Sunday, June 03, 2007

I have that nice, outdoorsy smell!

Farmer's tan...check.
Dehydrated...check.
Pulled muscles...check.
Dirt under fingernails...check.

It takes forever to do yard work by yourself.
But Geoff helped out the best way he could...he took the girls out for the day.
The hummingbird/butterfly garden is 90% done.
I would like to add a few plants around the bowl, but other than that, I am pleased:

Hummer bfly corner with mini pond
Plants I used:
Milkweed, lobelia, Dutch Pearl fuschia, wild strawberry, beard-tongue, bee balm, and I think some moneywort has taken up residence. I also added a yellow bell-type of flower that I can't remember the name of. I need to find the receipt...
I threw in some broken pottery (My favorite piece of Fiestaware broke last year, and I knew I could use it somewhere). And there's a clay pot nestled in there for any toads who are feelin' froggy. Har.
And a fairy statue. And a broken angel statue, half-buried in the mulch, like she is sleeping.
There's also a hanging basket with a coco liner full of plants that I got for free from the nursery.
At my nursery, you grab a clipboard and write down all the plants you chose, then the staff knows what is being moved out. The last time I was there, a group of workers was standing there, gawking at me. I looked up, and one of them said that I deserved free plants for how precisely I was writing down my order. So they ended up giving me three different plants for free. Nice, huh?
There's actually four free plants, because one of the pots had a purple petunia growing out of some other kind of plant.
The only other one I remember is Oxalis, something or other. Very pretty, with triangular purple leaves.
Corner from above
The corner from above.
Totally cool moth on the front door
I am in love with moths. There, I said it.
This awesome dude was hanging out on the front door today.
I showed the picture to Isabelle, to see what she would say. I knew what was coming:
"That looks like really fancy bird poop."
I may just have to Google "bird poop moth".
UPDATE: I found it. It's a wood nymph moth, genus Euthisanotia.
What kind of critter is this
What in the world is this thing? It's one of those caterpillar/worm critters that stands up on its head.
Bloomin onion
Every day, I love our yard more. I am turning into one of those people who can marvel at a wild onion in bloom.
Ooooh....Bloomin' Onion. Yum.
Dill
A dill plant sits at the edge of the prairie, waiting for some tiger swallowtails to alight.
(And I am waiting for some dill bread.)
Four baby robins
The count of baby robins is now four. The last one hatched sometime today.
pine after the rain
We had plenty of rain today...easy, soaking rain with some short spells when it would stop and allow the water to go down nice and deep without running off.
I could almost hear the sucking of all the trees and plants...like a million straws.
weed that I want to be milkweed
I would love for this to be milkweed, but I don't think I am that lucky. There's a whole lot of this growing around here. I would be happy with Joe-Pye weed or Ironweed, though.
volunteer sapling
Is this an oak sapling?
There are lots of these popping up on the side yard. Right now, they are the tallest things in the yard over there.
Sunset
The sunset was a nice reward for such a long day of sweating and bending.
Tree frog close up

I think this is a new tree frog! The other one, at least what I saw of it, was more green. This one was brown. And damn cute. I heard them talking to each other while I was out there. Maybe some frog porn is in my future?
(Somehow, that just sounds wrong.)
Here's a quick video of the "Frog Love Song".

6 comments:

Jayne said...

What a very cool garden Susan! Can't wait to see everything growing and all the visitors it will attract! Great job!

Ruth said...

You have done a great job on your garden! I introduced milkweed 3 years ago to my yard, and it is too well established for my small space. I thin it out early in the season and leave enough for the butterflies. We are getting your rain today...so needed!
Ruth

Mary said...

You were definitely in your garden heaven today, Susan. It looks so sweet and inviting. I hope you see everything you dream of there.

Thanks for that video! (Love the frog love)

NatureWoman said...

Your garden looks wonderful Susan! Can't wait to watch it grow through your photos.
Cool video!

Kathi said...

"Fancy bird poop" What a great description!

Lovin' your little tree froggie. Tres' cute

~Kathi

nina at Nature Remains. said...

You must be getting the rain I'm missing! My husband drives home through a "monsoon" and finds our driveway still dry.
No fair.
Maybe storms will come my way tonight.
Hummer garden looks great!