Wild Things

Yep - we're more than just a bit late for Wildflower Wednesday.  We do have a few wild things blooming though.  Just check out these colorful blooms above!   Ed and Zelda have been hanging out here a lot lately.  

Last summer we took down a spruce that died suddenly in September, 2011.   We hadn't noticed anything wrong with the tree, and it was a green as ever.  I was out on the patio one windy afternoon, and suddenly out of nowhere it was raining spruce needles.  Everywhere.  It didn't stop until the old spruce was completely bare about an hour later.  Ed seems to be enjoying the stump.  He rested here all afternoon, after swimming in the swale all morning.  Zelda's there too - beautiful in her own right, just a little more shy than Ed.  They make a cute couple, don't you think?  

They're so much fun to watch.  April's record rainfall, and a full swale have brought them back frequently. They seem to have settled in and made themselves at home.

Spring beauties (Claytonia virginica,) have been blooming for a couple of weeks.  I just love these tiny striped blooms.  The clump has gotten larger this year, and there are new clumps forming in other spots in the garden.  Ants may have planted the seeds for us. 

 Sanguinaria canadensis, also known as bloodroot, came from Mom's woods a few years ago.  This clump has grown quite a bit too - from one small leaf and one bloom, to this nice little clump and a succession of blooms, each lasting only a few days before the petals fall.  They're fleeting, but lovely, and the large, leathery leaves are pretty cool too.

  

Celandine poppies (Stylophorum diphyllum) are just getting started.  These are the first blooms.  They'll continue blooming all spring and into the summer.  Celandine poppies are the longest-blooming natives in our garden.  I love the lacy foliage on these plants. 

Tiny bunnies, eyes not even open yet are 'blooming' in our garden this month too.  I have fantasies of rabbit stew, but they're too cute and precious to harm.  I think that now, but those fantasies will be back when they start mowing down the garden.  We don't call this place Bunnies' Salad Bar & Grill for nothin'!

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are just getting started too.  They're among my favorite flowers in spring.  

After a long winter and a slow spring, it's warming up here just in time for May.  After a slow start, the garden has come alive in the last couple of weeks, and everything is appreciating the extra rain after last year's drought and heat.  

I  hope you're enjoying beautiful spring blooms, and plenty of rain (but not too much!) in your little corner of the world.

To see more Wildflower Wednesday posts, please visit Gail at Clay and Limestone.  Thank you for hosting, Gail!

Ed and Zelda, Just Passing Through

This time of year the deepest part of our swale usually becomes a vernal pool, and Ed and Zelda visit the pool a few times a day for a swim and a meal. 

A vernal pool is ephemeral, much like many of the spring natives in our garden.  That is, it's temporary, lasting only a short time, and returning year after year.   They are low spots in the land where snow melt and spring rains collect, and they're usually dry, or mostly dry during summer and fall. 

Vernal pools usually contain no fish, making them mostly free of predators and allowing a place for amphibians like toads and frogs to visit and lay their eggs. With enough rain our vernal pool stays full long enough for tadpoles to fully develop into young adults able to walk,  hop, and breathe on land.  The years when we have toads in the garden are generally years when we've had a lot of snow, and a normal amount of spring rain, and our vernal pool lasts at least several weeks before going dry.  

This year so far, we've had neither a normal amount of snow, nor much in the way of rain.  As it was in much of the country, March was unusually warm and dry here.  So far, April has been more seasonal temperature-wise, but we're still very short on rain.  What this will mean, if anything, for the rest of the year remains to be seen.

For Ed and Zelda though, it has meant not much to eat in the swale.  They waltzed past the dry, deepest part of the swale to this area which is always moist.  They dipped their bills into the murky water a few times, and appeared to find something to eat. 

Since they wouldn't have seen water from air as they were flying over, the fact that they stopped here anyway makes me wonder.  I like to pretend Ed and Zelda are the same pair of mallards that return here to feed and swim every spring.  Maybe they really are, and maybe that's why they landed, expecting to find the usual vernal pool.  Or, maybe there's some instinctual behavior passed down through generations like our GPS navigators in our cars, so that even young birds who've never been here, somehow know their parents were.

There's been a lot of talk about global warming during the winter that wasn't and the record-high March temperatures.  Whatever the facts are, I felt a little sad for Ed and Zelda, and wonder what temperatures and how much rain this summer will bring. All I know right now is there was no place here to swim, and not much for them to eat.  This spring, as happy as I am to see them, Ed and Zelda are just passing through.

Garden Visitors

It's raining today. again! Our swale has rarely been dry this spring, thanks to the torrential rainfalls we've had. We've been lucky having had just a little seepage in the basement, while others in our area have suffered some pretty severe flooding. Thanks to all the rain, the gardens have been very happy. We've also had frequent visitors to the garden, thanks to all the rain. Most notable among the welcome visitors have been Ed and Zelda. We've also had mosquitoes in record numbers, but that's a story for another day.

A few weeks ago, Ed arrived without Zelda. When they're here together they take a relaxed swim, then often come out and onto the lawn for a nice rest before heading out again. This time Ed was here alone. He seemed to be looking for Zelda the whole time, and didn't stay as long as usual. I hoped she was ok.

Ah, there she is, and all is right again in Ed's world.

Ed and Zelda Return

Ed and Zelda are back for the first time this spring! Zelda still looks about the same, but Ed - oh my how he's grown! You can't really tell how big he is from a photo, but he was by far the biggest mallard I've ever seen. I wondered if he was half goose, or some other breed of duck that looks just like a mallard but is much larger.

They like to hang out in the swale and eat whatever swims or floats around in there.

Since our neighbor's weeping willow came down in January 2008, parts of the swale are wet all year, while part of it fills only after a heavy rain, and sometimes it looks more like a creek - even has a current.

I enjoy watching the suburban wildlife who visit our backyard 'water feature,' sustaining themselves with the constant supply of food and water. With water there year 'round, I'm surprised we don't have more mosquitoes than we do in the summer. The bats seem to do a pretty good job keeping the mosquito population down, and I suspect the larvae also become food for some of the creatures who lunch at the swale.