time in the garden for both the birds and me. The viburnums (unknown variety) produced an abundance of berries this year:
in contrast to last year. The branches are literally bent over from the weight of the profuse crop. One of the benefactors of the bounty are the Robins who are harvesting the berries & gorging themselves almost to the point of not being able to fly:
Is there such a thing as getting "drunk" from too much berry consumption?? If there is, it's definitely happening in my yard. They feast, drink then leave purple berry stains on everything. It's good tho and makes me happy to see my yard offering sustenance to the feathered friends I enjoy watching year round. While they are consuming the viburnum berries on the north side of the yard, I am busy picking raspberries on the south side ~ I think they're at the peak of their production right now:
Too bad my niece isn't here now to help me harvest them ~ she's always had a penchant for them and faithfully checked the patch every day while she was here. Unfortunately it was just a touch early. I guess I'll have to eat them all myself ~ hardship of hardships....
Something else delicious but not of the berry sort, is this 'Apple Blossom' dahlia:
Isn't it the most divine dahlia ever? I am enthralled with the pale pink & yellow combination. I saw a picture of it last year on the Internet and knew I had to have one. So I ordered myself (and my Mom) one from Swan Island Dahlias. It's taken all summer for it to develop a couple buds (thank you cool wet weather) but now the first bud has opened and it's every bit as beautiful as I remembered. Needless to say, I will be overwintering this tuber! Speaking of my Mom, she arrives today (for the weekend) so I will be away from my blog until Monday. See you then and have a good one.
Hi Kathleen, I'm very partial to pink and I love pink and most other color combinations. The dahlia is really nice.
I have American Highbush Cranberry (too lazy to look up the botanical name) which is supposed to be a favorite of birds. Not. The pretty red berries are still hanging on every spring. Pretty but not what I would have liked.
Marnie
Posted by: Marnie | August 28, 2009 at 01:30 PM
Those berries are most beautiful and that viburnum must be an awesome cultivar.
Posted by: tina | August 28, 2009 at 01:59 PM
That is a fancy dahlia for sure! Love the colors! Nice berries!
;-)
Posted by: Janet | August 28, 2009 at 03:37 PM
Hi Kathleen! Great looking berries. How fun to be watching your over-indulgent birds. :-) I need to tour the outdoors. Guess I'll do that right now!
Posted by: Shady Gardener | August 28, 2009 at 06:08 PM
Gorgeous berries! And I love the soft dreamy colors on the Dahlia.
Posted by: Connie | August 28, 2009 at 07:42 PM
That is a great dahlia. Very soft and delicate looking. That is a fat robin. Those berries must be yummy.
Posted by: Teresa~Gardening with Soule | August 28, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Kathleen girl that dahlia is gorgeous ! .. Our Robinator ate almost every berry from our newly planted Serviceberry in the Spring .. we could not believe how he did that ! I think he was either drunk or had a bad belly ache after he did .. serves him right since we never got a chance to try them out ourselves !! haha
I took out my viburnum because it had such a problem with aphids .. but yes .. those berries are so pretty and now I miss seeing them?
We can never be quite satisfied can we ?
.... and no ... no other flowers on my Maypop vine .. loads of foliage though .. so I hope this means it will survive our winter ;-)
Posted by: Joy | August 29, 2009 at 07:41 AM
Oh yes, that dahlia is worth the trouble of overwintering.
I hope the time with your mom is fun and the weather is good for you.
Posted by: Anna/Flowergardengirl | August 29, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Ha, that robin does look rather (extremely) large.
Both the raspberry and the dahlia look yummy. That dahlia is truly special.
Posted by: Sweet Bay | August 29, 2009 at 10:43 PM
You can always send those raspberries to me! I am a sucker for ANYTHING raspberry! Shower gel, gum, candy, anything, but of course the best raspberries are the real ones!!
Love your pics as usual, Lady!
Hugs, Nicole
Posted by: Nicole Anderson | August 31, 2009 at 09:49 AM
Oh those raspberries look especially yummy!!! Gorgeous photos as always Kathleen! :) Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. :) Have a great week.
Posted by: Hilary Kanwischer | August 31, 2009 at 03:44 PM
Those berries look mighty delicious Kathleen. I'm sure the birds appreciate all the goodies growing in your garden. :)
Posted by: Racquel | August 31, 2009 at 05:57 PM
I hope I have that berry beauty to look forward to! I just planted a Doublefile Viburnum a few weeks ago. It's tiny now, but I'm really looking forward to it's growth! Yes, my thunbergia is Blushing Susie. I thought it would never bloom, but it finally did. The flowers come in several different rosy shades.
Posted by: RobinL | September 01, 2009 at 08:12 PM
I have a fun Meme for you to try, stop by my blog. :)
Posted by: Racquel | September 02, 2009 at 03:25 AM
We're picking black berries like gang busters out here. I got 8 jars of jam made earlier and still some left. Loads still to be picked too!
The robins also loved our choke cherries. I even had enough to make some choke cherry jelly this year. We left the top 1/2 of the tree for the birds to eat.
Posted by: Cinj | September 02, 2009 at 01:52 PM
ooh, I love raspberries! are they easy to grow? I have a spot in my yard that I've been thinking about trying some berry bushes...I know I would need a lot extra as the birds and squirrels can't seem to get enough of my strawberries :) I wonder if they will like raspberries as much? Glad you had a nice visit with your mom.
Posted by: Alice Golden | September 03, 2009 at 07:49 AM