfie stick and took a picture down into the nest. I was excited to see an egg a day appear, as if the robins had read the book.

But then, on the fourth day, tragedy struck. In fact, it struck in multiple ways. When I looked out first thing in the morning, a new cat (not seen around before) scatted off the porch. I felt bad, but then an hour later a crow was also there on the porch. So I don’t know exactly who the culprit was, but eggs were smashed and only one left.

The aftermath of tragedy

The nest is still there, and one egg is there. I’m pretty sure the nest has been abandoned, but I’ll leave it there for a while.

Meretricious Appreciation of Iris

I got these from a neighbor. They are all over the ‘hood.

I posted the following note on our neighborhood list serve:

I bought these this year.

My favorite garden writer, the late, great, Henry Mitchell, once took off two weeks from work in order to properly appreciate the iris in his garden. “I sat there and strolled there morning to night... not one of them opened that I did not see in full head-on focus”. If one were inclined to do such a thing, it seems the next two weeks would be ones to take off. As it turns out, many of us will be well positioned to stroll the neighborhood and properl appreciate each others’ iris over the next little bit. It seems like the weather has been good for them - I’m noticing them all over. And it has been my observation that deer do not care much for iris, another bonus. This might be a side hustle for folks out on the teddy bear hunt - how many different colors of iris are there?

I sadly only have a few myself, mostly acquired from neighbors. I’m interested in more - if anyone feels the need to divide theirs after bloom is over, keep me in mind.

Shameless begging for more of these lovely plants.

In place, with the lovely Siberian iris from my mother’s garden

The Siberian iris

Seasonal Change of Wardrobe

My pin oak on the corner does not enjoy being naked. Its leaves cling until the last moment, when the new leaves are ready to come out. I had figured out last year it was happening around the first week of April, but this year I was in a position to document the change more closely.

Left to right, top to bottom: March 29; April 8, after a big wind storm; just three days later on April 11, almost naked; it took eleven days for the new leaves to start to really show April 22.

Top to bottom, left to right again: May 2, those beautiful early days of lacy sun and shade; May 8, beginning to fill out; May 14, nearly there; and yesterday, May 17, full shade.

So about six weeks for the complete change over.

Hosting the Next Generation

It appears a robin (robin couple?) have built a nest right next to my front door.

I’ll try to minimize my front door usage (Rocky has a hard time with the steps anyway) but I can’t avoid it entirely. The ledge is about five feet above the porch floor - high enough for this short person to need something to stand on to see inside. When I noticed yesterday afternoon the nest seemed complete, I did peek. No eggs yet. I’m in a dilemma - much curiosity, but I don’t want to disturb them.

I think I’ll do some research to learn more about robin nesting habits. How shy are the birds about my presence? Could I have scared them off already? (There was a robin hanging about when I went out the front door this morning - I had forgotten the nest.) How long do robin eggs need to incubate? Should I disable the automatic porch light so they don’t get confused? It gets dark so late, even the FedEx is done before dark. It seems that might be ok for the next few months.

First Harvest

I planted in two batches. The cold weather held back the first planting, and now they are nearly even.
Top left is before today’s thinning, top right is after. We’ll see if it recovers.

I noted in the previous post I was going to harvest my lettuce. I didn’t, actually, as my digestive system has been wonky from top to bottom, perhaps from still present vertigo. I’ve had several days of white rice and toast, mainly. But I decided to risk it today. The lettuce was overdue for thinning, and clearly big enough for actually eating the thinnings.

So early this morning I sat there and laboriously selectively pulled and cut my overplanted lettuces. As I did, a few went directly into my mouth. The sharp taste of arugula was pure spring on my tongue.

I separated into edible and not-so-edible as I went, with the edibles going into the basket from my lettuce spinner. A thorough rinse in the spinner, a few robust turns to dry it out, and then into the fridge to wait for lunchtime.

Just finished my lunch! Yum! All gone, so quickly! But this was the least bug, slug, and bunny-eaten lettuce I’ve ever raised. My little container on the patio was a great idea. I have to fence it off from the Very Hungry Labrador, and that keeps bunnies out, too, so far. Birds and squirrels haven’t been an issue.

Time Marches On

Very rainy day yesterday (1.2”!), rainy again this morning, expecting a good weekend. I found a window between rains to mow the grass on Wednesday. It looks good, for about two days then it starts growing again, unevenly. But time marches on, and some of my very flowery plants are coming into being now.

This is actually mostly for the foliage, a geranium. 

This yellow rose has been moving along really fast this year.
First rose to bloom.

Likewise this clematis- I have many, but this is the first.

And yum it’s time to thin this lettuce, will add thinnings to today’s salad.

And a bonus garden ornament for anyone scrolling this far!