Taking Stock, Getting Ready to Say Goodbye

Our faithful friends of the garden are getting ready to say goodbye. My garden peaks in May, so after the Irises fade, there is not much left to look forward to.  The Pitcher Plants will grow bigger, the Liatris will spike up and flop over, the Purple Loosestrife will tower over the garden bench with all it's menace, the Coral Bells will struggle against the aggressive Mint, the native Daylilies will shoot up five foot tall flower stalks, the ornamental Daylilies will put in an appearance, and there are one or two plants whose names I don't remember.  But nothing comes close to the splendor of the spring blossoms.

So I say good bye to these perennial pals:  the purple Iris above...

The Yellow Flag Iris...

The Japanese Iris...

The plant which I only remember it's cultivar name: Alba...

My one Peony boom, although she is just beginning to open, and there is one more on the way....

But the pond itself remains always, supporting my Koi, Comets, and Shubumkins.  The fish, the fish--it was always about the fish anyway.

Please do continue to visit.  I will continue to post pictures to show the entire life and times of this pond in Virginia!  :-)

Wildlife Gone Wild!

I'll start this post with a couple pictures of birds, because the most incredible thing just happened to me involving a bird.  (It wasn't a Cardinal though).  The Cardinal pictured above, however, sat in the garden for several minutes today all puffed out, and wings fanned out, acting like it either 1) just took a bath and was drying in the sun 2) was trying to attract a mate or 3) was a baby and wanted it's parent to feed it.  Mystery was not solved.  The bottom pic is of a Red Bellied Woodpecker.  This one is using a special technique for splitting sunflower seeds:  wedge it in the corner of the bird feeder post, then peck it.  This is the same bird I see every year, or perhaps the descendants of the parent who first learned this trick and taught it to it's young.

But let me recount to you what just happened a few moments ago!  I was lying in the warm afternoon sun on the chaise lounge on my deck--just to take a break and soak up the sun for a few minutes.  Birds are very comfortable around our deck, because the bird feeder, bird bath, and water garden are just adjacent.  Every year Wrens make nests in our hanging baskets.  So when I heard a bird fluttering around the deck, I said to myself, "hold still and see how close it comes".  Well, I did hold still, and with my sunglasses on it was not evident that I was a living human being.  The bird, or birds, kept fluttering closer and closer.  At one point I spied it hovering about five feet above me, and thought it was a Cardinal, but I couldn't get a good look.  Soon I heard them hopping on and off the furniture. And then, one landed on the cushion of my lounge near the back of my head, flying off, then coming back again.  Then, low and behold...it started yanking strands of hair off my head!!  I thought "Wow!  I can't believe this is actually happening!"  It did cross my mind that they would be attracted to the hair, but I didn't imagine they would do it.  Well,  I think there were two...as one yanked off a few strands and fly away, another would land right away and yank some more.  Soon, there was just too much yanking and I was afraid they would take too much of my hair away, so I slowly moved my head back to see if I could get a glimpse of them.  They were slow to realize what was happening, and I was able to see that they were a couple Titmouse!  I was very surprised, as I thought they would have been Wrens.  They confusingly hopped on the nearby deck furniture, then the railing, then the roof, each time looking down at me wondering what was going on.  It was simply amazing!  And no, I did not get pooped on.  LOL!

The fish were very active this morning.  They come to me like in this picture now whenever I approach the pond.  Their appetites are waking up.

As for the frogs, have we been enjoying their antics as well!  This very large common pond frog (don't know it's real name) sits out at the upper pool with it's younger relatives.

And now for the Bullfrog!  This is the photo I took the other day, the one where I didn't realize I had caught a picture of the Bullfrog.  This was especially exciting because I had not bee able to see him, he is so elusive.  But later in the day, when I was sneaking out to take pics of the regular frogs above, about half way through the photo session, I noticed a blob on the far side of the pond wall.  I looked and it was the Bullfrog frozen halfway up the rocks, where he had been climbing out of the pond!  It was awesome.  He stayed there like that for several minutes until a squirrel came over and caused him to jump back into the pond.

Earlier in the day I watched as two very young squirrels explored the garden and the waterfall.  It's amazing how just through observation you can learn so much.  You can tell by the antics of an animal that it is young and everything is new to them.  I also enjoy watching young families of birds.  They act like juveniles, even demanding that their parents feed them.

About the same time as the young squirrels explored, two Chipmunks scurried around, chasing each other over phlox and garden bench.  It was almost a regular wrestling match!

Everything in this post happened in two days.  Things are getting wild in the garden!

Pics in the Morning Light

One thing I am learning is there is nothing that influences photography or art more (other than it's subject) than light.  Time of day makes a huge difference in the appearance of your subject in photography.  This brings back to mind the instructions of my Photography instructor in college...take your pictures in the early morning or in the late afternoon.  I heard it but I didn't want to pay attention to it.  It is important!

The first pic is what greets us as we exit our back door.  I just love drinking in that view.  And the bench is always inviting us to indulge in a short reverie that slows your heart beat and lifts your spirits by communing with flora and fish.  Every day brings something new in the garden...discoveries are always waiting, and re-occurrences, like old standbys, remind you of that which is dependable in life.

Iris and Pitcher Plant Season!

Now the garden is coming into it's own, and spruced up with a fresh coat of mulch.  At the bottom of the pic is where I plant herbs every year. What a joy having fresh herbs is!

The Catmint is happy, and of course, the irises steal the show around Mother's Day.

Happy Irises--almost too happy.  I had to stake so many blooms for the first time this year--not sure why!  Near them are Spring Phlox (wild).

Now to my pride and joy--the Pitcher Plants!  How lovely and unique they are, especially this time of year when they are blooming.  Don't they look prehistoric?  I think they are really strange.  And you can just see the first pitchers coming up.  They will continue to grow taller, and then form pitchers that catch insects that they consume for the protein they need.  I just love the flowers though.

These are the red flowers from a short variety--I wish I could remember the name.  The shape of the pitchers are completely different.

Here you can see the bog garden on the right side of the pond.  I am sad about the Yellow Flag Irises (in pond) that I had to divide at the absolute worst time--just as they were starting to bloom. But they were floating out of their pots, which had no planting medium left in them, and were so overgrown.  I had to wrestle and chop and rip apart them and the planting basket that they were intangled in.  Plus they are so heavy!  I was feeling it for days!

I thought I divided them last fall, but I don't know...  It's not working too well.  They are the plants in the pond that are flopping over.  Last week I divided them and planted about half in a wet land garden on the left side of the pond.  They work better in the ground as seen here in this pic, but they are normally so lovely and vigorous in the pond too.  In front is a peony that is loving life. Looking forward to it's blooms!

Now to the Mint.  Well, the Mint...what can I say.  Marching onward to dominantion, manifest destiny, to rule the world.  It's still attractive at this stage, but will be really tall and leggy soon.  I will cut it back big-time in mid summer.  Lovely fragrance though.  And we have made some great Mint Juleps with them!  The Pacasandra (bottom of pic) is also loving life, and is relatively well-behaved. :-)

This plant is one of my favorites every year.  Needs a well-drained soil.  I mixed sand into their holes when I planed them, but lost one to fungus last year. :-(

This is an extremely large variety of Hosta (two plants here in this pic).  I just love it, and it has been in this spot for about 15 years.  But it has been this large all along of course.  It faithfully comes back every spring, and I have not done a thing to it.  I would love to find another one, but I have a feeling it must be some kinds of heirloom variety?

And I shall leave you with another pic of the fabulous Pitcher Plants. :-)