blooming this week
Our landscape designer visited this week and brought along a variety of coneflower that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen – a prairie coneflower. So I’m looking forward to seeing those blooms. In the meantime, a few new plants joined the host of blossoms throughout the yard. Below the prolific bottlebrush, covered with honey bees and the buddleia blue chip.
.
Assorted salvias surrounding the pool with amaryllis and portulaca below.
.
With warm days and nights here, soil temps are increasing to the point where we should see much more growth and profuse blooms. Aided with a healthy supply of water and nutrients. Nothing about gardening is ever as carefree as it might appear.
Hope you enjoy your weekend!
blooming this week
.
new bloomers this week, from upper left – geranium, ligustrum, red ruellia, coreopsis. The Yaupon holly tree blooms are just starting to open and honey bees are beginning to cluster around already – it’s definitely their favorite. Next week we’ll see those flowers🙂
.
until then, a little look at the garden pathway after the morning sprinklers
.
.
and one of our frequent suet customers, the red bellied woodpecker
.
.
I added chopped apple to the bird feeders this morning and some larger chunks along the fence, but only the squirrels have enjoyed them so far. The birds are much less inclined than I thought they’d be.
.
enjoy this gorgeous weekend!
.
.
sharing here –> Elizabeth & Co’s garden party
three of a kind
mourning doves always like company. They are forever trying to see how many birds will fit into a single bird feeder. I think the record to date is 11. Very impressive.
.
I liked this particular picture of three doves side by side. They look so sweet — not at all like the pranksters they are.
.
.
.
greeting the morning
some birds are early risers and call out to their friends. It’s a peaceful way to wake up. Even though the light was dim, I love this picture because this northern cardinal looks wonderful with his spiked crown feathers.
hope you have a wonderful day–
tufted titmouse
I can identify a handful of birds by sight and sound. The varieties I have seen all my life. But some common birds are small and rather quick for a casual observer such as myself. Thank goodness for google.
.
.
this is a tufted titmouse. They are not uncommon visitors to backyard birdfeeders. But they are small and quick, so it is wise to keep those binoculars handy. This is the first spring in my lifetime that I’ve been able to observe one.
.
.
And here he is again devouring a delectable sunflower seed. They are welcome anytime🙂
bee keeping
All gardeners are bee keepers of sorts. We love pollinating insects. Even though honey bees can always be seen buzzing among the flowers, they don’t have a hive nearby. But happily, solitary bees live right here on the back porch. We see them digging burrows in our hanging driftwood sculpture (third image below).
.
.
Makes sense, the wood breaks away easily.
What we’ve come to understand is that the female bees burrow into the wood pieces to lay eggs.
.
.
She will pack pollen into these tiny chambers as a food source for her larvae when they hatch. Apparently they prefer a particular variety of flower as a pollen source. The bees living here seem to prefer the blue spires salvia.
.
.
.
We’re considering installing another piece of driftwood under the porch covering. A much larger branch that will offer far more protection from the rain for the tiny eggs inside. I suppose we should get on that task – bee season probably doesn’t last much longer.
.
.
.
.
sharing here –> Elizabeth & Co’s garden party
blooming this week
Last fall a friend gave us this tiny rose plant that probably came from the grocery store floral section. I wasn’t sure how sturdy the plant would be, but it survived the winter and has now more than doubled in size. It has perfectly beautiful miniature blooms.
.
Last week we purchased a French Broom at the nursery and I later learned that it is an invasive species that is not recommended for residential landscapes. Awesome!
.
We’ll have to rethink this area of the garden.
.
Hope you have a lovely weekend🙂
