Early Summer, Delaware-Style

Posted on July 5, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

The 4th of July has come and gone, and my summer flowers are starting to ramp it up. The early-bloomers are humming with bees, and the late-bloomers are finally having a growth spurt after hanging back and letting the other ones go first. My wrens fledged a few weeks ago, causing quite a ruckus in the backyard for about two weeks, then Mr. and Mrs. Wren decided to get in the “family way” again, so now she is sitting on eggs and he is still proclaiming his territory and keeping a close eye on the box. After a brief hiatus in hummingbird activity while they were nesting, the hummers are back again in full force, and I am having a hard time keeping up with them so the feeder doesn’t run dry! So here are some pictures showing what is going on:

My Indian Pink was especially beautiful this year

I finally got a blossom on my common milkweed and the bumblebees found it right away!

The butterfly weed in my hot front garden is pretty happy, and I actually saw a hummingbird visiting it last week!

Butterfly weed

The bee balm bloomed extravagantly and the bumblebees and hummingbirds have loved it!

Close-up of a bee balm flower

My liatris is blooming very nicely after all the rain we’ve had this summer

I planted this little beautyberry bush last fall, expecting it to die over the winter, but it has done really well, even putting out a few blossoms, which a VERY tiny bee has found! Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Tiny bee, about 1/8″ long, in the center

My common sneezeweed, inappropriately named, finally decided it could survive in my hot garden!

Native honeysuckle. This is its second time blooming since spring.

Surprise visitors to my backyard! I have been hearing red-shouldered hawks screaming all spring and summer in my neighborhood, so I figured there was a nest nearby. This sight greeted me when I came down for breakfast last weekend–a young hawk sitting above my wren box, an adult on the fence, and a mockingbird harassing the adult!

And finally, my pokeweed is flourishing this year, practically looking like a tree! I harvested the berries last year (the ones the birds didn’t get first!) and took them in to TriState Bird Rescue for the birds to eat over the winter.

Mid-June 2015 in Virginia

Posted on June 15, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

Here’s what’s happening as of June 15, 2015.

The Sweet Joe Pye Weed is coming into bloom.

Sweet Joe Pye Weed Coming into Bloom Mid June

The Monarda fistulosa is starting to bloom and the bumblebees have already found it.

M. fistulosa with Bumblebees

My common milkweed patch is quite large and the bumblebees are all over it.

Common Milkweed Patch

Bumblebees on Milkweed

Speaking of common milkweed, does anyone know what this small mass of eggs is? (Lower part of leaf on right)

Eggs on Milkweed

My Culver’s Root is very tall this year and is starting to look very lyre-like as can be seen in this rather out-of-focus picture.

Culver’s Root

Some of my goldenrod is perilously close to blooming. I say “perilously” because this seems quite early to me.

Goldenrod Close to Blooming

Finally, my Eastern Red Cedar is loaded with berries this year. I can’t wait for the Cedar Waxwings and other birds to find them.

Eastern Red Cedar Loaded with Berries

News from the Milkweed Patch

Posted on May 30, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

My little common milkweed patch is growing every year, and one of them looks like it is going to bloom. I think being located on the east side of my house and not getting full sun is why they have never bloomed before. Monarchs have been sighted here in northern Delaware, and I have noticed milkweed growing all over the place, along roadsides and in fields, which is very encouraging to me. So now I have started the “milkweed prowl” where I inspect my milkweed every day to see if anything is happening. Yesterday I found my first milkweed bug of the season! According to Milkweed, Monarchs, and More: A Field Guide to the Invertebrate Community in the Milkweed Patch, it is actually called a Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis) and usually prefers swamp milkweed to protect it from its usual predators, but there it was on my common milkweed! I guess I’d prefer finding monarch eggs, but a milkweed beetle is better than nothing, and at least the milkweed is being used for something by a native insect!

Swamp milkweed leaf beetle

My common milkweed patch

Milkweed blossom forming!

June 1, 2015 News flash!

Yesterday while we were sitting out in the backyard enjoying the hummingbird/house wren show and watching the catbird snatch serviceberries off the tree (you know we have an exciting life!), I suddenly caught a glimpse of something orange and black from the corner of my eye. It was a monarch fluttering around my little common milkweed patch! It literally checked out every plant in the patch, then flew around the backyard and the other side of the house before returning to check the plants again. I felt like Linus hoping my milkweed patch was sincere enough for the monarch! Eventually, it flew away, but I am so encouraged that if at least one monarch has somehow found my patch, others may also find it. I’ll be checking that patch for eggs every day now for sure!

Inchworms Going to a Good Cause!

Posted on May 9, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

Today I received a delightful surprise!

For some reason I thought that “my” bluebirds were nesting somewhere else this year, although they were eating the mealworms I’ve been putting out daily. Occasionally I saw a female go into the nest box but thought she had built a nest without a mate!

Today I realized both a female and a male were flying in and out of the box with their beaks full of inchworms! Tiny cheaping noises were coming from within the box.

Here are a couple of pictures of Mr. BB working hard all afternoon. Mrs. BB never stopped long enough for me to get a picture.

Mr. BB Sitting on Fence with a Beakful of Inchworms

Mr. BB Waiting to Go into the Box with a Beakful of Inchworms

Even though inchworms are VERY numerous this year I really wonder how he manages to get so many into his beak at once!

Virginia Springtime Redux

Posted on April 24, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

I’ve taken several springtime photos that I never got around to posting. Here are some of them.

White Dogwood Opening 04/07/15

White Dogwood in Evening Light 04/14/15

Pink Dogwood in Evening Light 04/14/15

Serviceberry Finally in Bloom - the Flowers Only Lasted 2 - 3 Days

Serviceberry Finally in Bloom 04/16/15 – the Flowers Only Lasted 2 – 3 Days

My “Tulip Faces” – 04/14/15

Volunteer Columbine – 04/23/15

Spring in Idaho too

Posted on April 20, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

Spring has come in fits and starts this year, but here are a few pictures taken today. The desert primrose and the syringa bush are one-year old native plants. I don’t know what the bush with beautiful red flowers is, but we are pretty sure we did not plant it so it must be a gift from a bird passing through. It is currently full of bees. The chicks are almost two-week old Araucanas living in our patio room. As you can see, they are just beginning to get their pin feathers.

Some Old Friends

Posted on April 19, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

Finally some old friends are showing up.

My Sweet Joe Pye Weed has put in an appearance:

Sweet Joe Pye Weed Starting to Come Up

My common milkweed is suddenly popping up. As I recall by the end of last year my original one plant had transmogrified into at least 8 plants. I wonder how many there will be this spring.

Common Milkweed Coming Up

The Penstemon is putting in an appearance:

Penstemon Coming Up

I have several plants that I think may be Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa). I’m not positive as I think it is a little early for Butterfly Weed to be this far along. But at this point I don’t know what else it might be.

Butterfly Weed Coming Up?

This is the way my Climbing Aster (Aster carolinianus) looks from a distance. Old dead wood, right?

Climbing Aster from a Distance 04/19/15

Last year I was “cleaning up” by cutting away this old “dead” stuff, when I realized there were green leaves growing out of it! This year I know better. Here’s a view closer up. If you look closely you can see that there are green leaves growing out of the brown stems.

Climbing Aster Up Close

Finally, I don’t know that these would classify as “old friends” but the inch worms are back this year! I keep discovering them crawling on the back of my neck after I’ve been out in the yard. Sorry, they are too small for me to photograph.

Early spring in Delaware

Posted on April 11, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

As with a good part of the east coast, spring has been very slow to come this year. I have been anxiously watching my yard for signs of survival after our harsh winter, and now I’m beginning to see some progress. Here are some pictures I took on April 9, 2015.

Serviceberry buds are getting close to opening

Cardinal flower and blue lobelia showing growth

Blue lobelia

Greek valerian

Dwarf goldenrod

Bee balm coming back and spreading!

Native honeysuckle

Hyssop

Native Flower Gardening in Virginia — My “New” Philosophy

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ruthnativeflowers

I’ve decided I’m going to have a new native garden philosophy! I’m going to give up on weeding! Or at least I’m not going to try to dig up wire grass anymore. To dig it up requires using a spading fork and this basically destroys my garden. Here’s a photo of where I dug up wire grass last fall:

Where Wire Grass Has Been Dug Up

It’s not worth it.

I know of more than one native flower garden in nearby City parks that has been abandoned because the gardener couldn’t control the wire grass.

I’ve found that wire grass is relatively unsuccessful in the vicinity of my tall flowers such as Monarda fistulosa, sweet Joe Pye Weed, goldenrod and green-headed coneflower.

My new philosophy is going to be to plant as many tall-ish flowers as close together as possible and ignore the wire grass. I’d like to say I’m aiming for a Flower-rich Meadow but this is too euphemistic! I’m going to have to say I’m aiming for a Flower-rich Mess and if the bees like it, then I like it.

In the interests of truth-in-advertising, here’s a photo of what my flower-rich mess looks like right now. (Not exactly flower-rich right now but hopefully there will be a big transformation over the next few months.)