Enjoying the Spring Garden

With the recent rains, and now the bright sunny weather, the back garden is really starting to take off.

In previous years, the island beds were completely taken over by weeds by this date, but I've been more or less able to keep them in check by weeding five minutes here, five minutes there.

Other than the Nutsedge, which I have complained about before on this blog, the most prevalent weed in the garden is this:

I don't know what it is, but it's everywhere -- in the lawn, in the island beds, in the veggie garden. It's fairly easy to tweak out but it does involve bending over and hand picking, as trying to hoe it only ends up with the roots of the River birch, Vitex and peach trees getting disturbed.

I got most of it out now, which is better than I have done in previous years. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know.

The pansies I put in at Thanksgiving are coming in to their own now and really looking lovely. The yellow, purple and white set the tone and pick up those colors elsewhere in the garden - such as the Homestead verbena under the Vitex and the snapdragons in containers by the birdbath.

Along with the purple Homestead verbena under the Vitex, this Achillea is blooming. I planted this a few years ago and it's spread along the back border, enjoying the dappled shade provided by the tree in the summer.  I haven't really seen many blooms on it before, but it looks like it's getting ready to pop now.  I started some seedlings of this in different colors so I will be interested to see how they do in future years.

Isn't it funny how the smallest birds can make the most noise?  I was indoors this morning and heard what at first I thought to be a mockingbird singing outside.  I realized it was something else and took a peek outside to see who it might be.  It didn't take me long to spot this Carolina Wren sitting at the top of the tree behind our back wall, singing his heart out.

That scraggly old tree is quite a favorite with the birds.  The woodpeckers love it,  and I happened to see this flock of Cedar Waxwings land in it yesterday. Funny how I had never seen one of these birds until just before this year's Backyard Bird Count and now I see flocks on a regular basis.

Another garden visitor I was thrilled to see was this squirrel. Squirrels used to be regular visitors until the lots either side of us were cleared and built on.  It's been quite a while since we have had such a furry visitor.  This one was partaking of the buffet I had put on the wall for the birds.

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

The Return of the Birds - and Name That Bird

In a recent blog post, one of my local blogging friends, Dorothy, wondered where all the birds had gone this winter. 

In the six years I have lived here, it has seemed the we are surrounded by birds.  We hear them all the time, we see them in the garden, at the feeders and flying overhead.

But this winter it has seemed like they all just disappeared.  Even our year round birds, like the Cardinals, have been absent. The garden is silent.

I was really getting quite depressed about it, thinking it was because we now have houses on either side, where we used to have brush and trees.  

My little country garden that I loved so much when we moved here is rapidly becoming surrounded by suburbia. But I consoled myself that at least we still have the hedgerow (at least for now) across the road behind us.  It was always full of birds.

Where they went this winter is a complete mystery.

But at long last, I've started seeing some birds again.  Okay - so they are mostly European House Sparrows, not the most desirable of avian visitors.  But after the complete lack of birds over the winter, I'll take what I can get!

I also caught sight of this Carolina wren last weekend in the rain.  Perhaps they will nest on the patio again this year.  I hope so!  I heard and saw a Chickadee too, but couldn't get a photo of him.

The Southern Wax Myrtle seemed to provide a cozy dry shelter to these Mourning Doves, who stayed huddled under it for most of that rainy morning.  I began to worry that they might be injured but once it stopped raining, they flew off.

After weeks of cold wet, dreary weather, I was happy to see the sun shining in the garden this morning.  I was even more thrilled to see "Mr. Cardinal" on the wall, helping himself to the birdseed I had just put out.  Mrs. Cardinal was there too, but I didn't get a good shot of her.

As I was standing at the back door, taking photos of the sparrows and the cardinal, I realized that there was another bird with them.  At first I had assumed it was a sparrow but quickly realized it wasn't.  

As I wanted to identify it and add it to my "Life List", I took several photos.  Unfortunately, they haven't helped me identify it, either using my Birds of North America book, or the online tool at WhatBird.com

This is where you come in.  I'm hoping someone can tell me what this is. And then I can feel like an idiot for not being able to identify it myself!  :-)

With those markings he should be easy to identify, but once I had entering in "brown back", "streaked front," "yellow markings," "chestnut crown" etc.  I ended up with nothing.

These three are the best of the photos I got of him.

Any idea what he is?  Please leave a comment :-)
 


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

On Nest Watch

In 2010 and 2011 we had Carolina Wrens nesting in one of the container plants on our patio.  I was even lucky enough to be sitting out on the patio drinking my morning coffee at the exact moment when the fledglings left the nest.  You can read my post about it, and see my photos at The Empty Nest.

That was an experience I will never forget!

However, with all the construction around us, and the loss of habitat on either side of us, it's been a long time since I heard the glorious song of a Carolina Wren.

Imagine my surprise when, a few weeks ago, I started hearing that unmistakable song.  Could there be a Carolina Wren around again?

I was thrilled to see movement out on the patio and after watching for a while, I snuck outside with the camera.

This time, they chose to nest in the decorative watering can, seen on the right of the photo.

They spent the day come and going with mouthfuls of pine needles to make their nest.

This photo was taken early in the process.  They kept going until the nest was nice and deep.

I know that wrens typically make two or more nests and then select the one they want to raise their family in and unfortunately, we haven't seen them in a couple of weeks.  

The nest, although now complete, is empty.  This could have to do with the fact that I, in my clumsy efforts to get a peek and a photo, disturbed momma twice and flushed her from the nest, or the fact that the metal watering can might get too warm when the setting sun hits it.

While they have been gone, I rearranged the shelf a little bit and moved the watering can back, so I could set a decorative (empty) bird feeder in front of it to block the sun. Hopefully that will prevent it from getting too hot.

I was woken up by the familiar song of a wren this morning, after two weeks of nothing.  I can only hope that means they are back, or perhaps another pair.  

I will resist the urge to go take a peek, and possibly disturb them again.  Wish us luck!!


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

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.

Wordless Wednesday -- Waiting

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

My Sweet Texas Home

I purchased this resin cowboy boot birdhouse a couple of years ago as a strictly decorative addition to the patio, having seen a similar one in a friend's garden.  I certainly wasn't expecting a bird to actually build a nest in it.

As you can see -- I was wrong! 

A pair of Carolina wrens spent most of the morning flitting back and forth with bits of grass to add to their nest.


As far as nesting sites go, it's really not too bad. 

In it's favor: it's 5 foot up a brick column, so it will be free from predators. Also it's on the east side of that column, under the eaves of the house and sheltered from the hot afternoon sun.

Possible dangers:  it's 5 foot up a brick column.  If and when the babies fledge, it's a long way down to the ground!  I'm also a little worried that it's so deep, the babies won't even be able to get out of it when the time comes.  

Maybe the parents will give them a boost to help them out.





 




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.

The Empty Nest

I've been keeping a close eye on the baby wrens in the nest on our covered patio and watching Momma Wren come and go tirelessly, finding insects around the garden, and the thicket next door to feed them.

I like to sit on the patio with my morning coffee on the weekends and I had got used to hearing a soft thump as she landed back on the rim of the container the nest is in. For the first time, I started hearing the babies peeping every time she came back to the nest, clamoring for attention.

I took a peek at them. There were four (I had previously thought there were three of them) and they all looked fully alert and were starting to stretch their wings.

So yesterday I had scheduled a day off work, to use up some vacation time, and was sitting with my morning coffee when I was startled by a whir and a thud behind me, over in the corner where the nest is.

I turned around to see what was happening and ... Lo and Behold... the first baby had ventured from the nest!

So of course I spent the next couple of hours crazily snapping pics and taking video till my camera batteries gave out!  

It was quite nerve wracking watching them trying out their wings. The nest is on the top shelf and of course, they all launched themselves into space and then fluttered to the ground.

But they gradually got the hang of it and fluttered back up again, one shelf at a time. 

 

 Throughout all this activity, the Momma Wren was giving encouragement, as well as nourishment. In fact, even when they were all out of the nest, she went back to it several times with a juicy insect, just to make sure no one was left behind.

After a couple of hours (maybe more, I'm not sure, I completely lost track of the time) one by one, they launched themselves across the lawn to the shrubs at the back of the garden.


That seemed to wear them out a bit and for a while two of them sat in the crepe myrtle and two sat in the butterfly bush, resting.  Momma Wren didn't like me poking around the shrubs trying to get a photo, so I went back to the patio and left them to it.  I could still hear them peeping though.

But eventually they moved on.  I went over to check on them one last time and they were nowhere to be seen or heard.  Momma Wren wasn't hanging about either, so I assume she took them over the fence to the thicket next door.

I wish them the best and hope to see them again.  Who knows, maybe one of them will choose to raise their own family on our patio.


But for now, I kind of feel like a mother whose kid has gone off to college.



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

Break out the Cigars! We Have Hatchlings!

 A couple of days ago, I saw momma wren leave the nest on the patio and couldn't resist taking a peek.  At first I thought the nest was empty because it was so deep and dark.  But eventually I realized I was looking at some very tiny baby wrens!


Today, I risked another peek (standing on a step ladder from a discreet distance so as not to disturb) Again, at first I thought the nest was empty but as I zoomed my camera all the way in, I espied what appeared to be at least two beaks. I snapped a couple of pics and then retreated indoors to leave them in peace.


Here they are.  Welcome to the world, little ones!

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

For Rent: Desirable Residence, All Amenities

 As I was browsing around the gardening, doing a bit of weeding this weekend, I happened to notice some grasses and other materials poking out of the side of the little bird house I put up last week.


Could someone have taken up residence already?


I wonder who it could be... 


If you remember, a pair of Carolina wrens made a nest and raised at least one youngster in a container plant on the patio last July.  

It seems a little early for them to be nesting now, if they nested in July last year. But perhaps they nest several times a year.  (I'll have to go and look up that information)


Or.... Eric and I were digging a couple of post holes on Saturday and I was amazed when a Carolina Chickadee hopped up and down a branch of the nearby Vitex tree, in which the bird house is hanging, and scolded us severely.


So perhaps the nest in the bird house is his, although I've been watching and haven't seen any coming and going since yesterday.


I hope we do get nesters - whoever they may be.  I'll keep you posted.

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

Of Cannas, Cats and Wrens

If you recall, I'm thinking of ways to enhance a corner of the garden where I can't plant in the ground, due to excessive pine roots.  I had mentioned one idea of putting up a trellis and growing vines.

Well, in a typical moment of impulse spending, I purchased a couple of metal trelllises and some Cannas, which I felt might give a tropical feel to that corner.  Quite an about-turn from what I originally envisioned.

The only problem... while that area gets morning shade, as seen here, it gets a few hours of blazing afternoon sun, before the sun goes down behind the fence.

According to the plant tag on the Cannas, they are supposed to be able to take sun or shade. But I guess "sun" is relative and the leaves of the cannas are already showing signs of burning.

I think I'm going to have to find somewhere else for them, although there's not really anywhere around the house that doesn't get blazing sun at least part of the time. 

Even the section on the north side that is in deep shade most of the day gets blazing afternoon sun, because the house isn't exactly on a north|south axis and actually faces more of a north-west direction.

I wonder if they would do better in the ground somewhere than being in a container (and being dependant on me to remember to water them). Any suggestions re: cannas would be much appreciated.

Here's the view from inside the house.

And a view along the border, looking toward the corner where I put the cannas.

On to other news... Facebook friends may remember that I posted recently that the stray cat that we've been feeding trusted us enough to bring her kittens over to visit...

Well, that's been going very well.  I've been putting food out for her when I feed the birds at 5:30 in the morning.  She weaves around me and lets me stroke her a bit and sniffs my hand.  The plan is to eventually catch her and get her fixed. Then, if she wants to, she is welcome to join our seven cat household.  The kittens, we'll try to catch and socialze with the plan of finding homes for them.

Well as I mentioned above, she's got used to me feeding her at 5 am, so what did I see last weekend when I didn't get up until 7:30?  Miss Cali (yes, we gave her a name already!) was helping herself at the buffet line. I actually saw her jump up and hang off the hanging feeder with her front paws and then drop back to the ground with a mouthful of feathers. (not sure whether all she got was feathers or if she actually got a bird)

After apologizing profusely to the local avian population, since then I've been diligent about feeding her at 5:30 and every morning she's waiting and she greets me with a meow.  But the best part is that once she and the kittens have eaten their fill, she'll either take them back to the thicket next door, or she'll curl up and snooze on the patio. She doesn't pay any attention to the birds at all.

In fact, remember that pair of wrens that built a nest in the container on the patio? Well, just yesterday I went around to the side of the house to turn on the hose so I could water those containers and who should greet me on the fence but one of the wrens. 

A flutter at my feet made me look down and there was a fledgling wren!! It had obviously only recently fledged and was still more than a bit wobbly in flight. But the big thing was that it had left the nest right under Cali's nose.  She was laying in the shade on a blanket, surveying the garden and completely ignoring the wrens, even with the noise the parent bird was making!

At one point the fledgling got a bit stuck between the star jasmine and the fence and the fluttering around attracted Cali's attention and she started creeping stealthily toward it. But we opened the back door and called (okay, yelled) to her to go away and she wandered off, climbed the other fence and disappeared into the thicket.

With the mama (or pappa) bird giving constant vocal encouragement, I witnessed the fledgling fly rather haphazardly to the sweetgum tree on the other side of the house.

I'm so glad I happened to decide to water the containers at that exact moment or I would have missed that!

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