Another indoor week

As if the hot weather is not enough to send one scurrying indoors, this week we have had to contend with poor air quality, thanks to some wildfires. Today offered a break from the bad air and it was supposed to be "only" 85 degrees out, so I slaved away a bit in the "meadow", clearing out some weeds and mulching the coneflowers. The temp actually reached 90(!), and I could not help but think, "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun...."

Joe pye

Even with a large yard to draw me outside, I sometimes don't take time to look around. This week I've witnessed Mama Hawk teaching her two youngsters to hunt, hummingbirds visiting the fuschia, a monarch amidst the milkweed, possible fox or coyote scat in the front lawn. I just have to pay attention.

'Golden Tiara' hosta

I have ordered a couple of landscape designs in my lifetime. Recently it occurred to me that the designs show the plantings from a birdseye view, and not how the plantings will look to a person standing nearby. For example, the shrubs and trees in the backyard provide a variety of greens and visual textures, but they need something more, some other colors. Ditto the natives planted in the front of the house - pretty when they bloom in the spring, otherwise a lot of green that also looks kind of weedy.

Begonia

After the last go-round with the landscape, I told my SO that if this does not work out, I'm putting everything back into lawn. But I'm not doing that, obviously. I keep making changes instead, mostly additions.

Sunbathing

Because what would I do with myself if I didn't have the yard?

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.

An indoor week

I haven't had an ear infection since I was ten years old, but I apparently have one this week. That and the heat have kept me literally under the weather this past week. I watered a bit, but that was about it. The weeds are taking advantage of my absence.

While confined to the house, I started watching Garden Fit. It's a combination of great gardens and ergonomic exercises to help ease gardening aches and pains.

This is what I see when I look out one of my windows into the backyard: in the foreground fuschia, then Queen of the Prairie, then coneflower, and way in the back milkweed. Pinks!

My "ditch" daylilies get a fair amount of shade, so are behind most of the others in this area. Once I get the yard waste cleared away from the back fence, I may divide the clumps and move some out there.

In fact, I have a lot of plans for what to do with the open areas around the shrubs. Bees still visit the monarda on the south side of the house; that would be a nice addtion, maybe interspersed with the daylilies. That's the thing about gardening - there is always room for improvement and experimentation.

Let it go

I'm tired of complaining about the lack of bugs in my yard. Instead, I'm adjusting my attitude. If the native plants are not going to attract pollinators, I might as well allow myself to plant some (pretty) non-natives.

A handful of bees have been visiting the milkweed

This is a photo of a redbud leaf. Google Lens was not helpful in identifying whatever this black stuff is. I hope it does not spread to the other trees.

More plants are blooming, like this monarda, a.k.a. bee balm. It is planted amongst the northern sea oats on the south side of the house, but the sea oats appear to be overtaking it. I'll leave it be for now, but may add bee balm to the backyard for some summer color.

Many (MANY) years ago I planted (and transplanted) some tiger lilies in the yard. Most of them have died out, but occasionally one or two pop up in unexpected places. Go figure.

This coming week promises to be a scorcher. That means rolling out of bed and right into dog walking mode, sans coffee, before the day gets too hot. Keep cool!

The Birds

While working in the backyard, I can hear the baby bluebirds cheeping whenever Mom or Dad arrives with a meal. While the wren houses go unused, the chicks from the wren family in the flamingo-shaped birdhouse are leaving the nest, fluttering their wings. And this afternoon, a young robin found itself trapped behind the poultry netting protecting the chokebery shrubs; we rescued it. It's a living aviary out there.

Last night when I let the dog out for her final trip around the yard, I watched a light show in the dusk. I may not have monarchs in the milkweed or swallowtails on the spice bush, but at least I have fireflies.

All the plants, new and established, are doing well. I think I am getting the upper hand on the weeds; mulching around the shrubs helps. My yard chores are starting to shift to pruning and transplanting. Soon I'll be eating garden tomatoes.

On a completely different topic, after the latest rollout of Google's new Health app (a replacement for the Fitbit one), my Charge 5 first went on life support, then crapped out altogether. Judging by the online complaints, I'm not the only one suffering. (And as a former software developer, I'm appalled over this debacle.) It seemed pointless to replace it with another Fitbit product that may or may not work with Health. Instead, I purchased a cheapo fitness tracker from Walmart for $25. It works fine and has all the functions I care about, and then some. It doesn't seem to have a brand name, but the app that comes with it is called GloryFit. Take that, Google!

Useless effort?

This past week, the New York Times ran an article about what happens when a home with a yard planted in natives goes on the market. In their examples, the properties sold for a premium. I have a feeling that is not going to happen around here.

Which led to despondency about my yard. I put a LOT of effort into growing natives despite living in a pollinator desert, which results in a sense of futility. And then there is the weedy look of the natives at the front of the house - not what I would call curb appeal. I'm tempted to transplant them all to the backyard where they can look as weedy as they wish, then update the front to look more conventional (within reason).

Part of my funk is because this is the lull before summer flowers, but that is beginning to turn around.

The penstemon lives on despite my efforts to irradicate it

The start of milkweed season

First coneflower

Honeysuckle vine starts early and goes all summer

Fading climbing rose (surrounded by thistle)

I'm still battling weeds, but at least the lawn has slowed down. The newbies need daily watering, while the hanging planters require it twice a day. I cleared the dams that form at the downspouts, so I welcome a heavy downpour just to see my effort pay off. I pick strawberries every afternoon for my evening yogurt parfait. Things could be worse.

Am I finished purchasing plants?

I made several (A LOT OF) impulse purchases this spring, mostly for the rain garden. Ditto seeds. I tend to go overboard. Unless something dies and needs to be replaced, I think I am done adding plants to the yard. Fingers crossed.

Any exceptions? I've talked myself out of raspberry plants. Maybe the hosta garden needs a fern? I'd like to add smooth penstemon to the rain garden, but that may happen yet this year. And if I get arches installed over the gates, some climbers may need to be added. AND THAT IS ALL! (Except for some asters? I'm hopeless.)

My daughter and I visited a new-to-us nursery near Churubusco this past week. I was interested in some hanging planters (because they don't count as plant purchases, right?) The fuchsia ones were sold out, so I snatched up the last of their fuchsia plants so I could make my own.

I paid attention to which of their hanging planters attracted bees and chose two lobelia. At first, the bees in my yard swarmed those planters, chasing each other off, but their initial enthusiasm has waned. Maybe it is not a good pollinator plant?

I stopped by a local farmers market the next day and could not resist this Black Eyed Susan vine. You may recall I have grown this myself in the past, but this one came ready-made.

And I found some purple basil, not for eating but for dyeing yarn. It's now potted in front of the strawberry bed, flanked by pineapple sage.

My daughter fretted about the possibility of a "flash drought" this summer. So far, the only part of the state that is under threat is the northwest (according to the Purdue Landscaping Report). This week has been less rainy - I went FIVE DAYS without mowing the lawn. I could have gone longer, but thunderstorms were predicted for the weekend. Half-inch of rain (so far); my gutters need cleaning.

What else is going on in the yard? Strawberries and tomatoes have appeared on their respective plants. The safflower has sprouted; I'm growing it to dye with. I planted some sunflowers amongst the milkweed. The big patch of dame's rocket by the strawberry bed is history. The stinky 'Blue Muffin' viburnum is done blooming; it's cousin 'Chicago Lustre' has taken over. The winterberry looks recovered from the winter and is blooming, but the blossoms are so tiny as to be practically invisible. The climbing rose is the opposite - almost gaudy. Weeds are still an issue.

Last June I picked some fruit off the serviceberries and froze it. Now that the berries are ripening, I put the frozen ones outside. We'll see if anything eats them. Just a little experiment.

Inside, I repotted several of my houseplants. I don't feed them at all, as then they would grow and need to be repotted more often. But eventually, I have to give in to their needs.