The Magical Month of May

Earlier this week I noticed a mockingbird that seemed to be coming and going a lot. At one point I saw it on the fence with a beak full of nesting materials.  As I sat on the patio, I began to realize that it was probably nesting in the false cypress we have against the fence on the west side of our garden.

 As you can see from the photo, this was where we had put up the nesting shelf for the cardinals.  As of yet, the cardinals have ignored it, but if you look closer, you'll see that Mrs. Mockingbird was kind enough to build her nest right where I can get good photos without having to teeter on top of a step ladder!

When I took a peek this morning, I was thrilled to discover a beautiful speckled blue egg. Hopefully there will be more to follow.

The nest is very sturdily constructed, having been started last year, but never actually used.  I'm so thrilled that someone is nesting in it this year.  With the loss of habitat either side of us, I'm particularly happy to see that we still get birds in our garden and that they choose to nest in the habitat we are building.

I was going back through my iPhoto library because somewhere I have a photo of this particular nest when it was just a few sticks.  I couldn't find it, but I did find some other photos that reminded how magical May can be.

For example -- it was one year ago today that we had some unusual visitors to our garden.  I don't think I showed this video before, but we had a visit from a family of these little guys, drawn to our garden by the soggy ground under our hose reel.

They stayed with us for two days and I was fascinated, but a little relieved when they moved on -- my flowerbeds were starting to show signs of wear!

More magical moments in the garden last May when a Carolina wren nested on our patio.  I just happened to have a day off from work and be sitting on the patio on the day the young ones left the nest.

In last week's post, I celebrated the fact that we were finally hosting some Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in the front garden.  More recently, I spotted a couple of tiny caterpillars no more than half an inch long on the milkweed in the back garden.

As I was heading out the garden gate to turn on the water so I could refresh the bird bath, I saw something I have never seen before in my life -- a Monarch chrysalis!!

As we head further in to May, I'm looking forward to more magical wonders in the garden.  I'll keep you updated on Mrs. Mockingbird and her family and let you know how things develop.


Happy gardening everyone!

 


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2011

On the 15th of every month Carol of May Dreams Gardens invites garden bloggers around the world to show what's blooming in their gardens.

I often end up missing GBBD, but as I was browsing blogs this morning, I noticed all the posts, checked my calendar and -- hallelujah!  I haven't missed it!


So here's an overview of what is struggling through the drought here in my little patch of Texas.

The daylilies in the front garden are worth their weight in gold.  Nothing seems to faze them and, once again, they are delighting me with their vivid, hot colors under the hot summer sun.

Along the wall in the back garden, I have a grouping of containers containing Texas Star Hibiscus, not yet in bloom, Hamelia patens, also not yet in bloom and this lovely little Columbine, which I have never grown before.

I think I finally found a spot that this hydrangea enjoys.  It's on the back patio, which faces north, and it's on the east side of one of the columns so it's protected from the harsh afternoon sun that burned it in it's former location.  It's rewarding me with blooms :-)  This was a pass-along from fellow garden blogger, Ursula and I'm happy to be able to tell her I haven't killed it yet!

This hanging basket is a new acquisition, featuring a Calliope hybrid Geranium and Scaveola "Bombay White".  I think I'm probably going to move it from here.  It's very lush right now and where it's hanging, if there's the slightest breeze, it's going to get banged against the column.  I also don't think it's going to get enough sun here, although the spot does get afternoon sun.

The Vitex, the star of the summer garden, is blooming profusely and is being visited daily by lots of bees, as well as the hummingbirds.  I was happy to be able to snap this shot, even though it's not a great photo.

The butteflies are loving it too.

To wrap up today's post, some non-bloom-related photos:

As I was going through some photos, I realized that I had a better photo than one I had posted of the baby wrens that fledged last week, in the crepe myrtle tree.  I love his little punk rock hairdo of baby fuzz.

And lastly, this is not something you would normally see in a garden, but this is Texas!

What was he doing in our garden?  We assume he was after water. I had used the hose earlier in the day and although I had turned it off, I didn't empty it, so it was dripping a little.  In fact I think I must do that a lot because the ground around where the hose pipe is stays a bit damp.

This little guy and his sibling, came for the water, although one of them went on to dig up the flowerbed!

This drought is really affecting everything, not just our gardens but the wildlife too. These two visited two afternoons in a row and then we had a little rainstorm which added water to the local ditches.  We haven't seen them since.

I kind of miss them, although not the damage they were doing to the flowerbeds.  I appreciated the chanced to get up close and personal with these gentle creatures.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.