A few pass alongs and berries

These bearded Irises were given to my Mother by her sister a couple of years ago and a few were passed along to me, they have a perfumed scent, but I have to place my nose near them to smell them.
 

Below: Comfrey (symphytum tuberosum).. is an herb that was given to my parent's by my eldest sister, it is not yet in full bloom but is still gorgeous, the bees love it and I do too".

Added a Solar water lily fountain this month. A baby sparrow kept trying to drink from it, leaped onto it and I thought it was going to drown, but it took a big gulp and flew up and out to my relief and to my surprise!. I hate that I did not catch this action  with my camera..

Last year I planted my first strawberries and politely forgot the variety in the planter that is holding the ceramic bunny momma and baby... I have  two other  containers of 'Ozark beauty' which are Ever bearers. Ever bearers will produce fruit from spring to autumn.

Thanks for stopping by..Do leave a comment I enjoy them.

                                                                                         

                  

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.. May 2010

It's that time again, the 15th of every month when we join Carol our host of Garden Blogger's bloom Day to post What's blooming in our gardens.

 This is one of the prettiest shrubs in my yard and I have never known for sure of it's exact specie, it  has lots of round white clustered flowers with a wonderful light scent like a very, very faint gardenia...butterflies were all over it today.. I think it is called..Deutzia Scabra ( doot-see-uh ) belonging to the Hydrangeaceae Family..
 I didn't get around to clipping it into a nice shape like I did last year..Oh" well"... it's still pretty.
                                        

 

Why must these yellow drops of sunshine be such a beautiful weed! I removed mass mountain's of them today and left a small patch that will probably be a mountain next year...I need to replace it with a look alike that's Not a weed! ..This weed I'm speaking of  is a creeping buttercup.. ( Ranunculous repens ) it spreads by under ground runners, which make it  a Monsters to get rid of...It is very invasive and I have tried year after year to get rid of it by digging it up.... But I must not have done a very good job removing all of the root system..because they returned as if I had never moved them at all.

 I read today that I should repeat the process more than once  ( lots of digging and tilling ) and that should do the trick..if not, I should try an herbicide. I don't really like to use chemicals in my garden so I guess I'll be getting some more exercise until I can find a replacement.

Purple Ice plant and dainty blue bell flowers...Two of my favorite colors in the garden. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments and have a Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day!

 





                                                                                                 

Wishing you and your's a Happy Mother's Day!

A Mother’s love is something

that no one can explain,

It is made of deep devotion

and of sacrifice and pain,

It is endless and unselfish

and enduring come what may

For nothing can destroy it

or take that love away . . .

It is patient and forgiving

when all others are forsaking,

And it never fails or falters

     even though the heart is breaking 

It believes beyond believing

when the world around condemns,

And it glows with all the beauty

of the rarest, brightest gems . . .

It is far beyond defining,

it defies all explanation,

And it still remains a secret

  like the mysteries of creation 

A many splendor miracle

man cannot understand

And another wondrous evidence

of God’s tender guiding hand.

Helen Steiner Rice

(1900 – 1981)

                       Photo credit is ...by..Betsy J....of Flickr.com

A dental date to remove a Wisdom tooth

What are Wisdom teeth? and what do they have to do with Wisdom? The answer to this question never concerned me until I had to have one removed.

They are often referred to as the third Molars by Dentist and are the last teeth to develop... By the time we are 18 they are developed completely,  thus by tradition is the time of maturity and wisdom".. Some of you may have developed these teeth with-out any incident.. I, on the other hand,  have developed them impacted! which means they did not come through... So on.. Monday April 26th around 1:30pm I will have my 2nd Wisdom tooth removed on the lower right side.

I hope it will not be a repeat of my first extraction on the lower left side in 2004... It was an unforgettable experience, but I decided not to share the details of that experience with you because my goal is just to let you know that I'll be absent for a while until my healing process begins...Not to scare you away from oral surgery. Lol! .....  

I look forward to returning to catch up on your beautiful gardens and other fun events you like to share.. Happy gardening and thank you for your well wishes!

 P.S...the photo above is from animated teeth.com which explains a little more about wisdom teeth with animated photos and written explanations..

 http://www.animated-teeth.com/wisdom_teeth/t1_wisdom_tooth.htm

Garden blogger's bloom day April 2010

Hello to all..once again  it's time to join our host Carol of garden blogger's bloom day! of My Dream Gardens.   Bloom day begins the 15th of every month and all  participating blogger's  post what's blooming in their gardens.. then we're off to visit Carol to take a look at her blooms and others at  My Dream Gardens..join once in a while it's fun! and you get to meet someone new.

 

Magnolia one of my favorite  flowering trees, blooming in front yard.

                                                                               
                                              

 Below:  Forsythia blooms against the back gate.

Below:  This lovely shrub has many little yellow flowers that bloom all over it through out the summer, I don't know the name of it and really, really, love it... thanks if you can shed some light on it.

 (  update 5/14/2010 )
I found the name of this lovely shrub today it is known as Japanese rose, Kerria, Jew's Mallow...Cultivar: 'Pleniflora' Species: Japonica.

An Accent for the Garden

I read that adding a garden accent to one's garden expresses one's style and adds a personal touch to the garden..

But, I'm not sure what my style is.. or how to define it....It's the same with my gardening, be it a container or in the ground...I  never really have a specific plan in mind..do in part to the fact that I'm  a newbie and the other is do to my spontaneous  personality.
I just grow what I like or have time for.. depending on my circumstances and Mother nature.    

So with no particular garden plans to keep me busy at the moment I thought it would be fun to go searching for a few garden accents and stick with the act of spontaneity.


My first stop was at one of my favorite stores...Marshall's Home Goods they are similar in my opinion to Pier One Imports but have lower prices especially on the dishware and garden products.

I made a bee-line straight to the garden section and fell in love with everything I saw.

There where Buddha's  standing and sitting in their silent poses, Angels looking angelic as..angels should,  Silly gnomes big and small reading books and smoking pipes, turtles, frogs, snails and chickens posed in various poses, some even held welcome signs to welcome your guest when they visit...

I wanted everything!  but the calming effect emitting from a Buddha statue near by.. helped me come to my senses.." Buy me, I represent what you sometimes need in your life"..calmness, peace and quiet contemplation from the hurried stressful ways of this modern world.  place me in your home or garden and meditate your cares away I will be good for you and I only cost 24.99" .... I was sold! and left with my purchase and off to spy out other stores.
 

My next stop was Meijer's where I chuckled and giggled at more of the whimsical... A bear sleeping in a Hammock, a mouse on a mushroom having a chat with it's little frog friend, life sized quacking ducks and a Toad house with an extra room for quest... Now that's a really cute idea and the first of it's kind that I've every seen...

" Oh and speaking of Toad stools, you might want to check out our artistic blogging friend Karrita of My Mother's Garden... She creates lovely Ceramic art for the garden from toad stools to bird houses, click on her Ceramic Icon below under my blog list in the far right corner and it will take you to her shop.


I enjoyed my window shopping and proud of my spontaneous purchase and no doubt this summer, will be back  for more....










So... did I find my accent style?   You bet I didn't... I'm Like a lays potato chip.. I don't think I can pick just one and  like a Cottage garden... I'm free, cheerful and love many hues, colors and textures..what I did learn from the net, however...Is to choose statues or accents appropriate for your garden size.. A giant 12 foot elephant of course would not work in a tiny yard and too many statues over whelms a garden and gives it the appearance of a junk yard!  So don't go crazy!....  but do have fun!

Happy Gardening and Thank you for stopping by..

" Happy Easter Everyone"

God, give us eyes to see

the beauty of the Spring,

And to behold Your majesty

in every living thing -

And may we see in lacy leaves

and every budding flower

The Hand that rules the universe

with gentleness and power -

And may this Easter grandeur

that Spring lavishly imparts

Awaken faded flowers of faith

lying dormant in our hearts,

And give us ears to hear, dear God,

the Springtime song of birds

With messages more meaningful

than man's often empty words

Telling harried human beings

who are lost in dark despair -

'Be like us and do not worry

for God has you in His care.

Helen Steiner Rice (1900-1981)

     photo credits: Easter Lily, originally uploaded by donsutherland.

 " Friends of the Bees"

Help save the Honey Bees, she urged...,
originally uploaded by A Fanciful Twist.

As we garden this year, lets not forget our tiny friends the bees! They are in a serious crisis and so are we, If they continued to die! What do you think will happen to us! !

I commented and voiced my concerns before on this issue on my post: Please Help The Bee's Help Us! 3/8/2010 and once again this serious topic was back this morning on the Yahoo news page.

      ( Bees In more trouble than ever after bad winter ).

This is a subject that is not going away soon and I'll probably post my concerns more than once about it.. I hope those of you who garden will join me as a voice and friend of the bee by  planting the nectar rich plants that our bees love. Please post your results....But don't just stop there..there are so many more ways that we can help....Here are a few helpful links to get you started.

The following links that got my attention, but I'm sure there are many more out there to discover...North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPP) was established in 1999 and has worked since than to promote and protect our tiny friends, they are one of many I call the Friends of the Bees! checkout http://pollinator.org.. they have a guide that helps the gardener attract all the pollinators... bees, birds and bats.

Urban Bee Gardens:  This is a guide based in California but the concept applies every where. This website explains the importance of our pollinators, choosing the right plants, how mulching can affect the bee, and how our native bee and our honeybee  differ....Introduction Why Make yours a Bee Garden? 
  http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens

From the Daily green ...Gardening to Attract Honey Bees...

http://www.thedailygreen.com/going-green/tips/2790

High Country Gardens...Get your Garden Buzzing with a native mason bee nest. 

http://plants.highcountrygardens.com

Life on the Balcony: Is a blog by Fern Richardson who shares her expertise on container gardening and more...if you are a container gardener such as myself, visit Life on the balcony for tips on attracting bees to the container garden... select  Birds, Bees, & Butterflies in the category search  box. ...

http://lifeonthebalcony.com

Diana of the ( Voice in the garden ) has some awesome photos of a Honey bee colony rescue from a fallen Oak tree on her property. http://voiceinthegarden.blogspot.com

From Yahoo News page... The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Colony Collapse Disorder: http://tinyurl.com/usdaccd

The study in Public Library of Science One...

http://tinyurl.com/beepaper

It's the first day of spring!

It's the first day of Spring! ...But does it feel like it here in Michigan...Nope! ...Our weather forecasters here In Michigan warned us that we would have some cooler temps ahead!.... 
 

So..Thursday when the temps hit a high of 70! I took advantage of the warm weather and got outside where I  finally  got a little yard work done and took a few pictures.  
The Magnolia buds right corner: will soon have lovely soft pink flowers.

A make shift cage.. I made out of metal crates to stop the squirrels from destroying my potted Sedums.and a  view from the cage on the inside where dragons blood and other sedums are coming to life in safety.

The small flower plot ( below )   held Cosmos, Hyssop, Speedwell, Daisies and a few others that I can't recall at the moment....It also held a solar water fountain... a Mother's day gift to My Mom. Mom and I are garden partner's and we were both out tiding up the yard..happy to finally take advantage of a warm March day.

My cat Panni thinks that if she stays down low enough..we won't notice that she sneaked outside. .. I love the shadow of the tree branches in the shot.

One of two willow trees right)  that we planted in 22  gallon plastic totes....They will need replanting this spring...The totes are bursting with willow roots.

                                                                                                  


Rose hips on a rambling rose. This rose produces tons of  prolific bright red roses during the summer and is a show stopper in the front yard..We will  need  to trim it back a little ..for it has enough thorns to Kill the devil!  In-fact..I nick named it the Red devil. 

My chick-a-dee couple butch and Beatrice .. Played a pretty good game on me while I was trying to snap a photo of them with my point and shoot  Canon powershot SD1200 IS ...

Every time I raised my camera to shoot one of them, they would run to the other side of the feeder out of my focus...

This continued until my eyes were crossed..and after about an half hour, I was able to snap one of them. ..ha..ha.. Very funny".

Happy first day of spring and thank you for stopping by.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day 2010

Once again it's the 15th of the month, that means it's Garden blogger's bloom day.
Every 15th, participating blogger's post lovely blooms for My Dream Gardens bloom day event hosted by Carol.

I can't wait for these Tiger lilies on the side of my house to bloom this summer. There Hot orange colors are show stoppers for those that pass by.. and since I had no blooms of my own to display at home, I decided to take a few photos of whats blooming at my local Kroger supermarket.

They did not turn out as clear as I expected..."Oh well,  it's the thought that counts".

(1). A beautiful  group of orchids to the right of the screen:

( 2). Tulips and what I think were yellow daisies: bottom left:

( 3)  A sweet little Gerber daisy on the bottom right.                   

 Spring is in the air..I heard Robins in the trees and I'm finally feeling gleeful and much more positive today.  What can lift your spirits higher then sunshine and singing Robins.
   

                                                                                 

                                                                                            

" Please help the bees help us!

Bumble Bee head-on,
originally uploaded by Jim Nicholson.

Spring is on it's way and I have been reminiscing about my garden and a alarming issue that I first learned about two summers ago.

That issue was about and still is about, our nations bee crisis.. It is one that is wide spread, effecting both the U.S and Europe. These vital pollinators are disappearing! and scientist are scrambling to figure out why... Some of their findings in my opinion are well founded and make a lot of sense, although those who are responsible for this crisis I'm sure, would deny it.

I'm a amateur gardener...I like to grow vegetables and flowers and little did I know that a bee crisis was happening in my neck of the woods....

after reading some articles on this issue in a couple of garden magazines, I decided that I could help play a part in helping out these little creatures by choosing flowers that they would enjoy the most..such as...
Hyssop, Red Clover, Bee balm, Lavender, Purple Coneflowers, Sun flowers and Cosmos to name a few.

Squash, tomatoes, peppers, chives, radish, and a few carrots shared a place in a couple of containers. I was excited as I often am when I plant something and wait for it's turn out...

But my excitement turned in to disappointment...It would be a bad year for gardening, for the weather took forever to warm up here in Michigan and when it finally did.. there were No.. Honeybees to be found!

Bumble bees frequent the Honeysuckle and Wiegela shrubs.. showing little interest in anything else...
once and a while one or two would fly over to the other areas in the yard and I thought perhaps that just maybe there was some hope for my pathetic little garden, but I saw no changes in my vegetable production.

My squash would not flower and the buds fell off.. My cucumbers were nubs and the peppers, radish and carrots were stunted.

Every day when I found the opportunity I would sit for hours watching different areas of my garden for these Honeybees while taking notes in my garden journal.

It was mid summer when I begin to see a few and by a few I mean about Six!....Six Honey bees and about four native ( Mason bees). These numbers did not increase through out the whole summer! and neither did the plant population in my garden.

The only veggies that did fair well were my tomatoes.. Sweet 100's and Early girl.

It is possible that the weather and missing bees both played a part in my garden disaster..However if the weather had turned out perfect..I was still going to have a garden flop!.. evident by the lack of bees!

I had my first experience with our Honey bee crisis! and I'm currently studying once again what plants to grow in my garden this year to help out these VITAL little creatures..they are CRUCIAL to our SURVIVAL and our PLANET and I have included a few links so that you may learn more about this serious crisis! and how you can help because... They Need Us and We Need Them! ...

The web is full of helpful information on this subject... Here's a few that I found quite interesting and informative:  please visit the web pages below......

Why the Bees are Dying:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5356.cfm

Why Make yours a bee Garden?
http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens

Bee Pollinator Partnership:
http://www.pollinator.org

Jessica of a Girl Growing Southern supplied this information:
Plant Diversity helps bees:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8467746.stm

Diana of the voice in the garden..http://voiceinthegarden.blogspot.com )  has some awesome photos of a Honey bee colony rescue from a fallen oak tree on her property.

Panini gets Spayed

Top : Panini in Petco carrier headed into the Michigan Humane Society.
 http:// www.michiganhumane.org

Yaaay! Panini is spayed I'm so happy!....After yowling, meowing, crying and chewing extra holes in her carrier box while riding in the back seat...I feared she may react in a bad manner out of fear and nervousness and the more she cried and chewed, the more nervous I became, because a few days before surgery a receptionist over the phone asked me about her character..." Is she a friendly cat?".. Yes I responded.

Now I'm scared and talking to myself...." Oh God please don't let Panini jump out of the box and run away"  Pleezzz.. don't let her scratch me, the receptionist... her assistant or the Vet.

 Panini begins to hiss...followed by more yowling"...My sister and mother who agreed to accompany me..began to talk and sing to her..It was a car full of noises and bad nerves and I was glad our destination wasn't very far! ...

A clueless.. yet suspicious Panini is taken out of the box.

               

Panini  isn't sure what all the touching is all about and her eyes are as big as saucers!

When we arrived I was surprised to see Panini was not the only cat for this Sunday appointment.

about 10 people were already in line when we arrived at 8:30am.....Some owner's had one cat while a few others had two... all were yowling and meowing as they peered out of their carriers...  As I signed in and took my place in line I noticed Panini had fallen silent........

And she had remained so.. until they called her name to go in to see the Vet.... To my relief she handled the entire event very well...No one was bitten or scratched.

At 3:30pm I returned to bring Panini home and I am very pleased so far with her surgical outcome...She only needed a small incision and has dissolvable sutures..Yay!

I am instructed to give her ..her medication and watch her closely..making sure she doesn't aggravate her stitched area by over licking it.. If she does she will need a collar.

I'll update later as she recovers.

Bottom left:  Poor Panini is not feeling so well..but she'll recover soon... in a couple of weeks she'll be fine.

                                                                           

Kitties come acourting

     Help!..Panini  my indoor house cat is in heat and she is driving me Crazy!                         

 

Her courting ritual includes but not limited to .. crawling through the house in a strange looking squat with a her tail twisted to one side, If you have not witnessed this before.. you may find.. It's a strange and funny looking sight to behold...She also swims across the floor doing the back stroke.  All hours of the day and night I have had to endure her Meowing, Yelling and Yowling  and one Morning around 3am I almost gave in and put her outside"

House Dashing: ........Dashing through the house with the speed of light, she hits the walls, bouncing off of them with amazing backward flips.. that left me stunned and amazed.

One day I opened my Kitchen door that leads to my basement where I had Panini confined for the day.

( Don't worry cat lover's)  the basement is a cool hang out for Panini where she has a nice fuzzy bed and lots of windows to watch for birds and her lovers. .... I was headed down there to do some laundry and Panini sprinted wildly up eight flights of stairs turning backwards in mid air like Micheal Jordan going for the hoop.....

 Still in mid air she twisted and  planted her back side on the back door like a touch down on a foot ball field!... and once again I was left spell bound and speechless"  What did this mean?  I guess only a cat would know the answer to that. 

Kitties come a courting!

 Garfield:  A big orange cat with mischievous amber eyes.
 Tyrone:  A black and white male cat with a Large head...
 Max:      A Splotchy multicolored cat with Bi-colored eyes

The boy friends are marking everything in sight : Car tires, bushes, basement windows, garbage cans, front door, side door, my porch, my neighbors porch and everything else in between..

I learned that these suitors can smell a female cat in heat from the inside of my house..Wow!
I wondered how these cats found out that I owned a female.

Panini and her quest for love have left me sleepless, speechless, amazed and exhausted... for cat urine and cat antics are only enjoyed by cats..and nature has designed it that way...

So my Panini will be spayed this Sunday 21rst at 8:30 in the morning at the Michigan Humane Society. Yahoo!... Now Me and Panini will be happier and we both can keep our Sanity...I will update everyone on her recovery.

Also check out... How to Stop your Cat  Spraying at: http://catsanddogsp.blogspot.com

Hey! Blogging  Backyard birdwatchers.. the Great 2010 Bird Count starts this Month help spread the word.
for more info go to....
http://www.birdcount.org


I had fun participating in the backyard bird count. 

Here's my list for February 12th 2010.

Downy Woodpecker - 1)   Black-capped Chickadee - 2)    White-breasted Nuthatch - 2)  Fox Sparrow -   House Sparrow - 50...Those darn House sparrows are taking over my yard!

February 14th:  American Crow - 4 spotted them in Harper woods)   American Robin - 40 saw these in Roseville Michigan outside of  a Tim Horton's.     On the 15th.. No new sightings.

I really enjoyed the bird count because it made me extra alert and I had spotted my feathered friends who I had not seen since 2007/08. The white breasted  Nuthatch couple I call Ben and Brenda was high up in a tree scouting for the black oil seeds that they must have planted in the bark during those years...I was happy to see them again.

I also looked for the return of my feathered friend the Red breasted Nuthatch....I named  Bandit.
He was fearless at my feeder and showed up around the same year in 2007/08..as  Ben and Brenda..
perhaps Bandit  will show up at a later date.

  I look forward  to participating  again next year.

Good bye groundhog!

                                                      

Groundhog... you saw your shadow today and now we have six more weeks of winter! well ground hog... I'm use to having very..very.. long winter months here in Michigan...so I can take six More weeks... but won't like it...So next year I'm changing this Tradition and replacing you with a chipmunk!....Yes!....I said chipmunk"....They are cute and chirp like little birds and just like you they sleep underground.



photo credits:  Carl & Art's photo stream , http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiredwitch/with/2468541176/



They too" are done sleeping in February and are wide awake and ready for action! So good bye  Groundhog! and  Say  Helloooo".. to my little friend!

  

 

                                                                               

originally uploaded  by Krittergirl of  Flickr.