Slip, Slidin, Away.

Mother Nature has been weeping for days now. We have had an average of 2.5 inches of rain every single day for three days. Absolutely no sun was seen until today. The good part is that there were no winds and only a little lightning at the very beginning.

This is the time of year when the early summer flowers are coming forth with their newest colors and blooms...!

But they cannot stand up to such heavy downpours over days.

I ran out with an umbrella to try to catch a little of my rhododendron which blooms such a short time and beside the house where I cannot see easily, and found that even the bumblers had ventured forth on the third day in the rain!

I felt that his mission was probably more important than mine as I wended my way across the spongy lawn and back inside to binge watch some Royal Wedding TV and some Vera detective work in the rainy weather of Northern England.

We are still here in the mid-Atlantic and did not slide away thank goodness.

How Do They Make It?

This is the season in my neck of the woods when the box turtles are traveling, across lawns, down ravines, and over highways. Of course, they can cross the yard in about a minute, but they have that shapeshifter gene that makes them look as if they are moving very slowly. They do not run, but they do not slog. Turn your back on them and they will be yards away. 

Please note that in spite of this amazing mobility they cannot make it across the highway when cars are doing more than one mile per hour. If you feel safe, pull over to the side of the road and walk back and pick up the turtle and carry it to the other side where he/she was headed. If you do not feel safe, make sure you do not run over this amazing reptile as you head out into the great beyond. Our weather is warm enough that they can now digest food and that is why they are out in the sunshine and in the rainfall. We have seen three in our neck of the woods already.

Students recently determined that growth can be inhibited in plants when you talk to them in an angry voice. You can feed and water the same as you do another plant which you talked gently to, and the one you snarl at will not grow as much! This leads me to believe that all living things are far more in tune to their world than we realize. Thus I always talk kindly to my resident reptiles, offer them a strawberry or piece of melon or a bit of lettuce. Then I leave them alone. I love these gentle animals and even though they have a very hard-shelled home that is not conducive to cuddling, they also have a tough life. This fellow won a battle with some hard tooth mammal or perhaps a raptor?

Each shell is much like a human fingerprint and can be used to identify a returning or resident box turtle.  But this tooth mark will help me recognize this turtle much easier next time.

A Pea Tree

I took a walk along the primary street of my neighborhood a few days ago because the weather was that perfect spring that lasts only a short time.  We have been getting warmer and hotter days sooner with Climate Change.  

I could smell something really lovely and knew it was too early for the honeysuckle to be calling the pollinators.  As I looked to the side I saw the legume shaped blossoms of the Locust tree.  This is the honey locust which is a native to our area.  

While these trees can grow up to fifty feet, the self-seeded ones in our neighborhood are young with branches low enough for me to get close to the blossoms.

It is related to the pea family which can be noticed if you study the blossoms and the leaf shape.  I did not see any pollinators which did make me concerned.  This tree should be full of bees.  It does self-spread and can be too invasive, but only likes full sun, so stays at the edge of our woods and makes it easy for me to study without collecting ticks.

The deer and other mammals eat the seed pods, supposedly sweet, that fall to the ground and also help to spread the tree.  The honey locust seems to be growing across the United States.

The bark is hard and has been used for fence posts.  The tree at the side of my house which has grown so tall has had severe damage to the outside of the trunk decades ago and it still soldiers on growing tall.  

You can see that the canopy is thin and therefore it allows sunlight to the area below which is nice.

There are various varieties, ours does not fix nitrogen like many legumes, but seems to take care of itself.  Some locust trees do have nasty thorns.

Now I am going to smell some more and wait for the pollinators.

The Eagle's Claw

"Aquilegia is a genus of about 60–70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals of their flowers." 

I think this one is the official state flower of Colorado.

This is a wild native of states in the mid-Atlantic.

 This technical explanation from Wikipedia fails to capture the spring beauty, variety in both shape and color, and the ease of growing this plant. The name Aquilegia which means eagle at least adds some drama to the flower and was given to them because their petals resemble an eagles claw.  As they have been hybridized their petals are double-flowered and can sometimes resemble a Victorian princess dress.

Others look like stars!

The bumblebee, Bombus hortorum, loves these blossoms in the spring (all colors) and they usually come in from the back and slit open the spur to get the nectar.  There are also moths that come as caterpillars and feast.  

Some gardeners do not like the pattern that leaf miners make as the season progresses, but I have never been bothered and find those patterns lovely, as well.   Most grow between 1 and 2 feet tall and are extremely hardy and reseed a lot but never seem to be an intruder in my flower beds.

All in my garden started with just a couple of seed packs.  Some are like biennials, but if they get too crowded they are easy to thin.  They even grow in pots and come back every year.

Guessing Game

It is a guessing game to see where something will emerge after the thaw of the ground. Did that special plant double or even triple in size or did it die back to one small green sprout? Does it require nurture and tender care or does it need a spade to restrict its size and spread? Rarely does a plant know its place and just exist like a quiet neighbor. It can be too shy and eventually just give up or it can be aggressive and take over the place. Below two photos of new spring buds. So primitive looking, are they not? Do you know what they are?

Maybe I will let you know in my next post...

It Starts Small

I find that long before the peonies burst forth in huge lacy circles and long before roses open their silky petals, the smallest of flowers bloom to welcome all the little pollinators.  The sweat bees, the tiniest of blue butterflies and even the little spiders all welcome those tiny flowers at your feet.

A corner of my garden has been planted with Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis).  This little flowering plant is very popular.  The fragrance is so strong that it compels you to fall to the ground and place your face close to the little bells.  Mine are pinkish instead of the traditional white.

They are highly poisonous but I do see big bumble bees visiting the bells.  Like so many of the tiniest flowers, they last only a few weeks.  It came from Europe where it grows in the nooks in valleys.  The fall it has red berries that are also poisonous.

The bells have a surface that looks waxy.  They grow close to the ground and spread easily after a year or two and may need to be controlled, but I do not find it badly invasive.  Mine like the partial shade that they get under the tulip tree at the end of the flower bed.  The little bulbs can be forced indoors for fragrance and then planted outside when they are done blooming.  Maybe next year I will dig some up and bring a pot of them inside!

Whoopee!

The weather finally holds in the 50 and 60's F and I spend backbreaking hours planting new perennials that I have purchased (Sunday mornings no one is in church these days.  They are all at the plant place!) And I am carefully dividing old perennials from years past hoping I do not kill the plant.  And I am bending and weeding circles of tiny green weeds that took the place of perennials that died over the winter. The yellow sassafras in the woods is blooming but I see only the tiniest of bees coming for nectar.

The big bumblers crash headfirst like Kamakazee pilots and upon landing shaking the cherry blossoms free of their pollen and drinking deeply of sweet nectar after the long winter's nap.

I saw the first Zebra Swallowtail last week and was amazed since it was so early, but because we have planted a number of small wild Paw Paw trees which is their primary source for laying eggs I am happy they are here.

I next will take in the bird feeders and wash them in bleach and store them until fall.  The Blue Birds are nesting in the birdhouse attached to the cheap little arbor in the front yard, and we try not to frighten them as we work around those beds.

Yep, spring is here!

Pinkish

The dogwoods have gone from bud to flower in just three days, so I decided I will go from photo to manipulation in just 7 hours!

Original with some sharpening and lighting work.

The Ancient Ones

A visitor from an ancient world stopped by to say "Hi." the other day. He is usually very shy, but spring sometimes confuses those from the eons. We, in the modern world, are busy and hurrying and need reasons for everything we do including bothering to visit. Primeval ones that have survived this invented busyness created by mankind stop to impress and remind and even cajole.   Hylatomus pileatus is his name but I just call him Hy, because that is how we are.  He is like an ancient Yogi answering my questions with more questions. 

"Why are you here?"

"Why not?'

"Is there something I can do for you?"

"Is there something I can do for YOU?"

Eventually, I tire of this game and just observe.

For a minute I thought we were going to really get to know each other and that I was going to have to see if the pantry had any juicy black beetles or nice

chewy grubs, not the type of nutritional snacks that I often keep on hand.  But as luck would have it, he decided the stay must be brief.

Ever the elemental creature, he did not leave before reminding me to wash the windows above the sink in the kitchen.  We have THAT kind of relationship!

A Digital Paint Brush Version

While waiting for a friend from Junior High School to come to dessert this evening, I am doing some 'painterly' versions of the Lenton Roses blooming under my sugar maple tree.

Fits and Starts and Decisions

...Or should that be Starts and Fits? 

That is the way spring has come 
She is like a transgender child 
Not sure which dance step 
To put forth on the soft wet earth 
The step of energetic athlete 
The step of floating ballerina 
The step of the timid morning Fox 
Looking to steal a furred babe

Spring is more muddled this year 
She swirls in cold weather 
Followed by angelic afternoon sunshine 
Followed by stinging, sleety rain 
The yellow trumpets in the corner 
Have lowered their heads in submission 
Buried in icy pellets on a few afternoons 

Then lift up in reverent joy 
To announce spring's arrival 
While the warm sun scratches their backs 

Are we to be hedonistic 
Or are we to be stalwart 
Even the Osprey has been both warrior 
And distracted traveler 
Both the Goose and the Mallard 
Have attempted to usurp the platform 
Today the Osprey seems to sit in ownership 
This morning the river is glassine
The naked trees are neither alive nor dead 
Standing like brown replicates 
The birds sing 
Then freeze in place 
As if surprised at their own pure voice
Today all is still 
Still waiting for spring

Spring Real Estate Deals

Things are getting busy. Citrus trees have been moved to the outdoors and the Yellow Rump has discovered them and is helping remove the fungus flies that "blossomed" into crowds of tiny black dots all over my windows.

Not exactly a feast out here!

Over Christmas there was the gift of a bluebird house that attaches to a window---an experiment where I have taped some black construction paper on the inside---that the Blue Birds are now checking out in the daytime.  They chatter for hours on end.

"I tell you, Margaret, they are NOT leaving!"

They are confused by the other interested shoppers (reflections of themselves) and they are leaving calling cards all over my windowsills!!

The male is in his mating beauty.

I have come to the conclusion that house shopping is as difficult and stressful for birds as it is for people!