Birds and butterflies

The New York Times (I'm a subscriber) is sponsoring a bird watching thing with the Cornell Lab of Orthinology. I signed up (and am having trouble logging into their eBird app) so I can report what I see in my backyard. Most of the birds I see are common for this area, with the exception of migrants passing through. But I do observe interesting behaviors once in a while.

While no one has moved into the bluebird box, I did see three male bluebirds duking it out on the roof of the garden shed. Two of them really got into it, slid off the roof and onto the ground without breaking apart. Two male cardinals were also challenging each other. In other activity, I witnessed the male wren chase off a sparrow that got too close to the wren house, pecking him on the head. Nesting time must bring out the aggression in all these guys.

Other observations: robins will chase away starlings, bluebirds will cede the mealworm feeder to sparrows, the bluejays are more interested in peanut splits these days than whole peanuts. I'm sure my observations are not unique, but it is a fun hobby.

Female cardinal

Despite the chilly weather, a few hardy butterflies have flown through the yard: a swallowtail, a cabbage white, something I can't identify, and this red admiral.

Red admiral

The coneflower plants and rudbeckia goldsturm are in the ground now. I put the coneflower in the last raised bed, which is L-shaped; the rudbeckia went into the L's inner corner. Both are behind the fencing around the birdfeeders, so no dogs can trample them. All that is left are container plants... except for the perennials on the south side of the house that I may move to the birdfeeder area, depending on how much digging I want to do.

While the redbud didn't bloom very profusely this year, the flowering crab and now the hawthorn have made up for their under performance.

Hawthorn

And one of the catmint varieties is trying to add more color to the front yard.

Cat's Pajamas

The Ego trimmer is assembled and charged, but I have yet to use it. More of the ragwort has been cut back, primarily so the flowers behind it - wild geranium, blue star, and columbine - are more visible.

I bought top soil to help shore up the berm around the rain garden, just have to get to it. The rhubarb that I put in a container isn't very happy, so I'm contemplating planting it along the edge of the rain garden. About 0.75" of rain fell last night, so that clay soil should be more amenable to being disturbed.

And that is the week that was.

Bugs, buds, and blossoms

I've seen a swarm or two of gnats this past week, but today I spotted this fellow feeding on the witch hazel blossoms. Some kind of bee, I guess. Honey?

Bee on witch hazel

Meanwhile, buds are starting to swell here and there around the yard.

Serviceberry

Chokeberry

Elm

Hawthorn

Ragwort

I didn't get a good photo of the snowdrops, but the "regular" croci are blooming as well as the daffodils (which look a little raggedy, due to the fluctuating weather).


So much for outside. Inside, I finally got around to starting the zinnias from seed. But first, I made some pots from newspaper, as described in this video.


Mine are not as refined as the ones in the video, but they will work.

Today I finished de-branching the arborvitae, so that task is finished. Now I am waiting on an estimate for the rain garden, because of this repeat performance:

I hope the rain garden helps.

Suburban wildlife

Most of the time, the only wildlife in my backyard are birds. In the past, woodchucks were the bane of my existance along with rabbits. Between the privacy fence and the dogs, most critters keep away except for one bunny and a few squirrels. So imagine my surprise when I found this opossum in the backyard.

At first, I thought the dogs had killed it, but no, opossums are very good at "playing dead". There was at least one baby on board; opossums are marsupials with a pouch, which this little guy was trying frantically to find. Mom was not helping in the least.

There were a couple more close encounters between the opossum and the dogs, so I thought she would leave. But the other night, I saw Baby wandering around on the deck after dark. They seem to have taken up residence in the dog house.

On top of the opossum, this black squirrel made an appearance. I've seen squirrels with this mutation in the neighborhood, just never in my own backyard. The squirrels (and presumably the opossum) clean up under the bird feeders.


And, not to be oudone, a bunny got everyone excited by making an appearance by the front walk.

The orioles and catbirds have abandoned their feeder for now, so I took it down. I also removed the mealworm feeder, as the only birds using it were sparrows and the occasional bluejay. The local paper printed a photo of a hummingbird at a nearby nature preserve; I hung out my hummingbird feeder, but so far, no takers. I think the robins in the front yard and the wrens in the back are nesting; in another week or so, I may hear some hungry peeps.

The pagoda dogwood has been blooming its little heart out this year. I can't find many photos of this tree on my blog, but I don't know if that is because it doesn't usually bloom so well or if I just neglected to document it.

The hawthorn in the front yard is blooming as well. I can't miss that as I see it every time I open or close the drapes over the picture window.

It seems like it is either raining or I am mowing. Everything seems HUGE this year, even the (doomed) rhubarb.

While the Clematis Paniculata is putting out some new growth, it looks like the 'Jackmanii' clematis did not survive the winter in a container despite my precautions. Now I'm back to the idea of trying to raise Virginia creeper, which covers a section of the privacy fence, in a container. All I want is something to grow on the pergola.

Just for the record

Monday the robins that did not migrate showed up to feast on the berries on the hawthorn tree. My observation is they ate mostly from the top of the not-very-tall-yet tree, which allowed me to harvest the ones on the lower branches for dyeing. I'm guessing the thorns affect where they can land on the branches.

Tuesday (yesterday) I spotted daffodils emerging from the leaf mold. Brave or fool hardy? Today it is snowing, with several inches expected along with some arctic temps.

While I was outside yesterday, I picked up dog poop (a new milestone in recovery from hip surgery), cut back the clematis, removed most the milkweed (hope those seeds spread far and wide!), filled bird feeders, and as stated above, harvested berries from the hawthorn tree. That all took about an hour. Today I am stiff and sore, especially my back but not my hip!

Berries for the birds

Sorry for the quality of this photo but I had to take it through the living room picture window. What you are seeing is a flock of robins feasting on the orange berries of my 'Winterking' hawthorn tree. Huzzah!

As you may know, not all robins migrate south for the winter. If there is food and shelter, some hang around in wooded areas. Check out this explanation at All about Birds.

The winter has been mild so far, but bitter temps are on their way. We have some snow cover; more is coming. My neighbor across the street (his house in in the pic above) has a snow blower and keeps my driveway clear, for which I am eternally grateful.

Another way to feed the birds

As I have mentioned before, I stopped filling bird feeders because of the sparrows. My backyard is too sparrow-friendly, to the point they were the only birds I saw. Also, they were stripping bark from the limbs of my tulip tree, to the point the limbs were dying. Bad birds! So I put away the feeders, at least for the time being.

That does not mean there is nothing for the birds to eat in my yard. During the summer, there are seed heads of course - sunflowers, coneflowers, etc. - but there are also berries, starting in the spring with the serviceberry crop. That tree is stripped clean in no time at all, by robins. As other shrubs and trees produce fruit, some is eaten right away, some in a more leisurely fashion, and some remains into and over winter.

Aronia melanocarpa, a.k.a. Chokeberry

The size of the crop can vary greatly from year to year as well. I have never had more than a few berries on the 'Blue Muffin' viburnum, but its cousin 'Chicago Lustre' went all out this summer. The 'Wentworth' highbush cranberry and blackhaw viburnum bloomed well but neither produced much fruit even though I don't think we had a late frost. It's a puzzlement.

Viburnum Dentatum 'Chicago Lustre', a.k.a. arrowwood viburnum

I'm really impressed with the crop on the hawthorn. This tree is not that old, but it is loaded with orange fruit. It's a delight to view through the picture window.

Crataegus viridis 'Winter King', a.k.a. hawthorn

The 'Perfect Purple' flowering crab is young, too, but trying to do its part. My dad had a flowering crab that held its fruit all winter along, to be descended upon by a flock of robins in early spring when there is not much of anything else to eat.

Malus 'Perfect Purple' , a.k.a. flowering crab

I do miss feeding the birds from bird feeders, though, and am trying to figure out a place in the front yard where I (and the cats) can watch from the window. My indoor/outdoor cat is also a problem, but the older he gets, the more indoor he becomes.

NEXT!

The blossoming continues. Unfortunately, the light is not always ideal and I am not the best photo editor around. So while I am documenting the progression of the flowering, some of the pics are not the most flattering. Not that the plants care.

I keep trying to capture the way the purple-leaf plantings in the front yard enhance the rest. An example is the hawthorn and the 'Crimson King' maple trees.

The hawthorn is peaking blossom-wise.

The 'Wentworth' highbush cranberry is coming on strong.

I love the delicate details of the flowers.

Behind the highbush cranberry is the easy-to-neglect 'Alabama Crimson' honeysuckle vine. It has been blooming for a while. I keep meaning to provide it with a trellis so it can show off more.

Just getting to the honeysuckle is a challenge.

The sad looking shrub on the right is the 'Aphrodite' Rose of Sharon. It is always late to the dance, but is looking particularly peaked this spring. I think I will cut it back severely and see if it recovers. And while it is in a smaller size, maybe I will get that trellis installed for the honeysuckle.

I am not sure if the catmint in the milkweed bed is 'Walkers Low' or 'Six Hills Giant'. If you look closely, you can see a milkweed plant sprouting in the midst of the catmint. By the way, I spotted a monarch today, fluttering around some milkweed on the south side of the house, but alas, it did not land.

I'm glad this catmint is doing so well because the Russian sage planted at the corners of the bed is not.

A few plants of dames rocket spot the yard. This is a non-native invasive that I have mistaken for some kind of phlox in the past. Sometimes there is a lot, sometimes a little. I let it hang around because I like it.

The false indigo gets bigger every year. When I planted it I had no idea just how big it would get. I'm happy with it, though.

There is some volunteer columbine mixed in with it this year.

This poor 'Niobe' clematis keeps trying but has never lived up to its reputation of being 8'-12' tall. It adds another shade of purple to the front yard, though.

Meanwhile, my efforts to get rid of the yucca is turning into a game of whack-a-mole. The roots keep sending up more shoots. I snip them off and they come back. I'm beginning to wonder if a yucca is forever.

My immediate goal (besides moving the giant pile of mulch in the driveway and keeping the lawn mowed) is to get the rest of the transplants into the ground. There are the ones I bought, which are waiting rather patiently. Then there are the ones I grew, which are moving on as best they can despite my starting them too early and transplanting them too late, like these Profusion zinnias.

For the record, three 'Luna Red' hibiscus are in their own raised bed; I started more plants, as I want at least four. Today I planted some zucchini and cucumber in paper cups, to get them off to a good start. Last year's hollyhock did not all come back - it looks like some of them rotted in the ground - so I transplanted some 'Torch' sunflowers into that bed, to keep the survivors company. I've neglected the alyssum I purchased earlier (and it shows), so I've been moving it and some of the Profusion zinnias to containers.

I was wrong about the climbing rose being dead, as it is sending up some new growth from its base; it probably heard me musing about planting a honeysuckle in its place. I whacked back the forsythia again, as it just won't stop growing. I'm beginning to wonder if forsythia is forever, too.

And I have been weeding, weeding, weeding, especially the Canada thistle. How about you?

View from the living room

This morning, when I opened the living room curtains, lo and behold, the 'Winter King' hawthorn had bloomed in the night. It's not quite at its peak, but rain is forecast for the next several days, so I decided to snap a pic while I could.

Unfortunately, these blossoms, while pretty, are also pretty stinky. Think carrion. That doesn't seem to deter the pollinators. In fact, maybe it attracts them?

I have to admit, I am pleased with how the front yard looks, especially the purple and yellow combo.

Depending on where one stands, the purple accentuates the rest. You'd think I'd planned it. And while they don't show in these pics, there are volunteer columbine almost everywhere.

For the record, today I managed to get more plants into the ground. Twelve butterfly weed went into the milkweed patch, around the edges, where hopefully they will get enough light. I could not figure out why I had extra marigolds until I remembered some were for the zucchini bed, so those are now in. I also transferred the pole beans to the bean bed, leaving the sprouts in their paper cups but ripping the bottom off; my food production is down to asparagus, rhubarb, beans, and zucchini. Despite my attempts to keep my homegrown transplants straight, I mixed up the cosmos and the dyers coreopsis. They each went into a bed today; I'll figure out which is which later.

I am SO glad I invested in a riding mower. Besides helping with the mulch, it makes mowing a LOT less of a chore. That's a real help this time of year, when I am mowing about every four days. It's funny - I don't fertilize my lawn, but it looks greener than the professionally treated lawns on either side of me, primarily because I mow high instead of scalping the grass.

Are you keeping up with yardening this spring?

April showers and a few flowers

My SO and I were in Kansas City last week, where we thought there might be some signs of spring. No such luck, except for a magnolia. On our way out of town, I spotted some daffodils and forsythia. A winter weather advisory for the region was on our heels.

Not much blooming at home, either. The earliest clump of daffs are showing but the rest are lagging behind. The pink hyacinth are also blooming. I gave up on crocus because of rabbits but they keep trying to make an appearance, along with something I don't know the name of.

While surveying the yard, I discovered the bark is peeling off my 'Winter King' hawthorn tree. Yikes! But some research reveals that this is normal, part of the tree's winter interest. Whew!

The seedlings (that I planted WAY too early - most are large enough for transplanting) survived my absence although it looks like a certain someone did not water them. Right before I left, a few items arrived from Gurney's and Breck's: one 'Prairie Fire' crabapple tree, two red penstemon crowns, and three 'Lucifer' crocosmia corms. I was a little worried about the crabapple, as it needed to get in the ground before it broke dormancy, but I had no choice but to wait. I planted it yesterday, and one branch bud looked ready to pop, so I hope it does okay. It's getting plenty of water today.