Saturday

My asters are starting to open. The ones in my pots are doing significantly better then the ones on the ground!  I don't think they like the rocks and clay in the one garden.  I'm thinking of trying to transplant the potted ones in the butterfly garden in the fall.

My little guy was out here, once more chasing away another hummer, then quickly feeding on everything around him.

Recently there had been a whole family of blue jays that visited. I assume they were training the young ones. Today there was one adult and one young one. Here he is squawking at a parent for food.  Usually the blue jays will come right to the yard for peanuts even while I'm out there, but I guess when training the young they show more restraint when there's a human about! Once cold weather hits the blue jays, ducks, titmouse, do become demanding for food and will come to the porch, sit on the rail and make a racket until I show up with peanuts for them. 

The tufted titmouse was around while I was outside, but it didn't come for the sunflower seeds on my table. Close, but again being cautious.  Later I heard a lot of racket in the woods across the stream and could see it had some young ones with her.

There were a lot of yellow tiger swallowtails out today in the yard.  I was happy to see one of them feeding on the swampweed. Which is covered with some sort of bugs. I love the swampweed and it has a nice smell to it.  They are planted alongside the two pawpaw trees. 

A goldfinch on a feeder.  I have the ugliest feeding station. An old table umbrella. the canvas was old and atorn, so I removed it  and tried to think of a way to reuse it, instead of throwing it out. So I have feeders hanging all over it.  The birds don't seem to mind. And it's easier to fill them all in one spot.  though I still have a feeder by my small window in my hallway. Easy to view them, and to take photos in winter.  Plus the large birds and squirrel can't get to it.  Actually the squirrel can't get to the umbrella feeder  it seems. I think he's too heavy, so we'll see what way he devises (because you know eventually he will) to get to all the food available there!

A silver spotted skipper catching a little sun. Not sure if you can see it in this photo, but theylook like they are mimicking 'The Scream'

Two cabbage whites...I assumed puddling. When I saw the photo in my computer though I'm wondering just WHAT that was they were feeding at.

Recently my son and I were sitting out in the yard after dark. I looked up at the tree behind him and saw a pair of eyes looking at us.  I told him to turn slowly and look up.  I told him I thought it was a possum, but he said...awww it's a kitty!  I turned the flashlight on.  It was a young possum. Who quickly scurried back along the branch and disappeared down the tree.  But it solved one mystery for me.  Every day when I got home from work, my jelly feeder was on the ground by the stream. I knew someones fat butt was on there knocking it down. I was thinking it was the ground hog.  I have several around here, but a younger one lives under my shed. I thought maybe he was the culprit.  now I know it was a possum. 

I'm continually amazed at what eats grape jelly.  I originally put it out to attact any passing bluebirds  or Oriole's in the Spring.  I've only seen them here a time or two but they only stopped to use the stream. But the catbirds love it and eat quite a bit of it.  The second year I had it up, the robin decided to start chowing down on it too.  A few other birds have given it a try, some it seems, only once out of curiousity as they never became regulars to that feeder.

Today I started a new large container of jelly...I will try to remember to post when I need to buy a new one!

I did pull a few weeds today, deadheaded some butterfly bush and cut back the yarrow.  I didn't realize i should be deadheading it, so hopefully this will help it grow a little fuller now.

My moonflower vine doesn't have any blossoms on it yet, but searching online shows I don't have to worry about that until September. At least the vine did grow quickly. Much better then my clematis. 

Speaking of groundhogs, I'd noticed from across the yeard that my cluster of  coneflowers didn't look as full as anyone else's. Sister has beautiful thick stands of them! Closer inspection revealed they were missing most of their leaves, giving them a rather sparse look despite all the flower heads.  I suspected the groundhog.  He surely loves the tender new leaves, especially of coneflowers as he never let mine on the bank grow when I planted them this year.  Anyhow the other day I watched out the window as he made his way over to the garden.  I quietly went outside. The AC compressor nearby was running, which gave me some sound cover.  I took a couple feet a way from him and quietly watched him until he was contentedly picking leaves and say HEY! LITTLE DUDE!  (yes he has a nickname!) Amazing how fast a goundhog can run.  And like an idiot I stood there, laughing outloud. no one else is around and there I was having a good time stalking the poor groundhog.

Otherwise I don't normally bother him.  I like to get photos of him.  He has enough problems though with a bigger groundhog that comes for the ducks corn.  I saw little dude going for the corn as the big one was feeding. He approached cautiously and when he got within 2 feet of the big one, I saw dude's head go up and he took off up the bank, and the big one took off after him and chased him all through the garden and disappeared behind the shed.  With me yelling RUN lil dude RUN!  (like...Run Forrest Run...)

I have thousands of yard stories I think LOL

I almost forgot, I brought in a lot of herbs for the 3 bunnies.  mint, chocolate mint, cinnamon basil, mini basil, 2 kind of lavendar, sage, lemon balm, pineapple mint and also some marigolds. Sweetpea and Star didn't hesitate (he who hesitates doesn't get as much!) and nommed whatever was put in front of them.  HoneyBee on the other hand is not so easily led, unless of course it's a snack food and a sweet one at that.  She approached with caution, took one sniff and jumped back as though offended at the offerings.  Then she crept closer and took a few careful sniffs, then tried to pull one piece out of the pile. Nibbling it she kept trying to get away from the pile of herbs. Apparently she likes to keep all her treats separate and not touching. She only ate a piece or two and turned her nose up at the rest.  Star and Sweetpea don't mind.

As soon as I opened up the refrigerator though, HoneyBee came a hopping and slidding across the kitchen floor. She wanted a baby carrot. She got one, but kept bugging for more treats so I gave her, and the other two, some shredded wheat.  They eat that like it's candy, with Sweetpea trying to fit as many pieces into his mouth at one time to keep it from Star.  Competitive eating I call it!

I'm beyond excited!

I was getting a few pics ready for todays blog but there is a strange sounding bird in the tree out here and I walked to the door to see if I could locate and identify the bird.  Instead I got to see a zebra swallowtail flying by. I have never seen out other then in the butterfly house at Hershey Gardens.
Now if only I get one to lay eggs on my pawpaw tree!

I called sister to tell her and she's not home. ARGH!  So I called my son...he was the only one I could think of that would understand, and know what I was talking about.  Granted, he wasn't as excited as I was but he still thought it was awesome.

phew..now I need to take a breath and regroup for the post I was working on.

territorial hummingbird

Trying to sleep and failing, as too often happens I looked out the window to see what was going on in the yard.  There was the hummingbird so I slipped outside to watch him.  Turns out he was very busy defending his territory from another hummer. After chasing off the intruder, he returned and frenetically buzzed to most of the necter plants, sipping and zipping off to the next.  This is the first I'd seen him sip from the lobelia, nicotiana, and salvia...along with the lantana, bee balm and butterfly bush.  Unfortunately there wasn't enough light for good pictures. But here he is at the nicotiana plant.

And the mosquitos are biting!

This morning a few of my plants looked rather wilted from the weeks heat.  I'm glad I have the stream here for hand watering. Even though my obedient plant has been in ground and growing for awhile, it still needs some extra water from time to time, as does one of my bee balms.

My hummingbird visited as usual. He visited the feeder as well as my white buddleia. Out of the three I have, the compact white one is my favorite for the way it grows.  My black knight is a disappointment. It's not as dark as the others I've seen (my sister has one she got at the same time and place) and it's growth is very haphazard.

I didn't spend as much time in the yard today, after getting home late this morning. Running errands and stopping to visit with sister and enjoying her garden. I'm envious of her garden!! Her stuff grows beautifully and I'll share photos now and then of her yard/gardens too. Working 7 nights a week, I don't always get done what I imagine I will once home.

He was looking up at the plane flying low overhead. He took off for a bit. But returned within minutes. First he visited the white buddliea. Can you see him?

I could watch him for hours! The other day he didn't appreciate it and came over to me and hovered about a foot in front of my face, eye level and kept chirping at me. He obviously wasn't pleased with my presence! Then he went up into the tree and sat there, trying to wait me out.

looking a little worn

I think this was the first instar of a spicebush caterpillar, on my spicebush.

my royal queen purple.  though not a native plant, it is loved by hummingbirds. And the bonus is that it's growing very well and quickly on top of the bank. It is also heat tolerant. yea! I hadn't realized when I first got it that it grows into a bush several feet high and wide. Next Spring things might be getting a tad crowded up there.

This is at my sisters. A photo I was really pleased with.  I only have a point and shoot right now...and hope one day to finally have a DSLR.

Also at Sisters.  Some of her cone flowers are still looking fresh despite the long heat this summer.

baby stinkbug!

stinkbug eggs found on a dead leaf of my bee balm yesterday. nasty bugs! I had been searching my plants for butterfly eggs and caterpillars. The one spicebush cat I had, is gone. It was only the first instar. Having stinkbugs around is not conducive to cat survival. Next season, once my plants are more established I may take to raising some of them myself when I find them in time!

starting out - finally!

After months of boring my friends on facebook, I decided to blog about my yard away from FB. I've been wanting to do this since I started the gardens this spring, to keep track of what I'm doing. Or rather what I'm trying to do. :) But as usual I procrastinated.

I've only been working on gardening a couple years, with the past year being a bit more serious about it, thanks to my sister. She inspires me.

This season I've begun to build a garden for the butterflies and hummingbirds. 

I have a bank along side my home, that was built in 1973 by the army corp of engineers after flooding devastated the mobile home park I reside in. Needless to say, the dirt isn't really dirt at all. It's silt, sand, rock, stones, and whatever else they dredged up from the stream. (including metal from old car parts from a salvage yard nearby!) 

Luckily there are plants that love the 'soil' there. Other plants are surviving, but aren't growing as much as I'd like them to.  Much of this I will have to see how it is next spring to decide where to go with things.  a little late in the game I've started looking into more native plants, since they are acclimated to such ground.

On the other side of the yard, the ground is ...clay,rocks, stones.  I'm told that this whole property was a swamp, backfilled in the 50's.  I can believe it.  It's difficult to dig anything as deep as recommended. Not to mention very hard work.   And you know the weeds have no problem growing in either place!

A few years ago, they came through and cut down all the trees ...it was a nightmare. I have a stream out front, which began to seriously erode the ground. I've lost several feet of yard, so it's something I'm working on stopping.  The property owner doesn't seem to understand what a problem this is.  I live near a small airport, as well as a military supply depot, and the cutting was a bizarre knee jerk reaction to 9/11. As though what..snipers were going to be hiding in the trees shooting down small aircraft?

The other problem is japanese knotweed.  When I first moved in over 10 years ago, there was this lovely thick wall of plant, that gave me privacy. I thought - GREAT!  Until I found out what it was. YIKES!  It keeps me busy especially in the Spring to keep it from completely taking over.  I can't yank it all out, or my yard will fall into the stream.  Sadly, with all the trees gone, the knotweed has thrived along the other side of the stream. 

Anyhow, I'd planted some holly bushes  a few years ago, but this year, understanding native planting a little more, I now have a fragrant sumac planted too.  It seems to be surviving, so next year I'll probably plant more, and find other suitable plants/ bushes. 

Planting trees is difficult here, since anything that gets to big will be lopped off every two years thanks to the airport.  That and I'm running out of room :D  Plus I do want to be able to enjoy the stream and all the life it brings to the yard.  Ducks, egrets, blue and green herons, snapping turtles, muskrats, etc.   Not to mention I get to watch the birds bathe and the butterflies 'puddle' nearby.

The other day I was watching some eastern tiger swallowtails puddling. And I was amazed to see that one was forcing out clear fluid from his hind end. I ended up with a nice video of it - for who would have believed me otherwise!  Usually it is the males puddling, they take in amino acides and salt, and expel all the excess water almost immediately while retaining some of the minerals...sort of a digestive tract cleansing! But the minerals and salt are also needed to enhance their sperm, and passed on to the female to help make her eggs more viable. 

Isn't nature amazing!

In the days to come I hope to post some photos and list some of what I have growing here.