May Weekend: Birds, Beef and Strawberries

Sometimes the world of busyness becomes overwhelming and I get lost in my head. Do more, do faster, do better! Then I know it's time to move outdoors. 

For the first time in ages I set up the tripod to photograph birds. This year the bluebirds failed to claim their box and a titmouse family moved in. 

Last week we had a scare. The headlights of the car one evening caught the neighbor's cat perched on the top of the bluebird box. I feared a titmouse tragedy, and inspected the ground below, where one tiny white feather rested on the mulch. But the next day the titmice were busy bringing insects, as usual, and disappearing into the hole. Cautiously, I opened the box, ready to photograph the baby birds. The soft mossy nest covered only the bottom third of the box and the little birds were hiding. I was secretly relieved.

The catbirds returned in mid-April. They think the birdbath is theirs.

The garden is lush and green. Not many native plants are in bloom in this lull between spring and summer. But the penstemons catch the morning light. 

I have missed the old routines. My husband and I were finally able to go to the Carrboro farmer's market on Saturday morning and then to the Hogans' farm to buy steaks. 

I like being able to see the cows eating grass or lounging in the shade. The cows were too far from the road to get a decent photo, so I'll go straight to the meat. This grass-fed beef raised by friends is our exception to a vegetarian diet.

Magnolias are already in bloom. It's hard to be sad when smelling a magnolia.

After many weeks of talking about strawberry picking, we finally did it. I need deadlines, and the note on the website of the Whitted Bowers biodynamic farm said this weekend may be the last for strawberries if the heat keeps up. We picked 8 pounds of berries.

They taste as good as they look. I think they're the best strawberries I've ever had.

At the farmer's market, they gave out free packets of pectin for freezer jam. It was easy to make (even for the cooking-impaired).

There is an awful lot of sugar in jam. Best not to dwell on that.

The recipe said it would make 5 8-oz. jars of jam. Hmmm... We also have a ziploc filled with strawberry jam that I decided to exclude from the photo for symmetry's sake.

It would be nice to have a snappy conclusion to this post. But I must get ready to leave the house yet again for another showing. Who requests a showing on Sunday at 5 o'clock? 

May: A Walk in the Garden

By mid-May, the leaves on the overstory oaks, hickories, sweetgums and poplars are fully grown. The garden looks green and lush from recent rains. The spring ephemerals have bloomed and gone to seed, and there's a lull before the summer perennials start blooming. Yet there's still a few plants in bloom, many of them native to the Southeast. One of my favorite shrubs stands out amidst all the green: Oakleaf hydrangea. It thrives in the dappled light of the understory.

 Hydrangea quercifolia

I obtained divisions of creeping phlox and penstemon last spring when volunteering doing plant maintenance at the UNC Botanical Gardens. I transplanted them in hot weather and wasn't sure they'd survive. I love it when plants once again prove my worries to be unfounded. 

Phlox stolonifera

I'm not sure what variety of penstemon this is. Do you know?

Evening primrose is a beautiful lemon color, perhaps my favorite yellow of all flowers. This volunteer surprised me during a walk through the garden. It is a growing under an ironwood sapling that I also "weeded" from the botanical garden. 

If you look closely, you can see pollen on the legs of the ant on this Oenothera fruticosa. 

I'm happy to see that Tiarella cordifolia is still blooming one month later. I find it difficult to capture the fairy-like charm of this little woodland perennial in photographs. 

The geraniums after five years have finally spread to make a charming edging to the walkway.

Geranium sanguineum 'Max Frei'

Here is a close-up of a mystery azalea that charms simply because it blooms long after other the flowers of other azaleas are a memory. 

Bumblebees spend the day crawling on the blooms of Magic Carpet spirea.

Spiraea bumalda 'Magic Carpet'

I raved about Confederate star jasmine in my post yesterday. 

Trachelospermum jasminoides