This morning when I went outside to take pictures for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, there was a coyote in the backyard. I didn't see the coyote until I was out there, and I was so startled, I didn't think about taking a picture before I shooed him away. It's rare I make George stay inside. He goes where I go, but this morning my intuition kicked in, and I told him "No." I'm very thankful I didn't let George come out with me. I know him well enough to know he would have chased the coyote. I suspect the coyote would have run faster than George, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out what might have happened.
Intuition can be a powerful force, and it was in high gear this morning. I learned a long time ago to listen to that little voice inside, and it rarely steers me the wrong way. There have been times I've disregarded intuition and acted on 'logic' instead, resulting in mistakes and regrets. I'm grateful I paid attention to it today.
Intuition can be a powerful force, and it was in high gear this morning. I learned a long time ago to listen to that little voice inside, and it rarely steers me the wrong way. There have been times I've disregarded intuition and acted on 'logic' instead, resulting in mistakes and regrets. I'm grateful I paid attention to it today.
Anemone Sylvestris
Chocolate Chip Ajuga
Old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts
The first columbine to bloom. And what's up with this??? It's supposed to be Cardinal. It was Cardinal last year. Now it's this oddly-shaped white blob. I hope it straightens itself out and subsequent blooms look like the lovely Cardinal that I planted. If it's decided it wants to be white, I hope the rest of the flowers look better than this one!
Woodland Phlox
Double Impatiens. I just love their rose-like blooms. It's too shady for roses in my garden, but double impatiens thrive and bloom from spring to frost in the morning sun here. It's a little cool to plant them yet, especially since I just bought them home yesterday and they were still in one of the greenhouses, so they haven't been hardened off yet. I left them outside in the sun after I brought them home, and brought them in overnight. When I told George to stay inside, he backed up from the door and trampled one of them, breaking off three stems. Oh well. It will recover. Better to have a damaged plant than a damaged George after a coyote encounter!
Neon Lights Tiarella
Creeping Phlox 
Gaelic Magic Pulmonaria, down and dirty. This one was just divided. I guess I could have sprinkled off the soil before I took this shot. Oh well, just keeping it real!
Thank you Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!
GG - great blooms! Regarding intuition - don't you think it's so under-rated? We don't rely on it nearly enough...
ReplyDeleteA coyote?! I'm glad you listened to that inner voice of yours.
ReplyDeleteYour flowers look great. I also love the double impatiens and bought nine of them the other day. They are waiting patiently for me to pot them up.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Great pictures! Be careful of the coyotes as I recently heard on the news they are becoming more aggressive (well duh-we keep imposing on their turf). Take care.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, thanks goodness for your inner voice! Good for George too, except for the stems breaking, but it was an accident. I love the name of the pulmonaria, it's flower is so sweet. It's going on the want list. Thanks for showing us all these beauties.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Gorgeous blooms. Thank goodness your dog was not outsides. It's strange how we sometimes get these intuitions.
ReplyDeleteHappy GBBD and it really pays to listen to your intuition! Love that double impatience, such lovely blooms and they come in a great colour too.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I don't think men understand how profound this intuition is that we possess. My husband is a doctor, and I don't think his intuition tells him anything besides what to prescribe for a patient. If only I could get him to listen to it when it comes to the rest of us! Listen to it, girl. It will steer the way.
ReplyDeleteBrenda
I was always glad of my high fence when I had the dogs. George looks big, but he still could've gotten hurt chasing a coyote. I'm glad you left him inside.
ReplyDeleteWhat is up with that Columbine? I've never seen one do that. Disease? Just today I almost bought a pot of those double impatiens. They are so charming.
it is wise to listen to that inner voice...
ReplyDeleteIsn't it like that, something new or exciting and we are too startled to remember to take a photo!
I enjoyed clicking on your closeups, they were lovely, especially the phlox...
gail
Nancy, I'm glad there are impatiens - they add some needed color to this shade garden.
ReplyDeleteGina, it's definitely underrated. I used to under-rate it but finally learned to act on it as I got older. I've never regretted following it.
Carol, we have a golf course nearby called Coyote Run. There are actually quite a few coyotes around here. This is the first time I've seen one in our yard.
A friend of mine's little maltese was eaten by a coyote last winter. I loved that little dog. He was out on a leash with his owner, all 4 pounds of him. A coyote bounded out from behind a shrub and snatched that sweet little dog, took off with him leash and all.
Tina, I feel sorry for them. He was way in the back of the yard, and I was by the door, so I felt safe enough scaring him off. Seeing a coyote in your back yard definitely adds a new element of caution for the future.
Priscilla, I'm so glad I left him inside. He chases anything that moves.
Yolanda, that's for sure! I'm glad I paid attention to that little voice inside. Happy GBBD to you too!
Brenda, if I learned anything in the last 50 years, it's to listen to it! I've never regretted it.
MMD, George never takes off except to chase a squirrel or rabbit, and he never goes beyond the next yard before he comes trotting back. The coyote adds a whole new dimension though.
When I got him, before I got married, I had a fenced yard. But here in this suburb, fences are against code. Above-ground pools are verboten too. They've grandfathered older fences, but new ones can't be installed. It might be possible to get a variance, but from what I've heard, it's not easy. Coyotes running through subdivisions seems like a good reason for a variance.
That columbine's got me vexed! So many wierd things happen in this garden! Last year all the columbines were attacked by leaf miners. I'm surprised they came back at all considering the shape they were in by the fall. I'm curious what the other ones will do.
Gail, especially considering I had my camera on and in my hand, I'm surprised I didn't think to take a picture of our visitor!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. The phlox was the first one I took, and it was just before the sun came up. No photoshopping was involved. It's even hard for me to believe how saturated the color is in that shot. During daylight, it looks lighter blue. I just love blue flowers.
Yes it does Garden Girl! I ran into a garter snake under a board in my veggie garden-what a start today. I couldn't imagine a coyote but we have them here too.
ReplyDeleteI was drooling over some double impatiens the other day at the garden center. I didn't buy any since I wasn't sure if I had a spot to put them or not, but I'm sure I'll make room for them somewhere!
ReplyDeleteThat poor columbine looks like it had a rough morning. Poor thing. Maybe the coyoyte scared the color right out of it? Ha, ha.
Such beautiful flowers, and you took really lovely photos to show them all off.
ReplyDeleteLove what you said here about intuition. I'm very strong on the intuition side, much less so on the logic side. (Don't know if you've ever done any Meyers-Briggs personality testing, but I'm an INFJ) Every single time I've ignored my intuition I've come to serious grief so I've learned the hard way to listen carefully!
Tina, I wish it had been a garter snake, or a mouse would have ok too. I'm not scared of them.
ReplyDeleteI'm not exactly scared of coyotes either. It's just say I have a healthy respect for them!
I'm scared of racoons. And I'm scared of 'possums.
Cinj, the only thing I don't like about them is the flowers are messy when they fall off. But that's ok - they're worth the trouble of picking up spent flowers.
Hey, I never thought of that - the columbine turned white from fright. Why didn't I think of that? Now I just have to figure out how to explain the shape of it! I've never seen a columbine like that. It's deformed!
Amy, I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures.
I'm INFP. Strongly F, strongly P. It's funny you bring up Myers Briggs. My husband and I were just talking about that this evening.
It took me far to long to learn to trust my intuition, especially in sudden, unexpected situations.
That was kind of scary!! I'm glad he ran away. Your pictures are pretty and everything looks healthy and lush. I love bleeding heart. It is so delicate.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I'm glad he ran away. I think he was about as scared as I was.
ReplyDeleteA close encounter with a coyote? That's a scary thought! We have coyotes off in the woods, and I can hear them at night, but thankfully, I haven't met up with one yet.
ReplyDeleteI love the double impatiens, too. Your bleeding heart is lovely, and I'm so disappointed now that the ones I planted last fall didn't come up. I will have to try again.
Your bloom day selection is really pretty Garden Girl - the tiarella is especially lovely. When the double impatiens were new and hard to get I started keeping a few inside each winter, then started new plants in early spring so all the women in the family could have one at Mothers' Day. When I see them now it makes me nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has had coyote sightings lately - they sure are successful at living near humans!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Rose, I'm sorry your bleeding hearts didn't come back. Last year only one of mine came back (the one that's blooming now.) I had three of them, planted the year before. This year all three came back, but the two that were dormant last year are very small. I'm happy and surprised those two even came back at all, and hope their roots are now established enough that they'll get larger this year and come back again next year. I've had a few surprise come-backs this spring of things I thought were dead. I'm crossing my fingers your bleeding hearts come back next year. It's possible!
ReplyDeleteThank you Annie. I really like that tiarella. As the leaves get larger, they develop an almost-black coloration around the veining. It's just starting now. It's hard to see in the photo, but it's there and will spread. I love those palest of pale pink bottlebrushes too, and they last several weeks.
Would you believe my husband is INFP? That one letter difference, me a J and he a P, has been the one area where we've had friction :) We had a good laugh after doing the test and now understand each other so much better. Especially when he wants to do something unexpected and spontaneous and I'm saying must. plan. ahead!
ReplyDeleteAmy, my Lawn Man is INTP. His T and my F have definitely caused controversy at times! ;)
ReplyDeleteVery nice blooms, Linda. With all the impatiens I have in my gardens I've never tried the double impatiens. I'll have to check them out next time I see them in the garden center to determine if they will do well here. They are a nice rose looking bloom.
ReplyDeleteMeems @Hoe&Shovel
Meems, I love those double impatiens. They're a bit pricey, but worth it to me for the show they put on in part sun.
ReplyDeleteWonderful blooms, Linda. How could you ever pick a favourite among all these little wonders? I can totally relate to the inner voice thingy, and I'm glad you've listened to it once again.
ReplyDeleteThose double impatiens do look like roses. They are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your dog was not outside while the coyote was there. Here in Austin, coyotes have moved into the inner, urban neighborhoods and begun snacking on dogs and cats. Not good!
GG... does your anemone sylvestris ramble around much? I just planted one, THEN read where it can be a pretty aggressive grower.
ReplyDeleteDon
Violet, it's not possible to pick a favorite. Sometimes I think the blues are my favorites, but as you can see, there are a number of blues. On the other hand, I just love the anemones, and sometimes I think they're my favorites. My favorite varies from moment to moment and day to day.
ReplyDeletePam, they're one of my favorite shade annuals.
I agree, coyotes encroaching on suburban, and even urban areas isn't good - not good for the coyotes, and not good for pets. I often think about my friend's little Maltese. He was one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met, and it's really tragic they had to lose that sweet little guy to a wild animal out of his element. It's not safe to leave pets or children outdoors alone with coyotes running around back yards.
iboy, about the only thing that's aggressive in my garden is the maple-root riddled dry shade! I haven't known anemone sylvestris to be invasive in past gardens either, but after a few years you might need to dig up a bit of it on the outskirts of the patch.
I don't like invasive plants and try my best to avoid them. At the same time, it's been my experience that few perennials are totally well-behaved without some intervention from the gardener. Eventually, most perennials seem to need to be divided, thinned, or otherwise curtailed. Anemone Sylvestris is in the category of plants that occasionally needs to be curtailed, but I haven't found it to be at all invasive.
It's a pretty desirable plant, and if yours needs to be cut back in a few years, I'm sure you'll be able to find another gardener who'd love to have your thinnings as pass-along plants. It's also very easy to dig up when necessary.