On the cusp

Despite some snow this week, it is beginning to feel like spring. The birds are starting to gather nesting materials (and unfortunately, a pair of sparrows are interested in the bluebird box) and my earliest daffodils have broken through. I expect to tackle fall cleanup this week.

I am still puzzled over the differences between the witch hazel bushes. One I purchased in 2016 from Riverview Native Plant Nursery (which is no longer in business), the other four were planted by Sanctuary Native Landscapes in 2022. They are not alike, even now when they are just starting to come back to life, despite both being "straight" species. Maybe someday I will figure it out.

(I just did a Google Lens on these photos. The reddish one may be 'Boskoop'. I will have to investigate further.)

After cleaning out one wren house and the bluebird house, I decided to hang the cat birdhouse in the Japanese maple out front, on the east side of the house, away from the weather. When I am lying on the living room couch, I can watch it for activity.

I am not growing any seedlings this year, but I did decide to try growing leaf lettuce inside (because the stuff in the grocery store is a gamble). Today I filled a couple of the plastic containers that the grocery greens come in with seed starting soil and planted some seeds.

On the left is the Burpee 'Looseleaf Blend', on the right High Mowing 'Gourmet Blend Lettuce'. Beneath the containers is a seed starting warming pad; extra plastic containers form domes over the future seedlings and capture the condensation.

I'm loosely following instructions I found here. We'll see how this works out.

In like a lion...

When I picked up my 14-year-old granddaughter the other day at school, we were experiencing high winds. I said, "In like a lion, out like a lamb." She had never heard that expression before. *What* are they teaching (or not teaching) kids today at school?!?

Just as I feared, as soon as I purchased some lettuce seeds locally the ones from Burpee arrived in the mail. The new ones are from High Mowing Seeds and are called "Gourmet Blend Lettuce". We'll see.

This weekend was the local Home and Garden Show, which we always attend even though, after over thirty years of living in this house, there is not much left to do to improve it. The past couple of years I have purchased metal yard art, but this year none of it called to me. This birdhouse, did - the birds fly into the cat's mouth.

I've been trying to talk myself into doing *something* outside today. It's not windy but it is a bit chilly, just enough to cool (no pun intended) my motivation. I did bring in the plastic (sorry) wreath that hangs on the front porch all winter, before the sparrows start building a nest in it. And as the snow melted, I've been picking up pounds of dog poop.

Speaking of dogs, the past few years I have had my lawn treated organically, with applications of biosolids. There are now studies about the presence of microplastics in biosolids. What has me concerned is one of my dogs (Watson) developed a tumor in his sinuses about a year ago and died (sinus tumors are next to impossible to treat in dogs). Perhaps I should limit the lawn treatments to just the front yard? I've already paid for this year's treatment, but I'm at the lowest rung of their payment scale, so it would cost the same whether they did just the front yard or both. I'd hate to lose another dog before her time, if that was a contributing factor.

Clio and Watson in happier times

Leaving paw prints

Usually by February, I am sick of winter. The gray. The taupe. The blah. This year, however, we had some snow (never enough) that has actually stuck around for a while. It's so nice to see white, especially in moonlight.

Animals leave tracks in snow. These were on my front walk. I am guessing it was a fox, but it's difficult to tell, as each print is a double; the animal stepped into the same paw print with its hind leg that the front leg made.

I was hoping that Burpee would send my lettuce seeds ahead of the plants I ordered, but apparently not. I'm anxious to try growing lettuce inside. I may purchase some seed locally, just to get started.

I came across the following graphic somewhere (FB?) While the idea of growing plants in water is intriguing, I have questions.

I have taken cuttings from plants and rooted them in water, but then always transplant them into soil.

Step one (or two?)

This weekend we have been experiencing freezing rain. The following week it will be just freezing - single digit temperatures overnight. So let's order some plants and seeds.

I guess step one of placing gardening orders is to decide what to order. Step one-point-five is figure out where to order from. Step two is to actually place the orders.

It is very easy to get carried away, but now that each plant feels rather expensive, I find it easier to rein in my impulse to purchase one of everything. So these are the (restrained) selections:

From Burpee (I grabbed these photos from the order verification email, so the quality is not the best):

Echinacea Sombrero Hot Coral

Garlic, Early Italian

Lettuce, Looseleaf blend

Strawberry, Evie-2

From Bluestone Perennials (again, photos from the verification email):

Asclepias Soulmate

Heurchera Electra

There are a couple of other possible addtions to the backyard, but I'll ruminate on them before purchasing from a local nursery.

Growing lettuce indoors

The lousy grocery store strawberries and garlic has me thinking about growing food again. Another food item I complain about is salad greens - they always seem to get stinky before I can use them up; sometimes they are stinky right from the get go. A friend told me the lettuce she buys at the local farmers market lasts two weeks in her fridge, so that is an option. OR I can grow my own.

These instructions showed up somewhere along the line in my Internet browsing: Growing Lettuce Indoors Year Round. From purchasing greens at the grocery store, I have a couple of proper containers as well. I worried about how the leafy greens would get enough sun, but then recalled the bamboo mini LED grow light garden box on top of the freezer - perfect. Once I get some seeds, the experiment will commence.


What I like to refer to as Oobleck is falling from the sky this afternoon: a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain. My location is right at the junction of all three. I put out extra birdfeed, but those of a feather are hunkered down somewhere, hopefully warm and dry.

Can o' worms

I follow a group on FB called Indiana Wildlife. A week or so ago, I posted a pic of the bluebird house I have. O.M.G. A lot of people "reacted" to it, but I got a few snotty comments as well, specifically how the house did not meet requirements set by the National Bluebird Society (NABS). If you want to view their recommendations, go here. All I can tell you is the sparrows don't take over this nesting box, but the bluebirds do.

I was going to post the following pix on the FB site, but decided to just let it go, not fan the flames, etc.

This past week, I was looking for something on this blog and came across many summertime photos - so much color! Quite a difference to the current gray and taupe. Spotting this nuthatch at the birdbath raised my winter-worn spirits, especially since it hung around long enough for me to take its photo.

BTW, my hip is fine, no changes since the last check. The discomfort is muscular, so I've been repeating the physical therapy, taking Advil to reduce inflamation, and shortening my stride when walking the dog, all of which seem to help. It's Groundhog Day and very overcast here, so let's hope for an early spring.

Winter doldrums

Usually I get tired of winter in February, but this year I am already there, perhaps because of last week's frigid temps. This week will be milder (a relative term) but still winter-like. I'm eager to get going in the yard.

And yet I hesitate to order any plants. One issue is my hip, the one with the replacement, which has been bothering me lately. I have my five-year checkup Monday with the ortho place, so we'll see how things look. I really don't want more surgery, but better now than later, after more (theoretical) damage is done.

One bright spot in this dreary winter is the avian diversity in the backyard. Not feeding the birds during the summer has limited the sparrows, but hasn't seemed to affect the other species. In fact, a newcomer has been Carolina wrens, identified by Merlin last fall, and spotted by me in the mealworm feeder. I finally managed to get visual proof:

I tend to favor the more brightly colored birds, but I'll make an exception for this pert little guy, who is all fluffed up against the cold. Looks like a little dirty tennis ball.

Baby, it's (gonna be) cold outside! So let's look at echinacea (coneflower)

A polar vortex is on its way. Even though I knit myself a balaclava for those cold, windy dog walks, it will be too cold for doggy paws. Time to hunker down and dream about spring.

One reason I focus on native plants is for pollinators. I love seeing the bees, wasps, and whatever those other bugs are buzzing about the blossoms. My yard is a little island of nature in suburbia.

However, natives have some problems, which is why cultivars are developed. One issue I have with "straight" coneflowers is their height. I'm in search of some shorter varieties to plant out front BUT they are generally less attractive to pollinators. What to do?

My late garden blog friend gardeninacity posted about just this problem back in 2021. One future (now past) study he cited was by the Chicago Botanical Garden, but alas, their comparison of coneflower cultivars did not include their value to pollinators. While they observed visiting insects, those observations were casual rather than systemic. Boo.

The Mt. Cuba Center, on the other hand, has included pollinator attraction in their evaluation of echinacea. Their observations and recommendations (which are somewhat local to the east coast) may be found here. I sifted through their list, eliminating the taller varieties, which left five to choose from.

• Echinacea 'Julia'
• Echinacea ‘Balsomcor’ (SOMBRERO® Hot Coral)
• Echinacea ‘TNECHKIO’ (KISMET® Intense Orange)
• Echinacea ‘Snow Cone’
• Echinacea ‘Santa Fe’

I won't make up my mind quite yet, but I am not inclined to choose something white ('Snow Cone').

I'm also interested in a shorter version of rudbeckia, but the only one I have found so far is 'Goldstrum', which I have growing in the meadow. Perhaps I will just transplant that despite not being sure of its attraction to pollinators. Any opinions out there?

Dead hedges

Sometimes random stuff pops up in my FB feed. One recent post was by a gardener who had created a "dead hedge". Basically, a dead hedge is a tidy version of a brush pile. After erecting some vertical posts to retain the mess, one fills it in with downed limbs, prunings, etc. It gives wildlife a place of refuge while the contents slowy decompose.

There are still a lot of leftover trunks and branches from the removed arborvitae, so I could easily get a dead hedge started. I just need a half dozen fence posts and for the ground to thaw.

Yes, a substantial amount of snow fell like powedered sugar yesterday afternoon and last night. Not quite enough for cross country skiing (although I doubt that will stop some people), but enough to cover the grass and make everything look pretty. It should stick around all week, then we are promised a "frozen mix" - ugh.

The snow cover has upped the bird presence in the backyard. Not only are the wintergreen shrubs and hawthorn tree stripped of their fruit, even the flowering crabs are looking picked over. Usually the bluebirds politely take turns in the mealworm feeder, but I've seen as many as four crammed in there at one time. I even spotted a Carolina wren in there and at the birdbath.

And starlings. Can't forget about the starlings. There was a tub of Bark Butter in the cupboard, so I ripped the cover off that and put it out with the feeders. After seeing a photo of a feeder with a jar of peanut butter strapped on, I decided I didn't need to bother with actually applying the Bark Butter to anything. The starlings love it.

The birds

Although I have seen several "murmurations" of starlings while out and about (we're talking in the thousands), few have shown up in my backyard... until the other day.

I'm guessing there were about 200 birds there, feeding on something in the grass. Since then, the temps dropped and snow fell (about an inch or so). Still not many starlings at the feeders, but yesterday the robins stripped those winterberry shrubs in the above pic. The hawthorn tree in the front yard is looking rather bare as well.

In November, my son's girl friend gifted me with an Erva purification disc for the birdbath. I finally "installed" it the other day. It won't keep the birdbath clean of dirt from the birds, but it is supposed to have antimicrobial properties to help limit alga and other nasty things invisible to the human eye. I've read old pennies (pre-1943) also work.

On a non-avian topic, the other non-slip application on the ramp into the shed is failing. My next plan of action is to find something I can screw into the wood. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

Despite the long to-do list in my last post, there are a few more things I would like to tackle in the yard this coming season. One is to do something about my non-composting compost bin. I add mostly kitchen scraps to it, but not much is happening, probably because the contents of the bin don't get much moisture. So after I dig everything out, turn it, add some other crap, etc., I will drill some holes in the lid to let in the rain. After all, compost is black gold and free fertilizer.