I think this is the final of my "tiny things" posts, but it's a subject that I could probably spend a week on itself: the water in my pond.
Another tiny things post; I've already shown you the very young raccoon, the baby mantises. Today it's time to look at the tiny toads!
Continuing with my "tiny things" posts, this is the photo I received from my wife when I was out of town the other day:
Today I start a series of posts I'm calling "tiny things", for reasons which will soon become apparent. Some weeks I wonder just what I'll post about, as interesting topics seem so hard to find. Sometimes though, topics get handed to me.
Years ago I worked in the engineering department of a manufacturing company. This department was relatively large -- it took up the entire second floor of the building -- but I spent a couple of years on a secret project that required a small team of us to stay sequestered in a small room. Being somewhat isolated from the rest of the department we went through a period where each of us discovered and told jokes to the rest of the team each day (informally -- we didn't setup a stage with stool and microphone or anything like that). We heard good ones and terrible ones in out limited time to interact each day, and with my brain in full engineer mode during those years I came up with what I called the "length-to-laugh" ratio. If your joke was a long one it better be hilarious, but if you had a one or two-liner it could be so-so and still end up with a good length-to-laugh rating.
A little look at a couple of plants that are blooming right now, one new to me, and one I've had for several years. First up: feverfew.
I've been growing cardoon for five or six years now, hoping each year that the plants reach the size and impressive form of the ones I grew the first year. They behave as tender perennials here, or biennials -- sometimes making it through the winter, but usually not.
I learned something last fall when I created my first planting beds for spring-flowering bulbs: that bulbs are easy! This spring I also learned that it's fantastic seeing those tufts of green emerge from the cold ground, followed by uplifting splashes of color!
I've recently been showing you the veggie beds, giving an in-depth tour of the herbs, greens, tomatoes, peas and the rest.
Something amazing and surprising happened to me the other day. Well, I suppose it wasn't so surprising, and really isn't that amazing to most gardeners, but for me it was a special day.
There is one herb that years ago I couldn't bear the taste of. Actually, I couldn't bear even the scent. Today it's one of my favorite edible plants.
The other day when my gardening friend Michael invited me over to see his bamboo, he had an ulterior motive: he wanted to give me some plants.
The other day when I gave you a thorough look at my veggie beds, there was one little project I didn't tell you about.
Yes, it's just some bamboo, but it's big bamboo. It's beautiful bamboo.
It's been a while since I took a look at my small veggie garden, but I've mentioned it briefly in a few other posts recently. Things are going well with the edibles, but before we look at its current state, here's what it looked like 5 weeks ago:
Yesterday I showed you what's blooming in my garden right now, but I held out on you. I had several more flower photos, all from the veggie beds.
It's the 15th of the month, which means it's time for GBBD again! That's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day if you're not good with acronyms. Carol at May Dreams Gardens started this meme a while ago, and every month we get to see what's blooming in so many gardens because of if!
I was busy with non-garden things this weekend, but I made sure I reserved a couple of hours to get some chores done out there. With limited time and a long to-do list, I got right to work doing some planting...
Remember the Opuntia cuttings I received a while ago? I potted them up about 5 weeks ago, so I thought it was time to take a look and see how they are doing.
Out of all of the butterflies that are zipping around my garden right now, there is one that is a bit more relaxed but you will probably miss anyway.
There's something so calming about watching pond inhabitants for me. After building the pond last fall I couldn't wait for spring so I could add some goldfish. I haven't done that yet, as I've currently got plenty of underwater activity to watch due to the tadpoles.
You know how sometimes I participate in a plant trade and end up with a box at my door whose contents are unknown, a mystery?
You know those picture games where they show you one image, then a second and ask you to find the ten differences between the two? Or the Sesame Street "one of these things" game? (You know: "♫ one of these things is not like the others, ♫ which one is different, do you know?... ♫ ")
Did I already mention that I spend a lot of time standing by the pond, just watching? Water beetles, tadpoles, water striders, countless different "flies", the occasional frog -- there's always so much going on!
I started growing a couple of Amaryllis plants one year around Christmas, when on a whim I picked up two bulb kits on clearance at a local big-box store. I hadn't grown them before, but at 50 cents each they were a bargain. I potted them up in the little plastic pots they came in, using the included potting mix -- which seemed like straight peat moss. They both bloomed soon after: large, red, frilly blooms, a welcome burst of bold color for a winter windowsill.
I've heard that with our mild winter it's going to be a good year for insects -- or bad year, depending on what your opinion of these fascinating, omnipresent creatures is. If the number of butterflies that I've seen in my yard is any indication, they're right.
Since I finally got the patio cleaned up for spring, I was able to take a good look at it. One of my favorite things about it right now is the Japanese maple. Or should I say maples plural, because I have two here. I tend to just think of the one though, because it's doing so well.
This Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Filicoides' was planted in 2006 when we had the trees taken down and I built the patio area. It was about 4' (1.2m) tall and looked like a nice accent plant for the spot. Labeled as a "slow grower" -- which I disagree with -- it's now a major focal point here.
I received a big division of this plant a couple of years ago from my gardening friend Michael, who was eager to share and get some room for new plants at the same time.
I remember seeing two different sets of toad eggs in the pond this year. The first eggs were tangled in the rushes. The second were just in the shallow water of the pebbled "beach".
My posts about:
© Blogger template Shush by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009
Back to TOP
