Little did I know early last summer when I purchased pink verbena because I wanted some color in my front yard that the verbena would survive frost, snow, a hurricane and live longer than the mums, the snap dragons or the nasturtium.
The verbena looks handsome among the fall leaves – those orangey brown pine-like leaves are from our bald cypress tree.
Truly the only pink in our front yard now is from the verbena – mostly brown, some green, and these dots of verbena pink.
In other nature in my yard news, I got a photo of a female and male cardinal together. They often travel together, but I don’t usually see them this close.
And I got a close shot of the cardinal – he looks like a proud guy, or maybe he has just eaten a lot of the black sunflower seeds in our bird feeder.
I caught this squirrel with a strawberry in his mouth (is it a wild strawberry or one of our garden strawberries – not sure, but it looks like the wild kind). So I grabbed my camera and decided to do Nature Notes. I confess, I haven’t been doing much observing of nature, though I have been gardening. My peas did very well in their cage this spring; I saw a deer walk right past the gardening cage (but the deer did take a chomp out of the tomato plants that were outside the cage).
I did not plant this tall lily in this spot behind my pink rose bush. I used to have similar lilies in a different part of my garden; I probably pulled them all out by mistake when I was weeding. Or they died a natural death. So I was surprised to see a lily blossom elsewhere in my yard.
The raspberries that grow on old can are now ripening in our backyard. The ones on new cane are usually more abundant, and we get to enjoy those in August. Last year wasn’t a great crop; maybe this year will be better? I read somewhere that one should prune the raspberry bushes so they have space in between them. I tried to do some pruning last year. It is hard to photograph a raspberry – the camera doesn’t realize you want to focus on that tiny berry.
In my front yard many pink Mexican poppies are in bloom. My husband remembers the days when he had to mow the front lawn – no more.
There is also purple salvia growing behind the pink Mexican poppies.
The tall green plants behind the Mexican poppies in this shot are lambs’ ear. I originally planted a few that I transported from my mother’s garden in Newton, MA. That was in 1998, so these have been reproducing for over ten years. I’ll probably pull most of them out soon and replace them with summer plants, maybe cucumber plants that I grow among the flowers.
These flowering chives are growing in a pot in my backyard, but since they are in a pot, I could easily transfer them to the front.
snapdragon leaves in late December 2011 with drops of water
It’s been a while since I’ve done Nature Notes – I could blame both my work load and the gloom of early December darkness, cold and brown. Today it was a tad warmer, and I went outside to photograph some burnt red bald cypress leaves – instead, I found this snapdragon plant with bright green leaves and drops of rain water.
I have an idea for next week’s Nature Notes, but I need your help. Can you tell me which of Michelle’s many topics were your favorite(s) in the past year? Shh… don’t tell Michelle. Oh, is she reading this? Well, anyway, your comments on Best Rambling Woods Nature Topics are requested.
I finally got to see a heron while visiting my in-laws who live near the Jersey Shore. Wouldn’t you know it, I only had my little phone camera with me. My daughter called the heron a “gray flamingo.”
In more mundane news, the parsley seeds I planted in August have germinated. No sign of the kale seeds germinating. I plan to plant whatever I get in my little front yard so I have greenery in the late fall and possibly through winter (not counting when there is snow on top, but the kale has survives through the snow).
Update: I went outside to check on my few germinated seedlings, and an animal had eaten them. Or maybe they died of “damping off” – too much wet. Sigh. I moved them to our front yard, where we’ve had fewer animal problems, and the sun hits the area.
I planted portulaca (also called moss rose) from seed late this year (late means June), so I only got a few blossoms. Here is one that was still alive in October. These flowers are delicate, open only in late morning and die when it starts to get cold. Sometimes they reseed – hopes for next summer.
