Temperature's Rising...

The rain of the last few days has brought on the flowering of the wild daisies. These guys will actually go on more or less all summer, as long as I keep up with the deadheading. That hot red you see down below this flower is another clump of dianthus that's lately begun showing off.

They probably aren't "wild" daisies, per se. At least they seem fairly well-behaved to me. What I mean is they aren't some cultivated species, like the Shasta Daisies, or the "Becky" variant on the Shastas, with the large flowers we'll see somewhere around the first of July.

I found these growing in some grassy area and transplanted them into the garden, where they have mingled with the other plants. They like to seed themselves around, which is a quality I like in a plant, especially one so pretty. To my mind, a garden can't have too many of these.

It was a grey morning, though we had picked up ten degrees over the 51 we had when I'd retired for the evening and you could already feel the humidity closing in over us at 8:00 a.m., or so.

This pair of cardinals seemed to be enjoying one another's company, as they flitted about here and there along the fence.


As the work day progressed, the clouds cleared away and the sun came out...and it was hot.

Here's a bit of rose campion blooming out back of the restaurant, which I noticed on a break.

That great purple in the background is some more money plant--I told you it was everywhere.

We were at 71 by lunchtime and 81 an hour later, which seemed to be our high for the day. Thankful for air conditioning in the banquet hall.

I'd brought shorts and my new Tevas to change into, so I wouldn't have to suffer the heat in work attire on the ride home. As it turned out, it was around 6:00 p.m. by the time I got free of the office and by then, the temperature was already sliding back down to something reasonable (it's 66 now) and a nice seabreeze pushed the humidity away for the evening.

Tomorrow's supposed to be warmer still. I'll count on the ocean to keep us from getting as hot as places like New York (sorry, Patrick) and Boston, but also count my blessings that it will be a day when I can dress more casually and cooly for my time at work.

Back at home as the sun sank in the west, I poked around the garden a little and spotted some unexpected buds on this clutch of iris. This was a little slow to put up leaves this spring, so I was assuming I wouldn't see any flowers this years, but clearly, i was wrong.

I expect this will be one of those yellow and brown irises, since that was primarily what we had at the old garden and what I expect made the move. However, I'm a little intrigued by the purple streaking down at the base of the leaves, which may indicate a bloom of a different color. We shall see.

A few bits of business: First, my thanks go out to Richard, who emailed from Pittsburgh to suggest a mild solution of Dawn dish detergent and water (just a drop or two of the soap in a spray bottle full of water) to spray on the roses to address the aphid issue whilst I figure out where to get some ladybugs.

I'm very happy to say that I did so Thursday evening and the problem seems to have cleared up already by today! I have a few damaged flower heads and leaves to pinch out to make things a little tidier, but the aphids are gone. How I love a simple solution. Thanks Richard, both for your suggestion and also for stopping by the Garden!

And now, the links portion of the evening: I read a great New York Times article earlier about the phenomenon of "guerilla gardening". Essentially, we're talking about people who have no gardens going unbidden to do gardening work on land with no gardeners...abandoned lots, public places, etc.

The article focuses primarily on the efforts of Richard Reynolds, who's been organizing massive work on this type in London, England. If you go to read the article, be sure to watch the video about how to make a wildflower seed bomb which you can chuck over a fence or a wall into some otherwise unreachable area. Gods, I love this stuff!

Richard keeps a blog about those efforts, as well, which you can find here.

Stay cool, everyone!

Morning, Garden

This cardinal was facing east and singing on the morning sun as I enjoyed my first coffee out on the back porch this morning. I think he was perched on more or less the same branch I saw the oriole yesterday.

It's great that the season's getting to that transitional point when sitting outside with the first cup is comfortably possible. I so greatly prefer the cardinal's song to the Today show or the Weather Channel.

I thought I'd share a glimpse of the future with you today, now that the morning glory seedlings are getting a little bigger. There are seven of this class doing very well.

Something (probably feline) happened to the eighth one, but I'm not making much of an Agatha Christie moment out of it. Especially since a fresh batch of them should be sprouting shortly.

Although they were slow to do too much of anything (they were planted a day before the morning glories), you can see there's now also a nice crop of cleome seedlings coming along (you know, I believe they are the purple-flowered version, come to think of it).

They are just about the size where I ought to be thinking about thinning them, but since I expect to plant them out in a week or so, I'll take a chance that they'll continue to co-exist just fine in the small space for the nonce.

I brought the second mug of coffee out to the front yard with me, so I could give the garden a nice soak while continuing to work on rejoining the Waking World for another day.

We had a luncheon on the work schedule today and there was banking to be done on the way in, so I needed to get out and about relatively early...but there was still time for a bit of a prowl along the garden border...from whence cometh today's Floral Moment of Zen.


I'm a little sad to say I won't have the purple of our own lilacs to share with you this year. They are blooming now, but that doesn't include our sad little shrub, who'd grown a little gawky in the shady spot it languished in the past few years. This one will need a little tough love, now it's got a full-sun spot in which to flourish.

In the weeks ahead, my plan is to take out the two oldest and thickest branches in the center which are my height, and then prune down the remaining branches just a little...which should get some side branching happening over the summer, which might bloom next year (lilac only does so on old wood...don't laugh, i'm serious...).

Fear not, I'll be looking for some lovely lilacs to photograph for you this weekend, as they are coming into their prime around here...and I do enjoy spending time in their company.

Meanwhile, I was a little astonished to see that this clump of carnation is already showing a pair of flower shoots and signs of budding.

Behold, the power of the sun!

Well, here was a nice change of pace, when the new rental provided a pleasant surprise this morning, in the form of this unexpected hyacinth.

I think it's a hyacinth, anyway, but the leaves do seem odd somehow. I'm not sure if there's maybe some sort of miner bug inside, or if the chevron marks are just damage from pushing up from such a rough area. Until a week or so ago, the bunny cage was located here and so it was pretty high traffic spot.

Anyway, I'll keep an eye on it to see what it will be, and also clear out the area around it, in case it's part of a larger garden grouping that wasn't visible in the fall when we landed here. I think I see a few money plant seedlings in there, too.

I've mentioned the bird song in general before. It's just amazing how it suddenly increases as the days grow longer and it's time to find a nestmate and all.

There's a woodpecker who seems to enjoy banging on the side of our house in the morning. I've tried a few times to get a photo of him doing it, but he doesn't hang around long enough when I appear. Next time I hear him, I'll try to sneak out the front door and walk around.

The cardinal songs are especially notable, and easy to pick out from assorted other members of the Morning Bird Chorus. I seem to hear them everywhere, all happy and optimistic. I'm not unhappy with it as a soundtrack choice. (That said, I'm sure there's a gloomy Gus or two around who'll say they sound just like a car alarm. I do know from experience that it's a sound I love when I hear it in the Wild, but don't enjoy quite so much when it's created artificially from a Christmas ornament.)

We've got at least two pair of them in the yard in Harwich. This male cardinal, however, was singing outside the restaurant in Orleans as I left early this evening. I think I heard another one across the bank parking lot singing in response...or perhaps in competition.

Below is the view off our back porch around 7:30 this evening, looking through the sassafras branches. Isn't it funny how you just automatically hear the Theme From Tara in your head, or is that just me?

I hope the next image reads clear on your monitor. It's dark enough that any difference in settings between my computer and yours could mean the difference in it being kind of cool or a muddy mess. (I'll hope you think it's the former.)

I was a bit taken with the patchwork quilted look the clouds had overhead and since I had the tripod, I gave it a shot. The real trick was timing it to catch the moon's sudden reappearance through the cracks in the clouds.

For those of you pining for spring (and really, who isn't at this point?), MSN has a great article about garden tours and hidden gardens in a few different parts of the country. You can see if any are near you here.

Valentine's Day

This brilliantly-colored male cardinal felt like a Valentine from Mother Nature on this grey New England morning. He was foraging for seed outside the kitchen window and despite jostling by our kitty, I managed this decent shot of him.

I'm fond of this tree and its silhouette, which is my landmark to turn onto our new street. Despite the cold, I wanted to stop and share it with you all.

Here's the Love Bandit Bear, who came to our house looking for me today, from the Vermont Teddy Bear workshop.

Isn't he the cutest thing?! The "local agent" who arranged for the Bandit to find me is, too!! (Thanks, Owen--I love you!)

One of our cardinals basks in the early morning sun, as the woodpecker visits the suet feeder. In the deep cover background of this photo, you might also spot the female cardinal who visits the feeders with the two males we've been seeing.

Remember that fairly expensive doghouse Emily got last year? It did make the move with us, even though Em's never expressed the slightest interest in it. At least now, beneath the hanging bird feeder, it creates a nice platform for cardinal dining.

I didn't get a picture of the other wildlife sighting today: a mouse (or some similar small critter) in the laundry room.

We've sounded the alert, but you can see just how interested our fearless feline is in the impending hunt.

Cardinal

This morning, we came close to having visitors to the feeders. A host of tufted titmice were spotted, as well as this cardinal and his wife.

They enjoyed the seed I'd scattered on the ground, but so far as I know, not a bird has yet visited the feeders hanging on the windows. At least I've managed to get their attention.

Before long, I'm sure they'll be lining up for some grub. In the meantime, I'm surprised our fare hasn't been discovered by the neighborhood squirrels.

Sunny Day

Monday, and a nice taste of spring today. We saw a high temperature for the last week of 50 degrees, which was most welcome!

Today also brought enlightenment as to why our little thistle seed feeder has been hanging at a forty-five degree angle lately.

High in the treetop over the house, a cardinal sang a beautiful song about spring time and wind speeds and extended forecasts ...and rampaging squirrels in feeders where they don't belong, no doubt.

To honor the arrival of some snow-weary Adiron dackers, our crocuses opened wide in welcome.

A truly beautiful day.