Flowers, Love and Earth Day

Victoria Park Florist donated flowers to the NC
Botanical Garden Horticultural Therapy Program. 

A bucketful of flowers, slightly past their peak, has the power to transform someone’s day. We discovered this recently in doing horticultural therapy with men with severe brain injuries.

Fred cannot participate in most of our gardening projects because of damage to his hands. He often seems somewhere else, gazing into space and failing to respond to greetings or simple questions. Then a florist began donating flowers to our program.

When I placed the bucket of flowers on the table in front of Fred, he gave a rare smile. I began making small hand-tied flower arrangements, asking Fred to choose the flowers one by one as I placed them in the bouquet. He exhibited a nice sense of color and contrast, smiling almost the whole time. He even spoke a full sentence at one point. “I want the yellow one, there.” A small miracle.

Today we celebrate Earth Day. What more can we all do to share our love of flowers, plants and nature with others? I believe that love of nature in all its forms, not fear of destruction, is what ultimately will save us.

Baby Cardinals

Curious why the mother cardinal had stopped sitting on her nest, I took the screen off the upstairs window and peered into the camellia. To my joy, I saw three baby cardinals.

The wings are distinct on the baby cardinal. No awards for cuteness yet, however!

Baby cardinals sit in nest nicely shaded by a camellia branch.

Baby cardinal opens mouth wide for food.

A Walk in the Garden

The canopy is filling in, becoming greener each day.  I treasure this fleeting time of spring, when the days are warm and skies blue. The leaves are fresh green and new flowers open each day.  I'm spending as much time as possible outside, soaking up that too-short time between the last frost and the first mosquito. Here's some photos from the past week in my garden.

Entering the back garden

The pink azalea was spectacular this year.

Deer browse the azaleas in winter, creating a snow-capped effect

Woodland garden

Columbine (variety unknown),  one of several obtained
as  50-cent seedlings at the farmer's market last year

Phlox divaricata "Blue Moon"

Chrysogonum virginianum var. australe (Green and Gold) is my favorite groundcover,
spreading happily in poor soils and part shade.

Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern wild columbine)

Another of the surprise columbines from the farmer's market.

Iris tectorum (Japanese roof iris) spreads nicely in part shade.
I divided and transplanted them two weeks ago
and they bloomed without missing a beat. 

Tiarella cordifolia. One of my favorite Eastern woodland natives.

Iris cristata grows happily on slope shaded by oaks and hickories.

Ajuga reptans (bugleweed) and wild strawberry seeded itself under this hosta.

More Bluebird Activity

The bluebird babies are getting louder. Today while waiting for the parents to return with more insects, I heard a rustling and flapping sound from within the box, as if the babies were jostling each other for position. Occasionally a little head would appear trying to peep out, then quickly disappear.

A baby bluebird takes a look at the world outside.

The adult male and female take turns feeding the babies. It doesn't take them long to find insects in our wooded area. 

Top: Female bluebird
Bottom: Male bluebird, incredibly blue in the sunlight

Creekside Meditation

Spring morning at Bolin Creek

Yesterday was the kind of day I'm happy to live in North Carolina. The air was softly fragrant with spring flowers. The sky was Carolina blue and the sun warm but not hot. I walked along Bolin Creek and ended up at a favorite spot for meditation. An inscription on a creekside bench reads: "Welcome life traveler. Have a seat, and let the sounds of Nature awaken your inner stillness ..." 

The high cries of red-shouldered hawks mingled with the rush of water over rocks into the still pool. 

On the walk back, I happened to look up just as a hawk was alighting on a nest of sticks in a dead oak tree. I missed the chance to photograph the hawk, but here is the nest. 

Later, while I transplanted ferns and epimediums into the woodland garden bed, our neighborhood red-shouldered hawks screamed overhead. Here's an old photo of a hawk perched on a low branch in our backyard. I count on them to keep the voles under control. 

Bluebirds Feeding Young

The bluebirds spend the day flying back and forth bringing insects to their babies. We sat on the porch this afternoon, just 10 feet from the box with the nest. I held my breath when a male bluebird alighted in a nearby maple, insect in mouth. The bluebird hesitated, looking at us. Several minutes passed in silence.  I sat motionless, practicing invisibility. Finally the bluebird flew to the box. A chorus of peeps started as soon as he landed on top. He flew away, then a minute later returned with an insect with large wings in his beak and disappeared into the hole to feed the babies. A happy moment. 

Azaleas and Butterflies

I went to New Hope Creek to take a picture of my favorite sycamore tree and instead was enchanted by pinxterbloom azaleas. Tiger swallowtail butterflies danced on the pink petals along the creek. I had walked these streamside paths dozens of times, yet everything was transformed.