Birds and Blooms?

Please accept my apology for this and other blurry photos. They're all taken at various times and various circumstances through the kitchen window.

The Baltimore Orioles have returned!

Below, the male.
They like my hummingbird feeders,
because I removed the feeder ports.

The next day, the female . . . who stopped someone short!
:-)

Little golden Goldfinch friends.

Last night (5:40 P.M.) as the sun was setting,
the female Baltimore Oriole returned.

As did one of the many, many hummers we've enjoyed!

The sun's glow (?)

Nothing shady here, yet.

Don't forget to stop in tomorrow for the post honoring Grandparent's Day. Sid the Science Kid is very involved and would like people to view his upcoming sessions in honor of Grandparents everywhere! :-)

Green Thumb Sunday - August 29, 2010

Just a little drumroll...

not a lot of fanfare...

Thought you might like to see a few of what's blooming around here today.

'Fanfare' gailllardia

Chelone oblique - 'Turtlehead'

Susie Scare-the-birds with her flower baskets.

a blurry photo of Rudbekia 'Goldsturm'

One planter created by Mr. Shady and . . .

. . . the second planter . . .

Do your impatiens re-seed?
This is only One of the places where they decided to add a sweet surprise to my life!

Gerbera Daisy

'Seiryu' Toad Lily

'Blue Wonder' Toad Lily

Another photo of 'Quickfire' Hydrangea

'Diamond Edge' Sedum with volunteer impatiens

I've been advertising a special broadcast by PBS' "Sid the Science Kid." There are seven upcoming episodes to be broadcast in honor of grandparents. Please check back here on September 1st. I've prepared a little "commercial message" in honor of these episodes. (Also in honor of grandparents, of whom I am one, and parents everywhere.)

Perhaps, after you read this post, you will help advertise this series? And perhaps you will enter this little give-away by PBS personnel?

Have a wonderful day!

More on the Playhouse - and a little extra

On August 8, we began to paint!

August 9 - Yes, there was often paint in the hair . . .

By August 11, there was "whitewash" on all the walls...

...with paint going up to the top on one side!

On August 13, the petunias were all planted and the whitewash was everywhere!
(1st coat finished)

August 13

Grandpa cut decorative shutters and a sign board.
Each of the girls painted a pair of shutters while little brother painted the sign board.
(Daddy's ladder became a little more colorful!)

The loft ladder steps were also painted!

August 15 - the nearly finished product!
The playhouse now has two complete coats of paint.
The shutters and sign are up.
And We Are Happy!

Now... back to the off-gardening subject. Do you ever watch the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Television? Have you ever heard of Sid the Science Kid? What might this have to do with Grandparent's Day?

Continue to Check Back! There will be a special post on September 1.

Does this Count as Gardening?

We were in Michigan for 14 days. (I apologize to my Michigan blogger friends - we just had NO time to take extra excursions... boo...). Let's get together sometime, though!!


Anyway, the above photo is the top of the playhouse my son built last Fall. The 1x4" board around the top was the frame for soil. He'd planted wildflower seeds, but they didn't germinate. WE planted four petunia plants in the front... a little gaity. ha!

The playhouse is constructed from used lumber and painted at least twice. :-) The grandchildren and I had five different painting sessions. They painted as high as they could reach, and I painted the top of the building.

Mr. Shady built a loft and ladder inside, as it's nice and tall. I KNOW they're enjoying it.

PS I have no idea what the pipe is... I don't remember noticing it until it appeared in the photo.

Happy Gardening!


Btw: Please be watching for a post to soon appear that has NOTHING to do with gardening at all. It has ALL to do with Grandparent's Day in September. It also has ALL to do with a give-away!

August Project Grow - Nasturtiums

Peer Pressure * Peer Pressure * Peer Pressure * Peer Pressure * Peer Pressure * Peer Pressure

I'm ready to unveil (such as it is) my August Project Grow results PRIOR to the end of the month! :-)
(You may want to click the logo below to see posts by other participants.)

"I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the Grow project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds."

We were out of town from August 2 - August 16.
The nasturtiums were pretty much "on their own."
It did rain, but it also was Very, Very Hot and dry most of the time.

Here are photos I can share:

The best looking bunch are out in the Sunny Corner Bed.

This one plant in the front pot looked photo-worthy,
so you can see what it looked like today.

These little fellows were planted in my friends' garden
on May 28. You can see the post by clicking here.
They do not seem to be thriving . . .

Last Spring, I my friends and I began this flower garden in their front yard.
It's in a rather low spot with clay soil (the usual fare around here).

Click here to see the first post of this garden as it was being created!

Now, check out the photos below! This is what their garden looks like today.

Nothing 'shady' here!
Have a Great Day!!

Sunday Surprises

(Susie Scare-the-Birds has something to say.

After my brief intro, she'll have her way.)

This Spring it'd become quite obvious
that Susan was becoming querulous.
She was quite vociferous,
(not bent as tremulous)
but she emerged victorious!


Now I'll let her continue...



"Living here with Shady
is always an adventure.
She's an accommodating lady,
showing little censure about color.


Recently I've been confounded
by the beauty in which I'm surrounded.
The knowledge is heart-wrenching
when I discovered I'm not so fetching
as I used to be."

"I mean this quite sincerely,
(for I love her very dearly)
But, and I emphasize this clearly,
She'd quite overlooked --- my looks!

Everything else in the garden is lovely.
I've heard others say it's so.
Then why is it I've been neglected?
Even my complexion had been let go!

So I mustered my courage to vent -
and out Shady immediately went!
She returned with depleted wallet,
but I gained a new makeup palette!
(and a new outfit!) :-)
"Don't you think I'm quite as lovely as the flowers that surround me now?"

:-)

The wren stands guard at the entrance.

Kopper King is blooming for its first time!

Blackberry lilies are blooming in the shade gardens.

'Quickfire' hydrangea (photo taken June 15, 2010)
flowers began as bright, bright-white!

This photo was taken July 25, 2010.
It's turning colors.

Shady says, "It's my aim to please!"
But for now, I really AM on vacation.

In Honor of Sidney

Sidney entered our lives in August, 1994.

He'd been caught by a local hairdresser as she drove to work.
Cute little rascal. He needed a home.
And we gave him one.

(photo taken November 1994)

He was a 3-month old (approx.) lap-puppy
that grew to be a hard-to-fit-on-the-lap dog.
We loved him anyway.

He was an independent-minded, fun companion.
He learned to nip the heads off dandelions at an early age
by watching me do the same thing (with my hands). ha.

Sixteen years is a nice, long relationship.

Missing you, Sid.

Sidney, June 1994 - July 30, 2010

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day - August 2010

Equisetum hyemale (Horsetail family)

Welcome to August.

I've been thinking recently about my childhood.
The eldest of five children,
we grew up on "the farm."

My dad fed and raised
cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens.
He owned a few work horses
when
I was very young.


I roamed pastures,
played in the chicken house,
sneaked and chawmped raw rhubarb
from the back of the garden,
crawling on my belly,
(never called it that except for now)
so my mother wouldn't spot me
from her kitchen window.


What about
Other occupations?
Investigating the woods
and the neighboring cemetery,
climbing trees and farm buildings,
swinging on branches of the weeping willows,
chasing and catching mice during corn-picking times,
picking wildflowers,
and making pop-bead necklaces out of "snakeweed*"
(before pop-beads had been invented!).
Was life idyllic?
Perhaps.
Was it more or less than it should have been?
Never.

Equisetum hyemale (Horsetail family)

*snakeweed: Common Scouring Rush, Equisetum hyemale If you click on the name at left, you will find very interesting information about this plant!
** I borrowed the two photographs from www.missouriplants.com




Happy August!
I'm going to retreat from blogging for a couple of weeks.
A change in routine is necessary for the moment.

May you experience fine weather, great gardening conditions and no pesky insects of any kind,
and nothing "Shady!" ;-)