Various Unrelated Observations

Often times when I'm taking photos in the garden I see something that doesn't lend itself to an entire post. Maybe it's something I do that doesn't require more than a photo or two, and a couple of sentences.

I've collected several of these recently, so today I'm going to just group them all together. Hope you find some of them to be interesting.

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We'll start with the downy woodpecker in the photo above. Yes, it's on a rebar trellis. (For those of you who may not know what rebar is, it's a metal rod that is used in concrete structures.) Woodpeckers are not typically fond of metal (except when they're drumming on a gutter or chimney cap), but these two are not interested in the rebar.

They're after the dried bean pods! Those are scarlet runner bean pods from last year. Obviously I didn't get it all down when I cleaned this bed up. I'm glad I didn't though, because seeing them peck at the pods was fun to watch!



Ornamental grasses can really fill a pot with roots!

That's the purple fountain grass from last year. Here is the new plant in the same pot:

It too will become completely rootbound by the end of the summer, and there's really no way around that.



This is some campanula or bellflower that is surviving in a couple of small patches in my garden:

It used to be much larger, but is down to just a few small blooms this year. Competition with other plants I think. I really like its little flowers, so I may have to baby these a bit to ensure they come back strong next year.



I really like moss!

This patch is doing exceptionally well on a rock near the stream. It doesn't get any moisture from the stream though, so I wonder how it stays so fresh? (I think this is the same patch of moss that I photographed for the banner image at the top of the page!)



When mulching my Phyllostachys glauca 'Yunzhu' bamboo (with compost):

I noticed several patches of bird's nest fungus which I've talked about before:

I still think that is some of the most amazing fungus around. That structure is just unbelievable and complex.



I let another willow in a small pot dry out too much (other one here):

This one is already starting to leaf out again though. I love plants that really don't know how to die, don't you?



Finally, some sedges have pretty interesting "flowers":

That's from the 'Blue Zinger' sedge near the stream. Not as "in your face" as many ornamental grass "flowers", but still quite attractive when you look at it the right way.

The same can be said for most parts of a garden -- it's all in the way you look at it, isn't it?