April Blossoms and Greens

Once spring starts you can’t stop it, but today’s snow makes the gardener and garden be patient.  I think most plants should survive with no issues, though I wonder about the blossoms on the serviceberry, American plum tree and crabapple tree, and how that will affect fruiting.

Blossoms on American plum tree.  The fragrance is wonderful and brings in little bees, red admiral butterflies, and probably lots of other tiny pollinators.  These beautiful flowers make me more forgiving of the suckers the tree throws up in the lawn far and wide.

Pulling back to see the American plum tree.  There used to be two plums and we cut one back, then we cut off branches on this one, too.  It is a fast grower.

This is to remind me that snow fell on April 27th!  We also had snow on April 13th.

Looking at the snow from the kitchen window I can see all the blossoms that have not yet opened on the crabapple tree and hope they will survive.

Not long ago the red crab apple leaves opened and they gradually turn bronze and green.

Crabapple earlier this week.

The kale, collard and lettuce made it fine through the snow on April 14th, so I am hoping that is the case this time.  I held off on planting tomatoes yet…  Notice how big the rhubarb is already!

I planted 5 rows of various types of lettuce and spinach on April 3rd and they are coming along well.  I need to start thinning some of the lettuce.

We have had a month or so of various types of daffodils, starting with the mini daffodils.

Yesterday I was enjoying these white daffodils with the yellow trumpets.  I planted various kinds quite a few years ago and they just keep multiplying.

Anemones are something I planted a while back that seem to be spreading a little too much.  They are very cheerful next to the daffodils, though.

Fresh leaves on Viking black chokeberry bush

We got rid of one of our dying lilacs last year and I replaced it with a fothergilla bush, which really does not provide privacy., though it will get somewhat bigger.  I put in some Miscanthus grass behind it which will provide some quick privacy this year.  Yesterday’s project was weeding and mulching this area, since there are not many plants to cover the ground here yet.

Close up of fothergilla bush

I don’t like to use herbicides so I get “weeds” like this pretty violet in the lawn.

I have a lot of violets in the front lawn, that are pretty now, but I want to encourage the grass to grow, too.  This year I am trying not to think too much about weeds in the lawn, since I know they are good for the insects and bugs, which are the foundation of life on our planet.

At the woods, at the end of the block, I found some cut-leaved toothwort blooming.  It is at edge of the lot where no mowing is happening.  Yay for spring wildflower diversity!

November Snow Beauty

Happy Thanksgiving!  I did not get around to posting on Saturday, 11/17, when the snow was on the ground and now it is gone, but here are a few pictures to record what has been a cooler than usual month of November in Illinois.

On Saturday we opened the kitchen curtains to see the snow lining the trees branches in the backyard.

Snow on Hicksii yew bushes and on the mulberry tree in the background.

Miscanthus ‘morning light’ ornamental grass.  I cut off some of the seed heads already to get ahead of the spring duties.  I use this grass, minus the seeds heads, as mulch around the garden in the spring.

We walked around Lake Katherine on Saturday morning and loved the reflections.

Across the lake a woman in a red coat walking her dog caught my eye.

Snow on pine needles

The cypress tress by the ephemeral pond had changed color but not lost their needles yet when the snow covered them.

We were the first ones to come to the snowy bridge over the pond.

We noticed a white waterfowl in the lake.  Was it a goose or a duck?  At home I did an internet search and I think it is an American Pekin, which is a domesticated duck.  I suppose it has joined a wild flock or something, not sure how that works.  Apparently these domesticated ducks originally were bred from mallards in China.

Back at home, we put up a suet feeder about a ten days ago and the male red-bellied woodpecker came to feed.

Here is another shot of the red-bellied woodpecker on a snowy day.

The white-breasted nuthatch watched a flock of sparrow at the bird feeder and kept its distance.

A male house sparrow can be aggressive for its small size.

The white-breasted nuthatch eventually got its turn, looking around between each nibble.

The downy woodpecker came, too.  I need to put another block of suet in the feeder today.

A week ago we were walking in another part of the forest and stopped to admire the moss on an old log.

Our walk took us by this grassy prairie.  The reason we ended up on this path is that we could see two coyotes on the path we planned to take.  They were relaxing by a stream, but we really did not feel like walking toward them to see what they would do….

I am thankful for so many things and thank you for reading this far today!

Bees on Agastache

It is a busy time for bees.

A large pollen covered bee on Agastache ‘blue fortune’ – anise hyssop.

A jumbo bee meets the ever-present orange bugs.

This bee is a little smaller.

False sunflower

These two bees spent a long time chasing each others.  I was not sure if it was a mating event or something else going on.

Coleus below my office window

Bee on coleus

Hawk chased a squirrel, but came up empty.

Can you see the caterpillar on the parsley?

Black swallowtail caterpillar

Grasshopper on dried coneflower

Moth on miscanthus ornamental grass

One of the three prairie drop seed plants has grass heads now.

Sunflowers and More!

I  never know what will happen when I throw seeds in the ground in the spring.  This year I was pleased with the sunny sunflowers that grew up in my un-mowed “meadow.”

Sunflowers and coneflowers grow in grassy area.  Zinnias are on the right and Joe Pye Weed in the background.

Sunflower and purple coneflowers.

Sunflower with bee.  I saw a lot of different bees and flies on these flowers.

I planted dwarf sunflowers called “Elves Blend,” and I liked the variety.

By now the goldfinches have removed the petals and picked away at the seed center on this flower.

I shot this American goldfinch picture from the kitchen this evening, working on a coneflower.

This very small butterfly or moth was working on the Joe Pye Weed, which also attracts a lot of pollinators.

The giant zinnias are looking good now and they are loved by the goldfinches and butterflies.

Swamp milkweed with black-eyed Susans and Russian sage in the background.

Black-eyed Susans and Miscanthus ornamental grass ‘morning light.’

The yellow cherry tomatoes have been fantastic this year.  They are so sweet!  This time of year I spend more time with the vegetables than flowers.  I am picking them and making salads or cooking them and eating them…..

I usually plant three or four varieties of tomatoes and see which ones are best.  These Bonnie Originals have been wonderful this year.

Zucchini

A rabbit has moved into the yard, but mostly seems interested in eating the clover in the grass.

Our next door neighbor called us over to look at the snake they found sunning in front of their house.  We wondered what kind it was for a while.  It turns out it was a python and a neighbor in the area collects snakes and it must have escaped.  I am glad I did not come across it in our yard….and glad it got safely back to the neighbor!

Northern Cardinal at the birdbath.  The day lilies add some color.

In July this bird was in our yard for a while.  I think it is a juvenile Baltimore Oriole.

One day some northern flickers came for an ant meal.  This handsome male was poking around this tiny bird house I call my bug house.

I snapped a picture of a cicada on the pole beans.

The black chokeberries on the bush I planted in the spring seem to be ripening now.  Apparently they are edible, but need a lot of sugar, so best in jellies and jams, which I probably will not make.  Let’s see if the birds like them.

Blooming on the 4th of July

It is hot and flowers are blooming!

This is the first big purple coneflower that really opened up.  It is in the sunny part of the garden that we do not mow.  The coneflowers in the shade are still getting their pink petals.

In the back of the last picture you can see the three false sunflowers that are blooming.  Can you see the little monarda blooming in the background?

One little monarda bee balm is blooming among the weeds.  Maybe others will get going.

From the patio I enjoy watching the goldfinch in the meadow.  Here she was eating grass seeds.

A few days later the goldfinch was working on the coneflowers.

Nearby the Shasta daisies are still looking good.  In the background is blue hill sage, or if you prefer blue hill salvia.

The zinnias are getting going…

This garden is near the patio and is cheery.  I need to deadhead the gaillardia, frequently.  The red hot pokers made an appearance. The spike speedwell will need to be trimmed back before long.

Red hot pokers in front of Miscanthus ornamental grass.

Coleus

Yellow marigolds

Agastache ‘blue boa,’ false sunflowers, and butterfly weed right by our patio.

Juvenile robin and coreopsis tickseed

Coreopsis ‘zagreb’

Swamp milkweed

Lady’s mantle, though not a great picture.  On the left is blue fescue grass.

Prairie verbena grows next to dragon’s blood sedum.

My son, with false sunflowers and butterfly weed in the background.

Fireworks:  On 7/3 I went to bed early, as usual, and I had just fallen asleep when the fireworks started, which I had forgotten about.  I turned out the lights and opened the shades and saw a yard full of fireflies lighting up in the dark in nature’s own fireworks!  I enjoyed watching them for a while, then read a good book until the fireworks died down.  I do enjoy watching fireworks, but only make the effort to do it every few years.

Zucchini, Tomatoes, Collards and Praying Mantis

With an inch of rain recently we have had a break in the drought.  It is a beautiful October day and here is what I saw when I looked around the garden today.

Male zucchini flower

Female zucchini flower.  We have had quite a few zucchini flowers over the past months, but without rain few of them developed into zucchini that I bothered to pick.  Now we might get a few if the weather stays warm.  I enjoy these magnificent but short-lived flowers.

I have been eating these yellow pear heirloom cherry tomatoes for a few months now.  The leaves of the plant are diseased, but I just keep getting enough cherry tomatoes to have a bunch in my salad each day.

These are tomato plants that my Arab lady friend left on the patio in my watering can, so I don’t know what kind they are, but they are finally producing the first red tomatoes.  On Thursday I made some delicious ratatouille…

We try to throw in 2 to 10 leaves of collards into recipes when we get a chance.  This plant near the lilac bush is looking healthy.

In the vegetable garden the inner portion of the collard plants have been eaten by cabbage moths.  We have more collards than we can eat, so I don’t worry too much about it.

Here come the brussel sprouts.  They have been pretty small, but I think the rain will help them get a bit bigger.

Backing up, here is what the brussel sprout plant looks like.

The pole beans are drying on the vines and will be shelled when I pull down the bean structure.

I looked for bugs on the bean leaves and found a grasshopper.

Parsley is one of the plants that look beautiful all the way into December.  I have not cooked much with it this year, but it makes a great ornamental plant.  It is an essential ingredient in my fabulous spaghetti sauce recipe.

I finally saw my first black swallowtail caterpillar for the year on one of the parsley plants.  For me, parsley is a much better host plant than dill for these caterpillars.

All the native and ornamental grasses have seed heads now.  This is miscanthus ‘morning light.’  I have been searching them the past months to see if I could see the first praying mantis.

This morning I found a female praying mantis in a clump of miscanthus.  Her abdomen is very  large and I wondered if she was getting ready to deposit her egg sack or if she just ate a very large grass hopper that she is digesting.  I was trying to get a better shot and she moved further into the grass, so I am no longer able to find her.  I find paying mantis egg sacks in the grasses every spring when I am doing clean up and try to put the egg sacs in a place where the ants will not get at them.

These little zinnias are finally blooming now.  They are called ‘summer solstice’ but seem to be best in the fall.  I plant them from seeds each year, and they are cute in the garden and attractive to pollinators.

Just to the right in the alyssum I found a little skipper resting.  I almost pulled up all the alyssum during the drought because it just looked like seed heads, but the flowers have returned after the rain and it is buzzing with small pollinators.

The coral mums are starting to bloom…

Some migrating warblers have been passing through.  I think this is a palm warbler, as they seem to visit every year, but not sure I can tell from this picture.

Then there is the usual bird bath ruckus to see how many starlings or sparrows can get in the bird bath at once!

Have a beautiful autumn day!

Summer Flowers Bring Pollinators

The information below was originally posted last weekend.

A lot of flowers are blooming in the garden now and they are looking pretty good because we have not had many thunderstorms to knock them over nor have we had drought. This is the time of year that you can hear the cicadas and crickets, and start seeing more butterflies and bees on the flowers.

Monarch butterfly depositing eggs on swamp milkweed.

Swamp milkweed in bloom. I am watching for the Monarch caterpillar, but am not too hopeful as we have a lot of predators around, such as wasps, that hopefully keep a check on the cabbage moth worms

Agastache ‘blue fortune’ giant hyssop’ in the front, with a visiting bee. The yellow flowers are Heliopsis helianthoides false sunflower ‘summer sun.’

Black-eyed Susans are cheery in front of the ornamental grass Miscanthus ‘Morning Light.’ The Russian sage on the right is flowering a lavender color and the pink hydrangeas are having their best year.

Close up of Black-Eyed Susans

A view of the yard mid-summer. The chinquapin oak tree has tiny acorns on it and it keeps growing each year. The pole beans are climbing the bean structure and starting to produce. Vegetables and flowers are doing their thing around the yard.

The coneflowers seem to have multiplied around the yard and I love it. Liatris spicata blazing star flowers are blooming in the background.

Joe Pye weed and coneflowers in a pink part of the garden.

I have not had time to investigate what insect is sitting on this coneflower. I can see its little claws and it has wings as well.

A question mark butterfly sunning on the laundry rack.

Closed wings on question mark butterfly.

The first and only nasturtium flower in the garden so far this year. I planted two packets full of seeds, but some of the other plants are very small, probably due to lack of rain. I am too lazy to water this time of year….

Pink flowers of the yellow wax bean plants.

Zinnias and dill. Both are great butterfly plants. The dill is a host plant for black swallowtail caterpillars and the zinnias attract butterflies, bees and goldfinches.

Backyard blooms, berries and beyond

Following on in the “B” theme, look in this blog post for a bull frog, blue damselfly and Indiana dunes beach….

The butterfly weed is in bloom.  We are waiting for the monarch butterflies to visit…

Veronica spicata Spike speedwell ‘Royal Candles’ a little bit past its prime.  Red hot poker flowers in the background.

Kniphofia red hot pokers in front of miscanthus ‘morning light’ ornamental grass.

The view from the patio.

Aruncus goat’s beard does well on the north side of the house.

The first gaillardia blooms.

Bright yellow yarrow, and in the background salvia ‘blue hill.’

The alyssum re-seeds itself each year and is starting to bloom now.

Does cauliflower count as a flower?  I cooked this up in a soup today!

The collards are looking nice and we are trying to keep up with eating them before the cabbage worms do their munching.  This plant does not look too chewed on.

We haven’t had to buy lettuce for a few weeks.  This leaf lettuce is nice, but the romaine is starting to bolt with the hot weather.

In a bowl this morning from our yard – serviceberries, strawberries, mulberries and raspberries.  I enjoyed them with my oatmeal.

Ripening serviceberry.  I am competing with the birds for these now.  The robins are often in the serviceberry tree.

Unfortunately this berry loving cedar waxwing died after crashing into our kitchen window!  I saw a big serviceberry in its mouth before it died.

A downy woodpecker has been visiting the birdbath.

There seem to be a lot of wasps in the yard this year.

Blue damselfly on miscanthus ornamental grass.

We visited Indiana Dunes State Park last weekend.  We hiked for a couple of hours in the dunes before enjoying our lunch with the crowd on the beach.

A little cactus along the prairie trail.  This state park has quite a few endangered species.

Tomahawk Slough in the Palos Forest Preserve, where we hiked last Sunday.

One of many bullfrogs at Tomahawk Slough.

There were also a ton of little toads or frogs hoping around near the water and on the trail.  I guess it is time for them to head out on their own and see if they survive.

Great blue heron at Tomahawk Slough.

Birding:  I signed up for a birding blitz in the Palos Forest Preserve for June 17th.  I am just an amateur birder, so I was looking forward to going out with someone who could identify a ton of birds.  I showed up in the parking lot at 5:30 am and then remembered to check my email on my phone.  The blitz had been canceled for weather reasons, as thunderstorms were predicted.  I could hear all the birds around me, but the expert birders were not there.  We did not get any rain on Saturday as I guess the rain fell somewhere else.  But it was probably a good thing that I was not involved, as my foot has been giving me some trouble after all that hiking last weekend.  So it is a good weekend to just rest and recover and get this blog post done!

 

Autumn Colors, Grasses and Birds

It has been fun watching the fall colors peak in the yard this past week.  We had our first frost last night on November 11th.  I don’t remember such a long growing season before, and the frost may not have been a killing frost for the tomatoes and peppers.

Carpinus caroliniana, with common names American hornbeam, blue beech or musclewood.  The top leaves turned pink/orange a few weeks ago and fell off earlier.  This picture was taken on November 8th.  The other American hornbeam we bought from Possibility Place Nursery turns yellow in the fall, so maybe they are variations of some type.

American hornbeam fall color.

Dwarf fothergilla bush, possible ‘beaver creek.’  I replanted this bush at this location in the spring and hope it will settle in to its new location this coming year.  This bush started turning color weeks ago.

On November 6th the other fothergilla bush was still green, with the second American hornbeam, on the left, and the spice bush, on the right, very yellow.

By November 8th the yellow leaves had mostly fallen and the chinquapin oak leaves on the right were turning color as well.

Today, November 12th, the fothergilla leaves are just starting to turn.  They should turn brilliant colors over the next week.  I enjoy watching these changes out my office window.

Quercus muehlenbergii, chinquapin oak tree, starting to turn color on November 3rd.  I put these date up so that I can compare year by year as the weather gradually warms.

Here is a close up of the chinquapin oak leaves on November 10th.  Today we mulched up a lot of them when we mowed the lawn and started the fall compost leaf pile.

The American plum trees are nothing special in the fall, though stunning when they blossom in spring.

The neighbor’s maple tree is always beautiful in the fall.

MIscanthus ‘morning light.’  The was a great growing season and this miscanthus ornamental grass is well over 6 feet this year.  The seed heads on our zebra grass seemed to be 8 or 9 feet high.

Out the kitchen window I caught a glimpse of the little blue stem grass that has turned red in the fall.

When I finished working in the garden today a few dark-eyed juncos got to work poking around on the ground.  They are winter residents.  The garlic plants I did not harvest earlier have grown back in bright green shoots.

On Wednesday morning I did a little birding and managed to capture this sparrow in a picture.  I am not sure if it is an American tree sparrow or another kind of sparrow.

I think this is a pied-billed grebe, though the bill does not look quite right.  Anyway, I love the fluffy feathers and the reflection! This was at Lake Katherine on a morning walk.

The nasturtiums and marigolds have been so beautiful in the yard this year.

I have had a fresh pepper for my lunch salad every day and there are still quite a few left to eat, so I feel blessed.

Beans soaking for tomorrow’s soup.  These were from the pole beans that I left to dry on the vine.  After we had a ton of green beans in the fridge, and the mosquitoes were killing me, I stopped picking the rest of the beans.  This past week I finally pulled down the pole bean structure and shelled a lot of beans.

I am really enjoying reading this fascinating history book about Alexander Von Humboldt and his exploration of nature.

Hope you enjoy these weeks and it won’t be long before the snow flies!