Evening's Gardens

This shot of the purple tulip (with few exceptions, they are long-lasting in their beauty) made me think of Gillian's recent photos of that deep maroon tulip from her garden (she turned it into her new header photo--you should check it out here).

Have you noticed how spring's popping up all over the internet? It seems like everyone's blogging from the garden these days...and what could possibly be wrong with that?

Hey, remember when I introduced you to the ajuga a few weeks back and they seemed to tower above the shasta daisy foliage?

You can see (right) the daisies are now taller than the ajuga, though each of those two blue flower spikes have sent out six inch runners in several directions.

Helpful gardener that I am, I covered those runners with a little dirt as I weeded the other day...to help those runners turn into roots. I'd like a whole patch of those blue flower spikes next year!

To the left in that picture, you can see another of the successful peony transplants, with a rose climbing up the fence post. Peeking over from the other side of the fence, there's some tall garden phlox in the background. The white in the foreground is pansies to the left and allyssum to the right. The pale green right in the center down there is a clump of autumn sedum.

The light was perfect for photos in the garden this evening, and I finally got a good shot of the columbine, the buds of which are only just starting to look like the unique flowers they become.

I'm always interested to see what the flowers will look like...there were two or three different varieties going in Eastham, and I'm not sure which ones made the trip...and which might've been new seedlings from cross-pollination. It could be a flower I've never seen before. I mention this because I don't remember them being this purple last year.
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We interrupt this blog post to bring you a lapful of kitty.

Half an hour passes. There is chin-rubbing, bread-making, belly-rubbing, ear scratching and almost deafening purring. Now, with the possibility that something more interesting might be happening somewhere else in the house, he's off again.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog. We regret any inconvenience.
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The evening sun also allowed me to get this terrific shot of the buds of the red valerian (distant relation, I believe, to the white valerian I also know as garden heliotrope...confused yet? Good, I'm not alone.)

Pterydactls, anyone?


While I poked around the garden--I'm happy to say there are still carnation buds yet uneaten by the Giant Bunny--this cowbird swooped down to get a drink and have a bit of a wash.


In the little birdbath in the sideyard, this house sparrow was doing the same.

But it was time to turn my attention to more "local" wildlife, as it was time for the Nightly Walk...and Em was eager to hit the dusty trail.

Her enthusiasm never fails to inspire me--she gets more excited about these walks than she does about Paper Day (her name for Christmas morning).

She is always in control, but even moreso as we pass the gardens in this yard every night.

I'm so enchanted by their arrangement and design; I'm constantly surprised as I recognize one plant or another(there's purple violets in between and underneath the hostas)...and then spot another I've never seen before...and Em just drags me along, so I never get to look for very long.

I made her stop for a few moments on the next corner, where there are a few mayflowers blooming. I've been trying to photograph them all week, but seem to be continually foiled by wind and too-bright sunlight...and of course, the impatient dog.

She's all business on these trips, and has little time to be standing around while I take pictures, so I usually take them on the fly, or not at all.

This evening, I managed this one of the lily of the valley (and buttercups!!) growing under this fence around the last corner as we headed into the home stretch.

Thursday's Thoughts

Well, okay. There's always a new day, and before getting this one started, I'll offer my thanks to Joe for his forward-looking comment and Cooper for his thoughtful post, both of which worked in concert to talk me down off the idea of fomenting an Earth Day revolution with my Great Big Hoe in hand. Revolution's great, but who can spare the time from the garden?

Oh, and just in case we have nearly played out this dear planet of ours and need to look elsewhere, this article offers some ideas of what we might expect of flora on alien planets!

As the trees begin to flower and leaf out, things are looking great out in the garden. But as I've been reviewing things lately, I noticed that a few little slips of weed seedlings and minor grasses were beginning to appear...and that's the best time to get rid of them.

So, with the full day off before me, I tended to the garden up close and personal-like, taking my little hand rake and loosening up the soil, blending the various layers I added in raising the bed this spring, whilst teasing out the little invaders.

Here's that foxglove plant I mentioned the other day.

The project was a good chance to give each transplant a close study, to remove old foliage and in a few cases, to actually dig up and replant a few who'd been done a dis-service in the haste of last fall's planting.

It was another incredible day, with freshening breezes and temps climbing into the low seventies. Birds sang everywhere and my mind was free to sort through whatever it needs to in the quiet. Today, though, I seemed to have music on my mind, considering the idea of theme songs and I cycled through a few different tunes as I worked. Whenever I'm doing this sort of work, it's always "Wick", the song from Secret Garden that sticks itself in my head.

Those are some of the peonies in this image, those fancy looking red stalks. There are four or five of those and they have all survived the move nicely, if their early growth is an indication.

Because it was such a great day, my sunflower seedlings enjoyed the day outside, getting better accustomed to the conditions they'll be enjoying soon. They seemed to love it. Meanwhile, last night I planted a tray of cleome seeds, and tonight added a tray of morning glories (which I soaked overnight before planting), so the next class of seedlings should be coming along shortly.

This tulip, though sporting chewed leaves, looks like it will be blooming for us by the weekend.

Because it was a pretty warm day, and it was windy and my work was turning over a lot of fresh soil, I was a little concerned about drying. So as I finished each fence section of the garden, I stopped to hand-water of each plant. It took most of the day, but the whole border looked really great by this evening.

I should've used some sunscreen today, though for the kind of work I was doing, it always gives the dirt a little something more to cling to. Plus, I didn't imagine I'd need it, being fairly well-covered up. But just the same, I can feel a little sunburny-ness on my forearms and my face. I'm not a tanner. Usually I burn and fade, instead. I'll try to remember to be more careful. Maybe I need a hat.

As I was watching the bunny sitting in the yard across the way, gazing hungrily at the garden this evening, I was kinda pleased to notice that some of our neighbors slowed down to check out the border as they drove by. It's always nice to be noticed...and since they seem to be seasonal residents, the sudden appearance of a garden where there had been none must have been a little bit of a surprise.

Oh, this is funny. So I knew we had this great bird population, so I've made an effort to establish two new birdbath areas at our place this week...and I've been eager to watch them enjoy the new facilities. So imagine my surprise when the small group of house sparrows who hang out in the bushes came flying down to take dirt baths in the new garden bed around the birdbath.

I got a little film of them, too. Now that whole area is full of little sparrow dents!


I'm happy to say that other birds have been enjoying the birdbath, though, like this cowbird who had a nice pampering visit tonight.

(As you can see, with a little trial and error, I'm finding that the telescope can be a helpful way to watch the birds without scaring them off from their routines.)

Birds, Bees, Turtles and Frogs

This little purple finch (right) has set its sights on the front of our house. A few days ago, it tried unsuc cessfully to build a nest in the light fixture over our front door.

As an option, Owen hung a ceramic bird nest nearby, in hopes it will consider this alternative. We'll see what happens, but the finch's interest hasn't waned.

I'm not sure of the identity of that higher bird, to the left.

In the same neighborhood, a female cardinal (the same one that's tried to build in the andromeda bush the last two springs, perhaps) has taken to hanging out in the lower evergreen shrub next to the andromeda...which would be fine, if she could learn to be less skittish about our comings and goings. I always feel so bad for disturbing her.
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Another beautiful Cape Cod day here, nice and sunny and relatively warm, though it's cooled off again now that it's dark.

That oriole I've been hearing has been making himself more visible, singing around from tree to tree around the whole yard, but particularly, it seems, in the trees around the fringe of the back garden.

The apple tree is beginning to blossom this weekend, and you can see the bumblers have wasted no time in planning their visits.


Had another good day of work out there today. I planted a pair of small marigold patches, and then planted some seeds (alyssum, cosmos and bachelor buttons) and a few more of the gladiolas.

I got more weeding done in one of the beds further out in my arrangements, and was happy to discover most of the tree seedlings I planted for Arbor Day last year are leafing out nicely. As these seedlings are still all less than six inches in height, you'll understand my enthusiasm.

And I also got the paths mowed and edged, so things are starting to look pretty nice out there.


I've been noticing a cowbird out in the back this past week, and also another, gray bird. And today, I realized that the gray one is a female cowbird (there's also been a catbird hanging around, which was helping me to confuse the identity of this one), when I saw the two of them cavorting together in the apple trees.

I was just enjoying a quiet moment at the end of the work when he came splashing into one of the freshly-filled birdbaths. He had a pretty elaborate session and the sounds of his bathing attracted other attention.

Overhead, a this bluejay circled around and landed at another feeder, where he had a nice drink before flying off again.

Mr. Cowbird made quite a fuss about drying off after his bath, fluttering around near the sun-warmed upper branches of the apple trees, rubbing his beak on the tree branches.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, there were three turtles on Basking Log this afternoon. One splashed away before I even snapped a photo, but I managed to get closer than usual before the other two were disturbed.

And then there was one.


Further along the shore, an assortment of green frogs lay still in the shallow edges of the pond, waiting for bugs. It must be their hrrhm hrrhm hrrrhm we've been hearing for the last week or so.