Orioles

A young male orchard oriole.

It's been a terrific year here for oriole activity.  I have never seen so many, and I've never before had the privilege of seeing fledglings.

This is the second year that orchard orioles have visited our yard. They are slightly smaller than the Baltimore orioles and have less black on their heads. They are also a bit more yellowish in color.

Female oriole grabs nesting material.

I attracted them with several jelly feeders placed throughout the backyard and the female returned multiple times daily to grab bits of twine that I'd woven through the sides of a hanging basket.

They disappeared for awhile from late May to mid June as they nested.  Then the female reappeared with four gorgeous little fledglings in tow.

Here are some photos of the fledglings with their mom.  They visit the jelly feeders several times a day. I hope they come back next year.

A tender moment between mom and baby.

All four fledglings coming to feast on jelly with mom.

Being fed a tasty jelly snack by mom.

Orchard oriole fledglings in serviceberry tree.

How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck?

That woodchuck would have come in handy when we were unstacking and restacking our woodpile this Spring!

As you can see from this first photo, our new cedar woodshed is a big improvement over our old crooked wood rack.

New woodshed with old wood rack in background.

Cedar shake shingled roof.

We particularly enjoyed working on the shingled roof. Finding the right sized pieces was like putting together a big puzzle.

Resting in it's permanent home.

The top shelf will be used to store kindling and the vertical divider will separate newer wood from older, drier wood.

It took us about three days to build and we are very pleased with the final result. Some robins were equally delighted and promptly built a nest in the back corner of the shelf.

But Wait, There's More!

I just came across several photos of a landscaping project we tackled back during late Summer in the west side of our yard.  Here is a photo of how it looked before.

We buried that winding paver path earlier in the Spring.  Even with a sod cutter, it was a lot of work.  As you can see, I'd already created a bed along the edge of the house on the left there as well as a few scattered plants along the fence.

After renting a sod cutter again to remove the lawn, this is what the same area looks like now.

 I am pretty amazed at what a difference a few plants and some fresh mulch can make.

 Here is one more shot that shows the view of my little mailbox garden from inside the gate.  I love how the neighbor's Aspen tree arches way over into our yard and provides some afternoon dappled shade.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

As I watch the snowflakes whirl around outside my window, it occurs to me that another year has almost slipped past and not a single peep from my blog this year.  So, in keeping with the season, here are a few photos from our annual trip to Aissen Tree Farm.

      It looks like Jeremy is hauling that tree for miles but really our truck is hidden behind some trees up ahead.

It's been a good year for us garden-wise and otherwise.  We have several fun garden projects planned for 2014 and I hope to document them here.  

Happy Holidays!

Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate

Sounds like the title to an old-fashioned romance novel, doesn't it?

My husband and I were driving on a hilly river road in our small town in late August when I spied a beautiful flower garden in a sunny backyard and exclaimed quite eloquently, "Holy crap! What's that?!"  There, in a long bed lined neatly with field stone, grew a beautiful plant with long pink blooms that towered over the rest of the garden at roughly 10 ft tall!  I'd never seen it before and I just had to know what it was.

We drove home and I began my GPS'ing (Google plant sleuthing).  I've become quite a whiz at this, feverishly typing descriptive phrases to identify my latest mystery plant.

Finally, after searching in spurts for several days, I found what I was looking for.  Polygonum orientale, or it's much more romantic common name, 'Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate'.

     I went back to the garden on another occasion to take this photo.

This link provides some good info on this charming annual.  I wonder if the owners would notice me creeping up into their yard to gather some seeds...

My, Oh My

Well, so much for my hopes to post more consistently this year than the last.  Oops.  I blame the intense heat ...or something.  I am working on a post that I'll be sharing within the next month or so.  Until then, here are a few photos taken in the yard this year.

 Despite the drought that initially plagued our area in May and June, July brought sufficient rain that perked everything up nicely.  My black-eyed-susans and butterfly weed are having their best year ever.

The birds have not been as plentiful as previous years, perhaps due to the unusually hot and dry weather, but the usual suspects can be found visiting the bird garden daily.  The orioles are long gone.  The hummingbirds fill the void with their amusing antics as they chirp and fight over the coveted nectar feeder.

     Look deep into my eyes.  You will surrender all of your carrots.

Year In Review

As another year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on all of the changes in the gardens and in our lives.

We finished the back side of our privacy fence as well as most of the east side.  It's amazing what a difference it makes not just in privacy level, but also in the visual interest that it adds.  The birds enjoy perching and pooping on it too.

We added a bench to the bird garden area.  In the mornings we like to sit there and enjoy the shade from the aspen tree.

We also expanded the landscaping bed in front of our house so that it extends to the outer edge of the fence.  Now we just need to add some plantings between the viburnum shrub and the white pine.

There is still a lot of work to be done in this front bed, but now all of the shaping and edging is complete.

Then there was the creation of a new planting bed on the west edge of our property.  I wanted to define the property line and also add some interest to this area.  We planted three "Little Henry" sweetspire shrubs near the existing black chokeberry.  They provide a real riot of fall color and won't outgrow the space.

I planted some daffodil bulbs in the edge of this new bed up near the fence.  I plan to add some perennials next year.  I hope they will help to keep some of the weeds at bay and add a pop of color during the summer months.

Digging the trench and laying those edge pavers was a lot of strenuous work, but I love the end result.

In October, we went to visit my sister and her family in Illinois.  They treated us to a delicious dinner and cocktails to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary.

I also spent time playing in the Fall leaves with my awesome nephew, Simon.  It's so much fun watching him explore and experience the world around him.  My sister and brother-in-law are doing a fantastic job raising him to be a sweet, intelligent, and entertaining little boy.

This November, we adopted a new little kitty that we named Sgt. Pepper.  He was a semi-feral kitten, one of three that we'd been looking after in our backyard.  We successfully trapped all of the kittens and got them into foster homes.  Our seven year old cat, Digit, has really taken to the little guy, and they can often by found napping together or chasing each other through the house.

Overall, it's been a year of positive change for us.  We look to 2012 with great optimism and wish all of our friends and family a very Happy New Year!

Summer In Pictures

Hey, garden blog.  Long time, no see!  I've been busy enjoying the warm weather and sunshine of the past few months.  I thought I'd write a recap of the summer and post some photos.

In April, the hummingbirds arrived!  I got some great shots as they braved the chilly Spring weather.  I watched them visit on a daily basis all summer long.  They not only sipped nectar from the feeder but also from some potted mini petunias, and then later in the season from prairie dock and the blooms on my blue mist spirea shrub.  The weather has been getting quite chilly at night for the past couple of weeks now.  Most of the hummingbirds have migrated south already.  I did see one at the feeder today fueling up for it's long flight.  I will leave my feeder up until mid October to aid any hungry stragglers. 

I had some new successes in the gardens this year.  My native bee balm bloomed for the first time!  I have not seen any hummingbird action on it yet, but the bees certainly took notice.  The blooms are so interesting looking and a beautiful pale lavender.  Unfortunately this plant later succumbed to a wicked case of powdery mildew as they are known to do.  Maybe I'll have better luck if I transplant some to an area that gets full sun all day long.  I still consider this a success since the foliage did not develop the mildew until long after the blooms were spent.

Another gardening success this year was our vegetable garden.  We created two new raised beds and planted pole beans and peppers in one, tomatoes and chives in the other.  The tomatoes suffered foliar damage from early blight but still produced a decent crop.  The pole beans grew up a trellis structure we purchased from Burpee.  It worked out really well and we were able to harvest plenty to eat fresh and some to freeze.  It was an excellent year for peppers!  Jeremy was thrilled.  Typically we do not have a long enough growing season to get much of a crop.  This year the weather was nice and warm in early May and I think it helped them get a good jump start.  The cajun bell pepper plants from Daddy yielded the biggest crop and had a subtle but tasty heat.  We also grew yellow bell peppers, jalapenos, and a mini bell plant.  Our cucumber crop was the best I've ever grown.  I can say with great certainty that beans are not the only musical fruit. ;)

In other exciting news, Jeremy built the entire back side of the privacy fence!  He finished it in early May and what a difference it has made!  Now when I wander out to the bird garden in my pajamas to refill the feeders, the hungry birds are my only audience.  I can lie down in the grass to photograph from interesting perspectives without worrying my neighbors will call 911.  I can wander braless back to the veggie garden to check on my plants.  Oh, sweet freedom!

I'm not the only one enjoying the privacy.  The birds and the bunnies seem to enjoy it too.  I snapped this shot of a flicker hopping around the backyard in search of a buggy snack.  See how the marking on the back of it's head forms a perfect heart?  Yes, little feathered friend, I do love you!