volunteers

What is it about volunteer plants sprouting up as seedlings in our yards and gardens that gives me such a thrill ? Is it that they mysteriously show up, unaided by human hand, in unexpected places...leaving us to wonder just how the seed got there in the first place ? Maybe it's that little feeling of gratitude: our garden was chosen as the perfect site for this particular plant. Now, I do spend an inordinate amount of time ripping out volunteer grasses, mints and bindweed gone wild, but I still feel surprised and honored when something totally unexpected shows up. This little Dill plant was hiding amongst a thick patch of weeds next to the strawberries , down in the Fenced Garden. A bird was almost certainly responsible for delivering the seed ( or seeds ) from my neighbor's Dill Forest that takes over her garden every Summer. But still. Its tender pale stalk and feathery bluish leaves were instantly recognised for what it was, and carefully weeded around.

Wow...it's been awhile since I've posted. Last i wrote we were heading out to AZ to spend time with my brother. He thrived under Mom and S's care while in Sun Lakes, but once home started to lose weight again. He's now in the hospital...I think it's been a week since he went in. Liquid nutrition is all that he can take in now, and the hospital is trying to track down how he can get the stuff he needs outside of the hopital. Uh, why don't they just sell him what he needs, since no one ele on the island carries the stuff ? How hard is that ?
The dinosaur amongst the pansies is to remind myself just how fleeting life on Earth is, to fully appreciate our lives and those of our family's. The Brontosaurus ( does that name still apply ? ) was found on a gravel road while out on a morning walk with my walking friends...seemed a shame to leave it lying in the road. It had already lost one leg and deep dusty gouges run the length of its body. Why not give it a new life in our garden ? Toads, slugs, worms, birds and uncounted insects will keep it company.

Couldn't Resist !

Every Dandelion in the County got the word to open up today, it seems ! Thousands of the gorgeous little things are everywhere...in lawns, on roadside edges, in fields. In light of the awful shootings at Virginia Tech down in Blacksburg, and my brother's and father's cancer...these obstinate, persistent YELLOW flowers are a strong cheery sight. Grazing animals eat their leaves ( our chickens love a basketful of their leaves, stems flowers and roots) and flowers...people even cultivate Dandelion greens for themselves. Insects collect pollen and nectar, and the seeds feed various finches...including Goldfinches. Last year, out at the Blue Ridge Center, Jamie and I saw hundreds of Goldfinches lift off of a field of Dandelions gone to seed in a single undulating wave. I'll never forget it.
Who knows what sort of microscopic agreements, arrangements and connections are happening underground between the Dandelion and the incredibly abundant world on the other side of the grass ? Despite being labelled a Weed by some people, it carries on its multifaceted life, laughing all the way, I hope !

Off To Arizona

Jamie and I leave for Sunlakes, Arizona , to visit with my Mom and my 4 brothers. The main reason for the gathering is that one of my brothers has pancreatic cancer and we all want to have some time together. Dad can't make it..he's staying behind to deal with one of his own cancers, and then he's off to Hawaii to spend some time with his son and his wife, who I got to know some when Mom and I went out in November '06...I'm so glad that they have each other. I really like her down-to-Earth attitude, and her compassion :>
We'll be gone from Virginia for a week....a lot can happen in a garden in a week ! This picture is of a big Dicentra (I took today ) that puts on quite a show for weeks in the Spring, and wears out later in the Summer. I'll take another picture when I get back and see how much it's grown. No sign of the Garden Toads yet, although we've heard some frogs/toads or peepers in the area. We are honored to host an area for some toads to live. Each Summer evening they patrol the Stone Patio for bugs and slugs. We leave out little Toad Pools ( shallow dishes of water ) for them to soak in when it's dry, hoping to create a nice toad habitat.
We've had close to 3" of rain over the last few weeks...maybe more...our electronic rain gauge fell over, and I didnt keep perfect records of the manual gauge...and it looks as thought it is finally going to warm up. The Stitch Club is on Junco Departing Watch...we're trying to figure when they leave the area. Their numbers have definitley fallen in the last few weeks...they are off to the Boreal Forests to nest and raise their young on the forest floor...I can't get over that...why not up in a tree ??!!! We'll be looking for the first Catbird before long...last year I saw the first ones in our yard on April 25th. It was a great year for Catbirds...they were everywhere it seemed ! Love their tiny little black caps.

Bluebirds and Cold Rain

Jamie and I arrived at the Blue Ridge Center on Saturday morning, the 14th, ahead of the coming Nor'Easter , in time to check on the Bluebird nest boxes on the Farm Loop trail. We saw Bluebirds perching on wire fences, in the trees and even a pair on a box, but we didnt see any finished nests in the boxes. One box held a single 6" long white chicken's feather...probably brought there by a Tree Swallow. I've wondered...do they collect feathers for their nests off the ground, or do they pluck them out of the air as the discarded feathers of other birds are lifted by wind gusts ? Last year, there were lots of Tree Swallows in the boxes...out of the 12 boxes available, I think 7 were occupied by them. Amazing creatures of the air, and brave defenders of their nests...they'll swoop repeatedly at your head, until you are sure that it is going to take a piece of you ! Kaufman's bird book describes their call as "liquid twittering"......can't think of a better way to describe it. I also read that although most of their diet is flying insects, they will also eat berries.

Into the Allium Patch

Today I got about 16,17 marble-sized Purple Onions into the ground, next to the garlic and the little purple onion plants I rescued from the compost heap. I don't know that the soil is as loose as they might like...this coming fall I MUST layer up horse maure and leaves and compost to deepen the beds. Our next door neighbor gave us the onions...he's already planted 2 pounds of onion sets and didnt want any back from me. I ended up turning all the extras into the heap. Also in the heap are some "compostable" plates made by Earth Shell. I peeked at them today, two weeks after they settled in, and they seem to be about halfway "composted". The heap was warm, with hundreds of worms...think I'll have to heat things up a bit.

Saw the first warbler in our yard today...not sure which kind...deeply yellow throat, white wing bars, dark streaking on flanks and head...argh ! wish I had gotten a better look ! Jamie and I are going out to the Blue Ridge Center tomorrow morning to monitor Bluebird boxes before the big Nor'Easter due to arrive sometime after Sat evening. We probably won't see anything but nests in the boxes, in fact, bluebird babies at this time are pretty risky...no reliable bugs about yet. I'ave heard that the parents have had to stuff their babies full of dried seeds and berries in the absence of insects during cold, wet Springs...and the babies die :<

Arizona Cactus Bloom

Well, since things seem to moving pretty slowly here ( another freezing morning ! ), and not many things in flower ( other than the hundreds of daffodils ! ), I got to thinking about Arizona's desert blooms. Cacti that stand mute for most of the year are suddenly shouting " Magenta !" "Yellow ! " " Red ! " Insects, birds and even bats answer the call and join the plants in mutual relationships of give and take. This is a picture my Mom is AZ took several years ago of a neighboring cactus in bloom...incredible color. Nice shot, Ma !

There is a tiny poppy of the purest orange that unfurls its petals as the sun comes up...if you are hiking amongst some of Arizona's many mountains, hills or outcroppings you might catch one in the act of presenting itself to its world.
Ocotillos are fascinating...looking like nothing more than a shabby bundle of thorny sticks for months at a time, they can grow several sets of glossy boxwood-like leaves several times a year. In times of drought they drop all their leaves to conserve energy . Yet they bloom every April without fail, providing hummingbirds with crucial nectar at a time when food may be scarce.