How Doth Your Garden Grow

The recent rains have made the garden explode, and now that the hot weather is here,  it's even lusher than ever.   The baddest news is that my hummingbirds have disappeared.  Where can they have gone?  No one has visited the feeder or perched on the trellis for a week or more.  Have to admit that I am distraught.

Meanwhile, on the suet feeder, scads of baby woodpeckers, chipmunks and the little red squirrel are gobbling up a dollar's worth of suet every day or two.  Greedy ones.

The clematis has been spectacular.  Maybe because I actually dosed everything with fertilizer this year.   

Here is the sneaky squirrel.  So cute.

The verbena, nasturtiums, sage, and marigolds are all doing well.  Chives went rampant this spring.  Garlic has long whatcha-ma-callums.  Can't think of the name.  Scapes!  That's it.  I planted nicotania instead of impatiens this year, and it looks good, but still no hummingbirds, sob!

How is your garden doing?  Don't forget to put out water for the critters as well as food.

Grapeshop

Nature Notes from All Over the Yard

We have a young red squirrel who can leap from the front porch railing to the bird feeder, an unbelievable feat for such a little guy. He joins house finches, chicadees, sparrows (many varieties) baby cardinals, baby bluejays, mourning doves and other assorted birds who hang out at the feeder.

In the backyard, we have the not-seen-lately hummingbird, blackbirds, woodpeckers (3 kinds) and many of the same birds from the front yard as well as the suet robbing squirrels and chipmunks and the odd hawk on the lookout for prey (small birds and mammals). A visit to the yard by the hawk results in the birds going into hiding for as much as a week.

In the slough, the bullfrogs croak and there may be ducks, but we don't see or hear them. No otters, alas, this year.

The local deer have spared us, as has the bad rabbit who has perhaps fallen victim to the local fox or the occasional coyote. I have never seen the coyote, but the man around the corner swears that the neighbor keeping chickens leaves them out deliberately so the coyote will come into his yard and eat his grandchildren. Well, I don't think so, but into the wildlife mix you always have to throw a nutty neighbor. My mother used to say, "nutty as a peach orchard boar." Cool expression, yes?

What I love is to sit on the deck overlooking the slough and the wetlands with a drink of premium rum on ice and enjoy a late summer afternoon. Listen to the birds and the frog and the occasional drone of an airplane. The sunlight is just so, and the neighbor comes out to multitask: smoke, drink, talk on the phone and check his garden. We exchange waves and all is well with the world.

Grapeshot