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!

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.

Ed and Zelda Stop By For a Visit

Ed and Zelda live at the nursery where I work. There's a creek that runs through the middle and down the north side of the property, and Pop (of Mom & Pop, the owners of the nursery) being a serious bird enthusiast, has a number of bird feeders and a bird bath on the south side of the nursery along a driveway. So Ed and Zelda hang out a lot by the feeders, and enjoy refreshing swims in the creek. After their babies are mobile, they trot them out and show them off to us like the proud parents they are. Ed and Zelda aren't very afraid of us humans, since they're so used to us being around. We can get really close to them and the kids.

We have a drainage swale way in the back of our yard. After a heavy rain, the swale becomes a temporary stream. Now, with the weeping willow tree gone, the swale stays wet longer after a heavy rain than it used to.

Ed and Zelda have always enjoyed stopping by for a visit and a refreshing swim whenever there's water in the swale. I imagine they'll be stopping by even more frequently now that the willow is gone. Of course, once the kids are hatched, they stay closer to home for a few weeks.

Wednesday when I came home for lunch, I found them in our back yard enjoying an early afternoon swim. They'd taken off from the nursery late in the morning, and I was thinking they just might be here when I got home. Since our house is only a little over a mile (as the duck flies,) from the nursery, it only takes them a couple of minutes to fly over here. They were here to greet me when I came home. I don't mind them stopping by when I'm not home - they're like family after all.

A half-hour later when it was time to go back to work, they took off in the direction of the nursery. I wasn't surprised when I got back to work minutes later, to find them hanging out by the bird feeders. I guess they still believe that old wives' tale that you shouldn't swim after a meal or you might get a cramp and drown. So they came by for a swim at my place first, had some of their favorite appetizers fresh from the swale, then flew back over to the nursery for the rest of their lunch. I don't blame them for believing that old wives tale. They really are bird brains though.
It's ok if they're bird brains. We love them just the way they are.