A Robin's Sanctuary

 

Robin's egg shell

A rabbit hiding in plain site

Spent white flowers of the Blackhaw Viburnum 

that have dropped to the ground.

Looks like part of the Trillium.

 

'My Mary' Azalea loosing its old blossoms

Maple seeds

I think this pin head size insect is the nymph 

of the Florida Predatory Stink Bug.

The dried up spots on the Wreath Goldenrod leaf 

are most likely caused by leaf sucking insects 

that the nymph has already devoured.

I suppose nostalgic is the word that comes to mind when I walk and sit in the garden, of which the best part of my life has been devoted to.  It’s a feeling of contentment laced with a bit of quiet desperation when one’s state of mind endlessly desires to accomplish more, and one’s state of physical being must accept the fact that the sky is not always the limit.

The patio and deck cleaning are out of the way, and the recovered fallen Ash tree branches have been redistributed into the garden to slow down erosion.  We are talking about small branches over six feet long and the size of my skinny arm.

I cannot even comprehend the sound of such a tree limb cracking and falling through a maze of branches on its way down to be stopped by the earth.  I thought I heard one yesterday, and when I found it, the size was like a two foot stick no thicker than my thumb.  I thought for sure an elephant had come crashing out of the heavens to dine with me at lunchtime.

Talk about dining, a bumper crop of five hungry piranhas masquerading as juvenile squirrels have invaded my garden from their hidden nest in the huge tree across the street.  A quart of sunflower hearts runs out long before the sun has reached its zenith for the day.

Spring wears her disguises of winter and summer so cleverly, that one may wake up to a warm morning in May and end their day back in the coldness of January.  Summer has a way of sneaking in unnoticed until one day it’s hotter than hell in the neighborhood.

A new cellphone has entered my life, even though I usually wear something out before retiring it and moving on.  The learning curve is a bit exasperating when a Samsung Galaxy S7 is replaced by a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.  Thank goodness for YouTube videos.

My garden comes across mostly as fifty shades of green, because… well, because it is a garden of fifty shades of green.  The sunny areas around the edges are always full of color, but the shady areas are more subdued in their shy coloring.  It’s a garden where photos never fully justify its quiet beauty, and yet I try, sometimes succeeding.

Welcome to my May, and a day that began in sunny warmth and ended in a growing coolness worthy of a coat.

Physocarpus opulifolius - Ninebark

Top photo are the seed heads from each pollinated blossom.

Insect is most likely a carpet beetle.

Conradina verticillata, Cumberland False Rosemary

a member of the mint family.

It has been classified as a threatened species.

Fleabane

Byzantine Gladiolus

This photo looks abstract, but it shows the iridescence of the glad.

Euonymus americanus, Strawberry Bush

Pollinated by ants.

Philadelphus inodorus L.

Scentless Mock Orange

Woodlouse (Sowbug)

A crustacean

'Polish Spirit' Clematis 

Grows like a weed in clay soil without amendments.

Have no idea the names of these two small flowering clematis.

Solomon's Seal with flower buds not opened yet.

Hexastylis arifolius*, or evergreen wild ginger

I removed the non-native Dicentra Spectabilis,

to be replaced with native plants.

Discovered a few survivers that will be left alone for now.

Honeybee discovered on a warm rock on a cold day.

Almost stepped on it.

'Minnie Pearl' , Thickleaf Phlox

Notice the pink eyes.

Itea virginica 'Saturnalia'

Pretty new leaves and flower buds not yet opened.

Bellwort, Uvularia grandiflora 

Surrounded by wildflowers and grasses.

Swamp clematis

Copper Iris, Iris Flava

Likes moisture.

This Post Is Linked To:

Saturday's Critters

My Corner of the World

In the chill of an early morning in April

 

In the chill of an early morning, damp with an earlier passing rain shower, a huge crane fly hugs the door jam while the lady of the garden passes through quietly to not disturb the gentle being.  She’s aware of the errant ways of the Virginia creeper’s tendrils rushing to claim new territory crossing beneath the overgrowth of earlier risers, and yet she carelessly stumbles without a tumble as one has just tried to trip her.

It is a day of promised work, so she dallies about the paths with her new companion… a cane.  The dandelions have rushed into bloom, dropped their petals, and seeds dispersed in the March storms.  The second flush of blooms have met the April showers with the same exuberance as the first, while their upward smiling faces greet any honeybee passing by.

While the dandelions are as tough as nails, another nonnative has suffered badly in the early March week of twenty-degree mornings.  The lily stems are lying on the ground, stunted and deformed… a miracle they have survived at all.  Another early spring like this one will surely see them meet their demise.

Crane Flies, large and small, hug the north wall of the house; waiting for the day to begin it’s warming up.  A very short season for the species tulips, as the lovely fuchsia petals are already turning a crisp brown along the edges.  She will miss them.  They are a favorite of hers.

Back in the warm house, she changes into jeans and an olive-green wool sweater with a zipper down on each side around the hip area.  It was meant to be a warm casual evening out sweater, but there are no evenings out anymore, so she wears it as a work sweater in the garden.  It suits her with her uncut frizzy hair twisted in the back, pinned in place.

She’s a site that can make one’s eyes sore, but she tries to ignore that part of her faltering beauty and embrace all that crepe that drapes on her so well.  She’ll be spending the afternoon weeding, and hopefully taking a break by June.  April, indeed, has begun her quest to return the best of laid out gardens back to nature.

Barricade to keep cats off the plant table at night. 

After several weeks, no more barricade is needed.

Crane Fly

'Little Beauty' species tulip

Shooting Star

Eastern Red Columbine

Fothergilla gardenii Shrub

American Dogwood

Spring ephemeral, Dicentra cucullaria, Dutchman's britches

Maybe this year it will bloom... maybe.

Trillium cuneatum,

sometimes called Little Sweet Betsy

Orange Eyed Fly,

scavenger of small carrion

Tennessee Land Snail

Virginia Bluebell

Pink buds, 

wrinkled flower petals opening up, 

and fully opened bluebells.

Baby Trillium on right bottom of photo, 

tucked under the Bluebell leaves.

Since the Trilium patches are in the back meadow area, 

ants have collected trillium seeds and brought them back to their nests, 

where they eat the strophioles and discard the seeds.

This is the first year it has a flower.

 it can take up to two years for fresh seed to germinate, 

and another five to seven years for plants to bloom.

Wild Hyacinth

Not native to this area 

Not easy to dig out through the roots of other plants, so it's left in place.

Eastern Redbud tree trunk with flower buds

Pallida Balmatica Iris

The fragrance of Concord Grape juice fills the air around it.

Erigeron pulchellus, commonly known as robin’s plantain.

A biennial that usually dies after it sets seed.

Allegheny Spurge growing with 'Tokudama' Hosta

Blackhaw Viburnum

No longer know the name of this pretty clematis, 

which is sometimes tinged with pale pink or green.

Pupa attached to outside door, maybe a Hover Fly.

Wild Petunia, Ruellia humilis

Copper Iris, Iris fulva, in rain garden

Leucauge venusta, Orchard Orbweaver Spider

"My Mary' Azalea, very fragrant

Tulip-tree Beauty Moth (Epimecis hortaria)

About 2 1/2" wingspan

From the back deck

- Please bear with me until and through this coming summer when I will have cataract surgery on my right eye.  In the meantime, I'm having a bit of difficulty with the quality of my photographs, and catching all the annoying errors in my writing.   

I'm a bit wobbly on my feet on uneven surfaces, possibably from the peripheral neuropathy... I'm not sure.  Falling has become a huge concern for me these days in the garden where the paths are not flat or made of rock instead of stepping stones.  I feel like my husband has become a helicopter husband, always hovering over me.  Drives me crazy.

This post is linked to:

Saturday's Critters

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

My Corner of the World