Saturday, May 18, 2013

10 Days in May

The last week has been all about the bluebirds. I wake up each morning happy to hear the peeping of the babies in the box outside the bedroom window. 


Most of the irises at our new house are shades of purple, blue and white, but this yellow one was a cheerful surprise in the morning sun.


Sitting on the front porch, I saw awkward flutterings and a fledgling alight on the roof, then in the holly. I believe it is a young finch, as I saw the parent finches nearby. 


I nearly cut down this rose bush last fall during one of my pruning frenzies. The cane was ungainly and leaning awkwardly, I thought, on an azalea. Ha! I am often glad when I overcome my ideas about how things should look in the garden.



Swiss chard is growing well and I expect will be our only greens in the garden soon if the heat continues. Lettuce is still a near-daily treat. 


Carpenter bees (I think) have been busy pollinating the hollies. I have been very glad to see them, given the bee crisis. The tomato plants are beginning to flower, and they will need pollinators.


This iris takes my words away. 


My husband set up the tripod on a chest in the bedroom to capture bluebird photos.


The babies are getting active in the box and beginning to poke their heads out. Each day, I hate to leave the house because I want to see them fledge. 


A rose bush that I hacked to the ground produced one perfect rose. It smells like a rose should.




Friday, May 10, 2013

Iris and Beech

Irises abound at my new house. Eggplant purple, various combinations of purple and white, and pale blue irises have emerged over the past two weeks. Some of the stems topple under their own weight and then I cut them and bring them in the house or to work, where I get to admire them all day on my desk. The latest beauty to emerge is this yellow iris. 

Last night it was a bud. This morning it glowed in the sun. By the time I returned in late afternoon, it had fallen amidst the verbenas. 


I finally hiked to the natural area where you are supposed to have a permit (shh) to see the stand of old beeches. I walked carefully through periodic patches of poison ivy to the secret beeches. I found this one, half of which has a rotten heart yet still bears fresh green leaves. I lay under it for awhile, happy, and watched the water of Reedy Creek flow.