All the neighborhood birds, especially the robins, love the shallow end of our pond.
Have you noticed that one bathing bird seems to draw others? I focused on the robins, but there were a few house sparrows and a mourning dove waiting their turn on the sidelines.
Raccoons or wading birds could have a feast with the *walk-in* design of our pond, but the fish have plenty of hiding places and like to tickle the bird’s toes in the shallows while they bathe.
My husband says we have the biggest and nicest birdbath in the neighborhood. I think the robins would agree.
Category Archives: Garden
Blooming this week
I had wanted to brag a little last night about my peonies; aren’t they nice? I prefer single peonies, rather than the doubles that flop all over the place, even though the singles don’t last in a vase. All of those white flowers you see are on one plant! Right next to it is another peony that never gets any buds. The foliage is beautiful, but no buds. I’ve read that’s because either there’s too much shade or it’s planted too deeply. Neither explanation makes any sense to me because the one next to it is doing so beautifully. Any ideas?
I bought this pond plant a few weeks ago and love it! Problem is I don’t know what it is, but I do think it may be the same flower that Susan was wondering about yesterday.
This is a flower on the Sourgum Tree we planted this spring. Not much to look at, but the birds and I are hoping for fruit this year. The tree is leafing out nicely, and the new foliage is tinged with purple.
The viburnums are blooming, too. This one gets the most sun so it blooms first and the most heavily. These are Linden viburnums; the Winterthur is struggling to put out leaves and I doubt there will be any blooms. There has got to be some problem with the spot it’s planted in because this is like the 3rd or 4th Winterthur I’ve planted there and every one of them dies. Maybe I’m just not meant to have that particular viburnum as much as I like it. The Cranberrybush Viburnum we planted this spring bloomed very early because it was greenhouse raised, but it was pretty while it lasted.
So what’s blooming where you are?
Send in the clowns
We bought one of those gazebo thingies to put out by the pond and I need some convincing that it doesn’t look like a circus tent. It doesn’t, does it?
We have a nice-sized yard and the pond is a beautiful area, but it’s in the blazing sun and surrounded by rock and stone and is really the last place on earth that you want to spend any amount of time on a hot summer’s day. So my thinking is that this way we can have some shade and a few comfortable chairs and even some protection against the famous Jersey mosquitoes if we want to sit out there in the evening. Based on a test run late this afternoon I can also tell you that it’ll be a fabulous spot for a nap, with the sound of the water lulling you off into dreamland.
I think this is our sixth summer with the pond and we’re still not finished. Each year we tweak a little something to get it to where we want it to be. This gazebo is another step in that direction, I think. You might have noticed that we removed most of the fence from around the pond – except for the bit that faces the street. I’m nervous about that, but both my husband and I hated it and it really detracted from our enjoyment of the pond, plus it stuck out like a sore thumb. This way we have an unobstructed view from inside the house and from the screen patio. Anyone who is inclined to wander too close to the pond will have to walk through the middle of our yard in order to do it – hopefully no one will. We live on a quiet street, but have a lot of visitors parking beside our house because of a luncheonette on the opposite corner. The pond is something of a magnet, but I hope people’s better sense will prevail and they’ll stay on the street side of the fence.
The weather here has been much more like the 4th of July than Memorial Day. We went ahead and put up the awnings, which help to keep the house cool, but make it dark like a cave. I miss the sun streaming through the windows, but it’s been uncomfortably hot these past few days. I have just a few days left of vacation and intend to be very lazy and put the new circus tent to good use!
Pond progress
Mary had asked for some pond pics and we’ve done a bit of work lately so that I’m not so embarrassed to share photos. The filter’s been running for a few weeks after the major cleanout we did and the 20 or so fish are back in the pond. This past weekend we finally bought a few plants and that has made a world of difference in how the pond looks! We bought some parrot’s feather and a sensitive fern, some rushes, and a pickerel plant, and some elephant ears. We also bought a few of the *floaters* to offer some shade until we buy any waterlilies. The floating heart that grew last year as a volunteer has started sending out shoots and the mint that grows in the rocks is already out of control! This year I would really like to work on planting the edges of the pond; other than a few hostas, daylilies, and some monarda, nothing much that I’ve planted in the past has been able to survive. The pond is in full sun for most of the day and those rocks really heat up! I haven’t spotted the frog since we did the cleanout, but I’m sure he’s lurking there somewhere.
Cricket’s garden
I spent the day with the spade in my hands and dirt on my knees and planted a garden of spring flowers around the place we buried Cricket. I planted another section of my little woodland garden with her in my thoughts.
Just a week ago the mountain laurels were delivered and today there was finally the time to plant them. I added some snowdrop anemones, fringed bleeding hearts, lady’s fern, lilies of the valley, and even some Virginia bluebells that were marked down because they’re past bloom now. All of this in the place where she lies with the dogwoods flowering overhead and the scent of lilacs on the breeze. I think I’ve made a sweet place for her.
Spring is good
“Every year back spring comes, with nasty little birds, yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.” – Dorothy Parker
That quote makes me laugh, but I’m sure there are those who would agree, scary as that is. Spring seems to be trying to make up for its late start in the span of a few days; the weather has been more summer-like than spring-like and the birds and insects are out in force and the flowering trees are putting on a lovely show. The robins are singing their sunset chorus now as I type. I can look forward to a mockingbird serenade when I head to bed around midnight. The chickadees have filled their nestbox in the Magnolia with moss and other soft plant fibers in anticipation of eggs. Today, my Serviceberry bloomed. Spring is good.
Pond clean-up
We accomplished most of the pond cleanup yesterday. In the interest of honesty I’ll show you pics of just how ugly it was, but I’d really rather not. Bad, bad, bad. It’s our fault for not ever getting a cover over it in the fall to keep the leaves out and there was really no way to avoid emptying it. I never even got to push my lilies and other pond plants down to the deep end, so they’re mush from having been frozen. We pumped the water out of the pond and onto our newly planted trees, so all that fish fertilizer will be put to good use.
As nasty as it looks, most of the water we pumped out was actually pretty clear. The fish are in a holding tank for a week or so while we refill the pond and let the water settle. You can see how clear the water was in the pic below.
We rescued this lone surviving frog from the skimmer box. There was another in there that was well past stinky! I feel badly for the frogs and don’t understand how they manage to die over the winter, considering all the leaves and mulm they have to burrow under. I wonder if it would be possible to catch them in the fall and bring them inside? I wouldn’t want to make a pet out of a wild frog, but I hate finding them dead in the spring.
Here’s a view of the sparkly clean pebble beach as we started to refill the pond late yesterday afternoon. The birds love this part of our pond, because most of this area is only an inch or two deep. It’s a nightmare to keep clean, but worth seeing the birds come in for a bath. The fish also love to play in this part and root around in the pebbles. Down at the far end of the pond the water is a little over 3 feet deep and it holds about 1,000 gallons. So the pond is filled today and the frog is back in one of his hiding spots. I’ll wait till the weekend to put the fish back once the filter has been running for a while. The only time I add any chemicals to the pond is in the spring when we have to clean it out like this and then I use just a dechlorinator. The next step is to get some pond plants and some annuals to dress up the edge. It’ll be pretty before long!
We planted trees!
Today was catch-up day in the garden; with the weather being so poor lately, we’re about a month behind schedule with outdoor chores. It was beautiful today and we got a lot done – we cut back the ornamental grasses and the butterfly bushes and raked up the whole yard. Then we went shopping for plant material – my favorite part of the day!
I’d been wringing my hands over what to plant in this spot for well over a year. There was a spirea bush that needed to be replaced as it had grown woody and wasn’t blooming well anymore. I had a list of at least ten possibilites, but the nursery didn’t have any of my well-selected choices, but then I saw this tree and fell in love. It’s a Golden Larch (Pseudolarix amabilis) – not a native, but it will be like having a little piece of the Adirondacks here at home. It’s not a real Larch, but is supposed to be suited to heat and humidity; we’ll see. Larches are unique because they’re the only deciduous conifers – yes – they drop their leaves in fall, but not until they turn a lovely golden color. I love the lacy look of the foliage. I planted a few cotoneasters beneath it.
I finally found a place for the Cranberrybush Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) I’ve been wanting. There was a Sandy Cherry in this spot, but it was very damaged in the February ice storm so we yanked it out. Viburnums are my most favorite shrubs, and this will fit in nicely with the other varities we have planted in the border along our property line. It will get pretty white flowers followed by yellow fruits that turn red like cranberries. They are beautiful when covered with snow and are edible. I even have a recipe for jelly, if the birds leave any behind.
I also got a Sourgum/Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) that Wayne from Niches recommended to me a while back. We put it in a low spot in the back lawn where hopefully it will find enough moisture to flourish. Sourgums are known for their brilliant autumn color, plus they get purple fruits that the birds like (check out the list on Wikipedia). They’re one of our most beautiful native trees, I think. It doesn’t look like much now, but in a few years it will be big enough that a bird can land in it without toppling it over! In the background you can see our neighbor’s red barn and one of the many American Hollies we have along the property line. They are the only evergreens we have here. I know we need to plant some others, but they are very few that I really like, besides hollies.
Buddy spent the day supervising and enjoying the sunshine. Tomorrow we have to tackle the pond clean-up.Short and sweet
winter’s forgotten velvet reveals a negligee edged in pink
This week’s prompt at One Deep Breath was to write a one-line haiku. For more one-liners go here.
Today’s temps in the mid 70’s were enough to start the Star Magnolia in the front garden to bloom. Hopefully it won’t rain or frost before the show really gets underway. Star Magnolias bloom early, well before the more common Tulip Magnolias. I foolishly planted ours on the south side of the house and every year March’s unpredicatable weather mars the delicate blossoms coaxed from dormancy by a few sunny days.
Winter bloom
Maybe yesterday’s greenhouse beauties were too gaudy for your taste – it’s easy to be bold and beautiful when you’re lovingly tended by paid staff and live in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment.
Is your preference instead for the frilly fragrant blooms of this witch hazel in the snowbound garden? Do you find their ruffled paper-confetti flowers more beautiful, or admirable, for their brash defiance of the snow and ice?
Just asking!
Maybe I’m looking for meaning where it doesn’t exist, or playing with metaphors just to amuse myself, but not a single person paid any mind to this plant as they passed it by on their way into the greenhouses yesterday during my visit to the garden center. Primroses and pansies and coddled orchids were worthy of attention, but not this common plant putting on its vernal show for all to witness for free.
Spring is where you find it and, of course, where you choose to look. I’m at the point that any flower, or other sign of spring, however humble, causes me to stop and take notice. All the little steps away from winter bring us closer to warmth and the greening of the landscape.
When the retailers decide to flood the market with colorful flowers really has nothing to do with spring. If we followed them, we’d be celebrating Halloween in late August. We laugh at that idea, but are willing to buy into it in late March when we’re desperate for an end to winter and cold. But if you have a garden or are attentive to the signs, even the green shoots of snowdrops and crocuses, without any blooms yet, can work their magic and convince you that spring is on its way, however reluctantly it comes sometimes.
The miracle of March is working, mostly unseen. By May, when all the world is green and humming with life, we’ll have lost all sense of proportion. For now the first crocus or the simple witch hazel are a gentle reminder that spring isn’t just a dream.