OK, this is why you need to bring in your bird feeders (all of them) every night.

 

This little raccoon got into Sandy's hummingbird feeder, and left its little sticky footprints all over the deck.  

 

Cute, but...do you really want to encourage wildlife to come onto your deck?  I don't think so.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

As we entered the Walmart garden center, this is what we saw.  There were about three aisles filled with these adorable sunflowers.  They were in pots, and stood only about 12-16 inches tall. 

 

See?  I told you that sunflowers come in all sizes, for all size gardens.

 

I hope you plan to grow some sunflowers.  They are always good for a smile.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I saw this on Facebook, and laughed out loud.  THIS IS ME!!!

 

I'm glad to know that I am not alone in my garden obsession.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is my night-blooming Cereus at 8:15 pm on Wednesday night.  I knew she was going to bloom about two weeks ago when I saw a tiny flower bud.  Then when that bud got to be this big, I knew it would bloom that night.

 

So I set up my cushions next to her, and waited.  And sure enough, by 9:15 this is how it looked.

 

 

This bloom is about 8 inches across and so beautiful.  I wish I could impart her fragrance onto the screen for you, but you just had to be there.  Since you couldn't be there, I am sharing it with you now.  

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!!!

 

My friends sent me this picture of some ferns growing in their yard, and asked if I'd ever written a blog about it.

 

I just looked it up, and now I know WHY I've never written about it.  I understand the words when I'm reading about vascular plants.  But, when I read about ferns, I don't even understand the words!!!  Words like stipes, pinnae, like that.

 

Anyway, I love this fern growing in our woods too, so I looked it up again.  The stipes (stems) are shiny black, and the leaflets are arranged in a semi-circle, creating a very unusual looking fern.

 

Its botanical name is Adiantum pedatum, or northern maidenhair fern.  There are several varieties too, but let's just call it maidenhair fern, and enjoy it.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Not everybody can appreciate this, but I know that you can!!!  Oregano flowers for YOU!!!

 

When I went looking for flowers for you today, these were the best I could find:  oregano in bloom.

 

Or sure, I found a couple zinnias, a few marigolds, and a little basil, but when I saw the oregano in bloom, I thought that you would agree with me that they are very special.  Yes, they are.  They are pretty, they smell good, and they taste like oregano.

 

I would send you a bunch if I could.  But for now, a picture will have to do.  I love you.

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

 

 

 

I love seeing Morning Glories, especially when they are in somebody else's garden.  I really do love them, but I don't want them in my garden.  They tend to take over when I'm not looking.

 

My friends have a special place in their garden where they can let them grow and be beautiful, and not invade their tomatoes or squashes.  

 

This way we all get to enjoy seeing them, and nobody has to weed them out.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Now here is a blast from the past!!!  This was Granby High School, in Norfolk, VA, about 1961 or 1962.  We were cheerleaders.  My big sister Linda is the cute one all the way to the top left.  And I am the other cute one down front.

 

She is still my biggest cheerleader, and I am hers.

 

 

LOVE RUNS DEEP!!!

 

 

Jon cored and sliced and dehydrated apple rings from OUR apples.  That was cool.  This much filled a quart jar.  

 

This is such a great way to preserve all the apples that are coming from our apple trees.  We can only eat so much apple cake, and we still have lots of apple sauce from years past.  So this year our plan is to dehydrate them.  Now we can store them in mason jars in the pantry.

 

I am happy to be learning a new way to preserve our garden abundance.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We haven't seen the butterflies, but we know they have been here.  

 

Cabbage whites are very noticeable flittering around in the garden, so I don't know how we missed them.  But they lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves of all the Brassicas.  I noticed all the caterpillar poop in the kale, so I started looking for the feeding caterpillars.  And here they are:  GROSS!!!

 

You really can't see any damage yet, but as they get bigger, they eat more, and leave huge holes in the kale leaves.  We have to get rid of them SOON!!!  

 

We use a biological insecticide, Bacillus thuringiensis, we just call it Bt, that disrupts the digestive system of the worms.  It doesn't kill the butterflies, or any other critters, including us, just worms.  Worms have an enzyme in their stomachs that reacts with these bacteria, and they stop eating our kale.  Really, that's a nice way of saying that Bt causes paralysis.  

 

Anyway, Bt is approved for organic gardening.  So we use it.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!