Love the one you're with

I have IBS and sometimes get really bummed about all the foods I can no longer enjoy. Most of the time, however, I focus on what I *can* eat and have discovered some new and yummy meals (air fryer tofu, anyone?) Ditto the bugs in my yard. Several times a day I check on the bees on the bee balm and every evening I make a point of watching the fireflies. If one takes a moment to look around, there are more insects to enjoy.

Like this ladybug on some milkweed.

Or this white-striped black mason wasp. (Photo from Wiki - I didn't want to get too close until I found out whether this guy was friend or foe.)

This volunteer butterflyweed attracted a black swallowtail. (For some reason, the red, white, and blue flamingos keep their heads buried in the aster.)

So there *are* some 6-leggeds in my yard, just not as many as I wish for.

This is one view from my deck. In the foreground, joe pye and queen of the prairie, in the rain garden swamp milkweed, in the back coneflower, milkweed, cupplant, sunflower. This is the kind of color I would like to see all over my backyard this time of year.

Volunteer sunflower

Cupplant

I continue to attack the weeds. Most of the backyard is under control except for the corner pictured above. Yesterday I worked on one of the beds in the front yard, for about two hours; there was a LOT of clover. Always more to do.

Yarden every darn day

That's been my motto lately, as I hustle to get all the plants I purchased installed in the yard. I'm not done yet, but getting there.

Sunday: planted bleeding heart and porch plants (coleus and black-eyed susan vine); cut back most of the daffodils; installed bluebird box; put zinnias on deck to harden off; set up latest addition to my flamingo collection.

Old-fashioned bleeding heart

Thunbergia 'Sunny Susy Amber Stripe' aka black-eyed Susan vine

Unknown coleus

Unknown coleus, leaf detail

Bluebird box installed (before baffle added)

It's a planter!

Monday: spotted the first catbird of the season; making clay toad houses and designing Beau-proof vases; purchased a cage for the "nesting" cylinder bird feeder to keep the starlings out (unfortunately, keeps the blue jays out as well); purchased a baffle for the bluebird nesting box.

Tuesday: lots of activity at the bluebird house (after I installed the baffle), but no takers so far; bird fight between two male bluebirds; cowbird at the birdbath; added the cage to the feeder with the "nesting" cylinder; after another inch of rain, the rain garden overflowed, which left standing water on the lawn and where I planted grass seed - it needs a berm at the north and northwest ends; mowed and trimmed.

Wednesday: planted the honeysuckle; hung the planters for the sweet potato vine (which involved a 2x4, hand tools and cable ties); sprayed for weeds; found an excuse to buy an Ego trimmer: the area behind the fence (where there is a lot of garlic mustard); I think a raccoon got into the robin nest behind the Japanese maple (found empty egg shell); replanted a brome sedge; positioned the metal heron and two flamingos by the "pond".

Thursday: saw a grackle at the feeders; SO helped me shore up the low end of the rain garden (I think I should have purchased top soil instead of garden soil); mowed because we are expecting days of rain; purchased an Ego trimmer.

Friday: planted catmint around trees in front yard and added some mulch (my aching back!); not much rain, until later - 0.5".

Saturday: finished planting catmint (in a pot); planted zinnias (in pots) - 'Cut and Come Again Mixed Colors'; top dressed containers with Black Kow; I think more of the rain garden needs a berm; pruned butterfly bushes.

Roots on zinnia seedlings

Zinnias, all in a row

I've been cutting back the flower stalks on the golden ragwort, as it is starting to go to seed. Lazy me just threw the stalks behind the blue star where they can decompose. Today, I noticed that all those flower heads turned to seed heads despite being removed from their mother plants. I hope that is not going to be a problem. I like the ragwort, but not *everywhere*.

Blue Star "hedge"

One aim of planting natives is to attract pollinators and their relatives, like this ladybug. Most insects won't stay still long enough for a decent photo, but this bug was very obliging.


Every time I plant a perennial, I think to myself, Hopefully, I won't have to do this again. My shoulders work great, but my back - not so much. I dream of the time when spring means adding a few annuals to the landscape, then enjoying the view from the deck, iced tea in hand.

All is not lost

Sometimes it is difficult to focus on the positive. I water the spray-on grass the construction crews left behind, but no grass grows. I reduce my calorie intake, but I lose no weight. I put out the oriole feeder, but no birds come. One ray of hope is the Japanese maple: while walking the dogs, I noticed another Japanese maple in the neighborhood that looks similar in species to mine also struggling. So maybe it is not a serious problem, just the weather.

Japanese maple samaras

We have not had rain for quite a while, to the point I may have to water more than the spray-on grass. The city says they will come back in the fall and redo the spray-on grass, but I found some seven-year-old grass seed in the garage, which I cast on top of the spray-on grass. Even though I doubt it will germinate, I'll water twice a day for a while. The rest of the lawn is on its own. The white clover patches look green, as does the grass that gets the most shade; the rest is turning a toasty brown. The outside faucet out front has a drip, so I let it drip under the Japanese maple.

Spurge (?) grows in my lawn

I edged around the 'Perfect Purple' flowering crab and transplanted some 'Zagreb' coreopsis there, to add to the yellow under this purple tree; 'Stella d'Oro' is blooming there right now. Using an edging tool, I put my weight on my "bad" leg and dug with the "good"; ditto with the shovel. This made sense to me, but not to my hip. The concrete-like clay soil was not helpful, either. I had to take it easy for a couple of days after that episode.

Ladybug, ladybug, welcome to my garden

Weeding anything deep-rooted is impossible right now, so I've been concentrating on some sticky things growing under the gold mop. I haven't been able to identify them. They are surprisingly shallow rooted, and grow in sun and in the shady recesses that I can't reach without putting undo strain in my hip. I may have to call in reinforcements to help me out.

Found my garden scooter

I feed the birds peanut splits, unshelled peanuts, oil sunflower seeds, and nectar. I've wondered from time to time just how dependent birds are on these feeders, and which they prefer, the free handouts or the smorgasbord available elsewhere in the yard. The other day, I watched a female hummingbird sample the nectar at the feeder, then buzz over to the nearby 'Red Husker' penstemon, where she aggressivly poked her beak into a half dozen blossoms before zipping away. I guess the nectar in the feeder may be easy pickings, but not a match for the real thing. To learn how hummingbirds see color, visit this article in the NYTimes.