Kaseys Korner

breakfast companion

Just as we were sitting down for breakfast, the quick flitting of a small bird caught my eye out the dining room window.  I knew it wasn't the usual sparrow or finch we've had an abundance of lately ~ his behavior gave him away.  Also, instead of perching and dining on the black oil sunflower feeder, this bird would fly in swiftly, snatch a seed, then take off to crack & eat it someplace else.  Once I was able to get a good look at him, I realized it was a Mountain Chickadee ~ our first for this fall/winter season:

We don't normally see Chickadees in our yard during the summer months so his presence is definitely an indicator of the season.  More often we have the Black-capped Chickadees instead of the Mountain Chickadee that's pictured.  The latter can be distinguished by the white "eyebrow" versus the solid black head of the Black-Capped Chickadee.  It wasn't so easy to snap a photo because of his quick movements but luckily I got a few.  Maybe I'll have more chances over the next few months?  Ever so often he would fore-go the feeder to sample the contents of holes in the Aspen tree:

 

I'm not sure what he found in them, but it's good he's cleaning them out for me.  As quickly as he arrived, he was gone

and we were left to breakfast with the sparrows.  Oh well, that's what we were anticipating ~ he was the unexpected treat for the day.  Hopefully it won't be our last meal together.

Happy Veteran's Day

Just poppin' in to say "Happy Veteran's Day" and thank you to all the Veteran's for putting everything on the line to ensure our freedom.  We would not be the same country without you. I'm not sure one day is enough for that debt?

Photo from this AM ~ playing cat and mouse with the Blue Jays again....they're still getting the best of me.

fall surprises

I made a few discoveries yesterday while I was on my hands & knees planting bulbs.  It taught me a lesson too.  I always think I know what's going on in my garden but crawling around at ground level definitely proved me wrong.  The first, very exciting surprise was finding a Lycoris radiata bulb in bloom!  It was actually past its peak too so it had opened a while ago:

Oh boy, oh boy.  How amazing is that?  I was mad at myself last fall for spending money on the bulbs (I recklessly placed an order after seeing photos of them in bloom on other blogs).  What I didn't realize at that time is that they are only hardy to zone 7 or 8 ~ I learned that after planting.  Basically I wrote them off as money wasted (& lectured myself to pay more attention in the future).  Because of the hardiness zones (I'm in zone 5) I hadn't even bothered to look for blooms.  We had an unusually mild winter last year which must explain how this one survived?  However it happened, it was QUITE a thrill for me to find it blooming.

A funny story ~ my neighbor happened to walk by when I was photographing them and wanted to know what I was doing.  When I said I was taking pictures of "naked ladies," he got pretty excited.  His enthusiasm cooled when I pointed out the red blooms ~ I guess they weren't exactly what he had in mind!  tee hee.  I'm hoping to get some better photos today ~ I was so excited to find them yesterday that I grabbed the camera and snapped away despite the glare of full sun. 

Something else interesting was finding a bud on one of the Primula denticulata plants (drumstick primula):

 

I planted three of these primulas earlier in the summer but never expected them to try and bloom this year.  I was looking forward to a spring display but we'll see what happens with this bud.  Low temperatures over the weekend are expected to be in the mid to lower 20's.  I don't know if it can withstand that or not?  Maybe I should cover it?

This little guy better find a sheltered spot to weather out the cold front too:

 

because look what it's doing this AM:

Yes, that's SNOW.  Can you believe it??  I keep hoping I'm having a bad dream but it's not going away.  A fall surprise I'd rather not have...

Magnolia 'Jane' & a snail

I need your help this morning.  I've been looking at my Magnolia 'Jane' thru the kitchen window the last few dreary days, and thinking to myself, "it doesn't look good."   Look at this photo taken today and notice how bare the branches are:

You may remember that I purchased this magnolia last year and never got around to planting it.  It overwintered in the nursery pot until I finally put it in the ground this spring.  At first, everything seemed fine.  It even put out a few beautiful pink blossoms.  Sometime over the summer tho, a change occurred (I don't remember when exactly) and she started looking a bit stressed and lost most of her leaves.  (Even tho I complained about a lack of heat, I think it was a great summer for planting shrubs and trees ~ there was certainly abundant moisture which isn't always the case). When I inspected 'Jane' up close this morning, I was surprised to find new growth/buds (??) along all her branches:

I guess I'm never satisfied because although I should be thrilled to find out she's not dead, I am now worrying whether this is a good thing late in the season as it is???  Anyone out there that grows 'Jane' know the answer?  If we get a killing frost anytime soon, I hope it doesn't permanently set her back.  Until I found out about 'Jane' I never dreamed I could grow a magnolia in this climate/zone.  Now that I've discovered her, I definitely don't want to lose her. 

On a different subject entirely, look what was crawling across my driveway this morning (as I was leaving to take my daughter to school):

A snail!  Woo hoo.  He was headed in the direction of my little pond.  I've never seen a snail in my yard before so I don't know where he came from but I'm thinking my tiny water habitat drew him in???  I helped him along by moving him nearer to his destination and out of harms way.  We'll see if he sticks around now.

evolution of a cup & saucer bloom

Every time I take a little break from blogging, I feel like I need a "jump start" to get going again. Not sure why I felt I needed to start my post with that, but now I've put it out there so I can move on to something actually interesting.   Hallelujah.  Luckily, it's only the blogging I've been negligent about, I'm still outside with my camera every single day.  It's a good thing too as the new blooms are something not to miss out on.  The 'Cup and Saucer' Vine, (Cobaea scandens) started from seed this spring, is finally beginning to bloom.  A short disclaimer here:  For those of you familiar with this vine, the sequence I'm about to show you will be "nothing to write home about."  If you're not familiar with it, it's pretty darn fascinating.  The buds begin sort of nondescript (remember this photo?):

and sort of remain in that state for what seems like an excruciating amount of time (most likely because you're on pins & needles waiting for them to open) until finally one day you go outside and the bud has cracked.  The start of something gorgeous is protruding from what ends up being the "saucer:"

 

My Mom was here when this first bud opened and it was something good we shared together.  She said she hadn't seen one bloom in quite a number of years.  Here's to you Mom, the first flower, opening a greenish/white color then slowly shading to lavender:

 

until it reaches full maturation with a rich purple bloom:

A touch past it's prime but still, aren't you glad you didn't miss that?  There will be more photos to come as it begins its most floriferous time in my garden ~ from now until frost.  Something else started from seed, but new to my garden, is Amberboa muricata.  It's been blooming almost continuously all summer but I keep forgetting to share it:

 

Dainty little mauvey/purple flowers dot this 2' high annual (from the Aster family).  I purchased seed from the Thompson & Morgan seed catalog in case anyone is interested.  I personally am not sure I will start seeds again or not.  Nothing against it, just didn't "wow" me enough to pass up an opportunity to try something else new next season.  Switching gears, away from flowers, I am proud to say I've finally had a chance to capture a dragonfly image:

We all know this is a dragonfly now because it's resting with it's wings out, right?!!!  Something I won't ever forget as an identifier (thanks to all of you.)  Here's another look:

 

He's resting quite comfortably on a prong from my tomato cage which incidentally, the plant this very cage helps support, has produced its first nearly ripe tomato of the season:

 

Hip hip hooray.  Now my foray into the world of vegetable gardening cannot be considered a complete disaster.  It took a looooonnnggg time for anything to be harvested but it happened.  It's enough to keep me happy and maybe motivated to try again next year???

it's a berry delicious

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.

the rewards of creating

a garden are simply too numerous to count.  I know I'm not telling you anything new but sometimes that point comes home and you just have to sit back and sigh in contentment.  That happened to me last night.  I used to have to get in my car & drive to locations near water to photograph dragonflies.  By adding even the small pond that I did, guess what has come to me?

A small dragonfly, name unknown because, admittedly, I know almost nothing about dragonflies other than I like them.  This one lighted on top of an Aster x Frikartii 'monch' bud while I was perusing the garden for ambush bugs.  It was hard to restrain myself from jumping up and down but I managed to back away quickly and quietly in order to snag my camera and return.  From this angle, looking straight down on the subject, it's difficult to discern any wings, isn't it?  Switching angles remedies that ~ a side shot provides proof (as if we needed any) that said dragonfly does indeed have wings!

Attracting a dragonfly seems a small victory but I'm still counting it.  I hope for many more sightings and for a diversification in types.  Why not dream big, right?  Since this one landed on the Aster bud I should also tell show you there are some buds already open and blooming:

 

'Monch' was added to the garden in late summer (2008) after realizing a shortage of fall bloomers.  I also added a 'novi belgii' hybrid but that seems to have disappeared.  I'm delighted 'monch' decided to stick around and provide some valuable blue/late season color.  I've been contemplating rearranging the front bed so that the asters are near the Susan's (Rudbeckia fulgida 'goldsturm').  The blue & yellow combination would be very attractive together, wouldn't it?  One more blue that recently opened (before I sign off) is Clematis 'Multi Blue:'

 

Purchased in June (or July??), it seems to be happy enough in its new location to provide me with a few, new, late season buds.  Hooray for sweet rewards!

ups and downs of bird watching

who knew there could be so many flip sides?  Usually I try to focus on the positive not the tragedies (like having five mountain bluebirds freeze to death because of a freak June snowstorm).  Yesterday was a little of both.  On the up side, one Bullocks oriole pair brought their newly fledged young to our yard for a tour of the facilities (i.e. birdbath and grape jelly feeder).  They were the cutest and noisiest juveniles we've had in the yard for a while. 

 

Here's "Mom" on the right with two of the "babies" to the left.  They kept up a persistent chattering when she would leave (in search of nourishment for them) and even more chattering ensued when she returned, probably about who would be the lucky recipient of a meal.  This time the "baby" on the right won out:

 

Not to worry, there's more where that came from!   It's always fun to see the young come to the garden with their parents, isn't it?  I hope these two migrate safely & return next May to build nests nearby and visit our yard again.  Meanwhile, we'll enjoy watching them learn the ropes until it's time to leave. 

Now to the "down" side and a question.  How can there be so many mourning doves when they build such precarious nests??  It's most perplexing to me.  Almost every year I have a pair (or two) construct a flimsy nest and almost every year, the eggs (and/or nest) fall to the ground and all is lost.  This year is no different (although one pair is having some success in the front yard so far).  It's the nest belonging to the pair who built in the back yard that hasn't faired so well.  Yesterday I saw it hanging by a twig & gently swaying in the breeze ~ not a good sign.  I went out to inspect and found both eggs on the ground and cracked.   So much for that.  Never one to let things be, I carefully picked up the eggs and nesting material and arranged them in a corner of my tiered container:

 

With the cracks hidden on the underneath side of the eggs, you can't even tell this isn't an "active" nest.  Darn it all.  Why can't they just be better "carpenters??" 

ten minutes

was about all the time I had in the garden yesterday.  But ten minutes can be very revealing ~ you can see the Asiatic lilies have begun to bloom.  'Dolly Madison:'

 

is looking great (and the perfect color for the upcoming 4th of July holiday).  A little more subtle is 'Lollipop:'

 

I actually happened to "catch" 'Lollipop' the other morning when she was just a bud.  Look how fun the morning light makes this photo:

 

I added several varieties of lilies to the garden this spring.  I'm not sure why I was on such a lily kick?  I don't see any bees or butterflies landing on the blooms??  I have been trying not to plant anything that doesn't benefit wildlife but maybe I was just in a plant "pretty" phase?  Ten minutes, if you're willing to look closely, will also reveal a lady bug searching for a meal:

 

He's on the tip of a way-past-its-peak Black & Blue Salvia bloom above and below, he stopped long enough to clean his face:

 

When you get such an intimate distance to them, you see their faces/heads are really warrioresque.  Complete with pincers, etc., ~ no wonder they can demolish so many aphids.  In ten minutes time you will also see:

 

Echium Amoenum is in full bloom.  What a beauty she is.  Going about the business of life, a baby bunny accompanied me around the garden:

 

They have eaten a few flowers and leaves of plants in the beds but mostly they are in the lawn.  My philosphy in regards to bunnies (especially the babies) is "I have enough to share."  Maybe easy to say because I'm not overrun with them???  The last photo taken in the last minute is of a cowslip bloom (Primula veris) that seemed to be the center of activity:

 

A spider (or is it two ~ maybe one is a victim??) both found their way to this particular bloom.  I was never quite sure what was going on ~ all I know is ten minutes can be quite enough to enrich anyones day.

hidden away

If you all are like me, you have so much tucked into your garden beds it's often difficult to see everything.  That seems particularly true now, in prime growing season.  A few perennials are trying to carve out more territory for themselves, overshadowing & infringing upon their less aggressive companions.  I moved a few of the former aside yesterday afternoon and made some wonderful discoveries.  First, the Verbascum 'Pink Petticoats' is blooming and I never knew it:

 

What a shame it would have been to miss it.  It's no secret Verbascums like full sun but this one is definitely not getting its share.  Sandwiched between 'Filipendula Venusta' and Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium maculatum 'Atropurpureum'), it doesn't stand a chance.  A move is in order.  In the back yard, a pleasant surprise, my hybrid tea 'Peace' is blooming.  It appeared to be growing beneath the graft earlier this spring but I left it anyway. 

 

Now I'm glad.  Although, I can't speak for its happiness since it hardly gets any sunlight with a Viburnum on one side and Black Elderberry on the other.  I may have to do a little trimming.  I cut this bud and brought it inside to float in a bowl.  The fragrance is heavenly.  I even had my daughter picking it up and sniffing it throughout the evening.  Now I have something blue to show you.  An Allium that I can't identify was underneath the Joe Pye Weed too:

 

My photo doesn't do it justice.  It really is pretty.  Only about a foot high.  I'm going to have to do some research (or go back thru my tags) and see if I can find a name for it.  This has been fun, hasn't it?  But wait, I saved the best for last.  A little game, with the same hide & seek principles.  Along the lines of "Where's Waldo" or "I spy" or something.  Ready?????  Here goes.  Can you find what's hidden in the photo below:

 

Don't give up too easily.  It's more than some garden soil with a sprinkling of poppy & zinnia seedlings.  Look closely between the pink blur on the left & the zinnia seedlings on the right.  Let me help:

 

Now you see, right?!!!  Very good Mr. Toad.  No wonder you are getting fat in my garden.  Now if you go back & look at that first picture, you'll find him right away.  This has been his favorite hangout (with the pond coming in a close second) for the last week.  Thanks for playing along ~ wasn't that fun?!