Thank heaven for spring bulbs! Just when I can’t bear another day of bleak winter landscape, leafless branches, dried and disintegrating foliage—along come neon-bright crocuses, dancing daffodils, and my favorite, luscious purple grape hyacinths. Not true hyacinths (which are borderline hardy in my 7,000 foot high garden), grape hyacinths are also sold under their genus Muscari. They’re native to southeastern Europe, and are widely cultivated for their early spring flowers in pink, purple, white, or a two-toned combination. (more…)
April’s Bird Quiz
Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken in Colorado during the month of May. The answer will appear next week.
Gardening with Children: Building the Garden
I’m not growing much of a garden this year. No seedlings are spouting under my plant lights. No plastic is warming the soil for my spring planting. I haven’t emptied the compost bin into the beds, and my greenhouse is still cluttered with dried cucumber vines and withered, brown tomato plants. Oh, I’ll probably sow a few summer squash seeds—I can’t quite bring myself to pay for zucchini in August—and maybe I’ll have time to put in some fall crops, but for the most part, this won’t be a veggie year.
No, I’m growing something much more important—grandchildren! In fact, I’m currently north of Seattle, helping my daughter and son-in-law after the arrival of their second daughter. Her older sister, at almost two, is keeping me on my toes—or on my knees—while my daughter recovers from childbirth. I miss my husband, who’s home feeding our cat and chickens, but I have to admit, I totally adore being a grandma! (more…)
How to Help Hummingbirds
I was out birding last weekend, scanning the foliage for a glimpse of feathers or the movement of a leaf unexplained by the light breeze, when I heard a high-pitched twit twit. It was a familiar sound, but one I hadn’t heard since early last fall—the call note of a hummingbird!
If I was in Colorado, I’d be quite surprised to find a hummingbird this early in the season—my first Broad-tailed hummer consistently shows up at my feeders on April 30 or May 1. However I’m not in Colorado, I’m currently in Washington. I was birding at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, located between Olympia to the west and Tacoma to the east. (My trip includes a little bit of birding and a lot of our new baby granddaughter!)
Here, Anna’s Hummingbirds linger year-round. What a treat! (more…)
March Flowers
As I write this, the temperature outside is 10 degrees. Wind swirls snow into the air and howls around the eaves. It’s hard to believe anything is in bloom. Yet, some Colorado plants choose March as their best time to reproduce. Specifically, many trees are currently in full bloom—and I bet you haven’t noticed.
Unlike the showy flowers we grow in our gardens, the flowers of cottonwoods, junipers, and elms are not designed to attract pollinators. Rather, they rely on wind to disperse their pollen. It’s a hit-or-miss proposition, which is why these flowers produce clouds of the stuff—enough pollen so that some lands on another flower’s pistil, and plenty left over to aggravate our eyes and noses. It’s the flowers you don’t see that are out to get you.
Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
Florida is a birder’s paradise—if you don’t count the mosquitoes, alligators, fire ants, and other hazards—and one of my favorite Florida birding spots is Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Located more or less in the middle of nowhere, just north of the Everglades, the closest place to stay is Bonita Springs, south of Ft. Meyers on Florida’s west coast.
The 13,000 acre sanctuary preserves the largest remaining stand of old growth bald cypress in North America, along with plenty of plants and animals. I arrived shortly after 7 am, when the 2¼ mile boardwalk opens, and spent the next six hours watching wildlife, taking photos, and ticking off bird after bird.
True Blue
Like many gardeners, I have a “thing” for blue flowers. Lobelia (below), Blue Mist Spiraea, cornflower (Bachelor’s Buttons), and Borage all find a spot in my garden. I’d love to include Himalayan Blue Poppies, hydrangeas, and morning glories but they don’t do as well in my soil and climate. (The poppies need constantly damp soil, hydrangeas need acidic soil to turn them blue plus they’re not hardy enough. The morning glories do well in my greenhouse, but outdoors they usually freeze before them get around to blooming.)
Come See My Photos!
I am ridiculously excited. Mission Coffee Roasters and Cafe, offering the best coffee in Colorado Springs (and maybe the world), is hosting my photographs from now through the end of April. There are over a dozen prints of all sizes, from an 8-inch square framed portrait of a Flamingo to huge, 2 by 3-foot gallery wraps of some of my favorite landscapes. They’re all on display, and they’re all for sale.
Seeds: Plants in Suspended Animation
Last month we talked about plant sex. If you missed that post, you can read it here. I’ll also post the same diagram from last time, from the University of Illinois Extension, so you can refer to it as we go along:
Imagine that the flowers in your garden are in full bloom. (I know, it’s still winter, but you can pretend.) The bees have been busy, and pollen from an anther has arrived at another flower’s stigma. Now what?
March Quiz: Answer
To refresh your memory, here is the photo from March’s Bird Quiz. It was taken in Colorado during the month of March. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird.
Mountain Plover 