The Hummers (birds, not vehicles) are here

Image: Wikipedia

The first hummingbird of the season arrived at my feeder this morning; a beautiful, male ruby-throated bird.  A true spirit-lifter!  I was fortunate to be looking out the window at the time (an activity in which I engage all too much), checking my other bird feeders for visitors.

My hummingbird feeder has been up for almost a week, ever since I was alerted by Gardening Daughter that her sage is beginning to bloom, a sure sign (to her) that hummingbirds will be arriving soon.

I have been visited in recent days by a horde of flashing-winged male goldfinches. They are late-comers, having been preceded by the females by several weeks.  They are good eaters, those little birds; I have to fill their feeders every day. They prefer Niger Thistle seed, a pricy, but well worth the cost, bird food.  Ah, well --you know what is said about money: "you can't take it with you."

The perennial plants in my flower beds which have lain dormant through the winter are emerging. My Tropicana Cannas are back in full force, surrounded by weeds, I fear.  I've got a bit of work to do there; the chickweed is rampant. Fortunately, chickweed is easy to pull out -- the growth is in the stems, not in the roots.

I can tell my memory's going. When I look at the emerging shoots, I realize I've lost track of what's what in some cases. Lilies I recognize, but there are other plants about which I have no clue. I'll just have to wait until the blooms come to be sure what I've got.  Can I say create a "Garden Layout?" 

I've purchased a few new plants for the front beds. I lost my lavender to the excessive rain we had late last year. I intend to replace it with two different varieties, and think I may place them in a large pot where I can control the water input. Lavender doesn't like wet feet, I've been told. 

I also bought new herbs: sage, basil and rosemary.  My small rosemary also bit the dust over the winter. I know that rosemary can live for years if it's in the right place.  Just last summer, I finally removed a 20-yr old plant that had been damaged by an ice-laden falling limb.

It's a sort of gloomy day today.  Rain is in the forecast, and I hope it materializes. We need it, badly.  Our city is under a "burn ban" for the entire month of April.  I'm not a burner, except in drastic situations, preferring to send my yard "trash" to the city's compost facility.  Such stuff is picked up at the curb every Wednesday. What could be easier?

Wishing you all a happy week end.

More, later.

Walk Awash- Waskly Wabbit Wuns for Cover

As of this posting, we've had just under three (3) inches of rain since early morning, and while the area surrounding the new walk drains fairly well between downpours, it quickly becomes filled with water with each new shower. Part of the problem is that it receives runoff from the roof. The drip line was not much of problem when this area was all grass, but if I'm to have any sort of decent garden in this spot, it looks like a gutter across the porch roof is in order.

The weather forecast was a bit off. Oh, yes, showers and thunderstorms were predicted, but with total rainfall estimated to be between one-quarter and one-half inch. By 9 a.m., we had 1.66 inches, and the rain has continued through the day, alternating between sprinkles and downpours.

I've had a great time watching the birds today. They disappear into the trees, or elsewhere, during the heaviest rain, but as soon as the shower lightens to a sprinkle, they are back in force at the feeders. Even the hummingbirds will come back to their nectar almost immediately once the heaviest rain is over. I've put a small feeder in the crepe myrtle tree to the right of the new garden bed, and the young cardinals have discovered it, guided to it, no doubt, by their brilliantly colored father.

Oh: The waskly wabbit must have been under cover, because s/he has not been seen since the rain started.

Today's Flowers - July 19

One of my new Tropicanna canna lilies has graced me with a flower. It's the only one, of the six lilies I planted, to have a bloom, so far. I'm hoping that all of them will mature enough to bloom before summer ends.

I bought the lilies more for their foliage color than for the flower, but I do like its bright orange. It's a perfect accompaniment to the leaf colors.

Today's Flowers is a weekly Meme created by Luiz Santilli, Jr. and may be found here. Please visit to see others' lovely flower photos. If you have a flower photo of your own to share, please join us.

Today's Flowers - June 7

Spiderwort

I first saw this plant growing wild by the wayside in southern Arkansas, and fell in love with its blue/purple blooms. A wonderful woman who worked for the client I was visiting at the time (back in the days when I was gainfully employed) heard me expounding on this "ditch" plant, and dug a clump and kept it in her office to give me on my next visit. It's been in my garden for about 10 years.

Spiderwort is an interesting plant, with many attributes; parts of it are edible and it is also used in herbal medicine. For more information, if you're interested, go here. Good ol' Wikipedia!

Today's Flowers is a weekly Meme created by Luiz Santilli, Jr. and may be found here. Please visit to see others' lovely flower photos. If you have a flower photo of your own to share, please join us.

ABC Wednesday - Round 3 - "G"- Post 71

Garlic Chives Blooms

Growing in my garden are Garlic Chives, which are now in bloom. I photographed this flower head yesterday after I had done the mowing to get ahead of the rain from Tropical Depression Gustav.

ABC Wednesday was created by Mrs. Nesbitt. Please visit the ABC Wednesday site to view others' interpretations of this week's letter, "G."

Today's Flowers #2 - Post 59

Triple-Layer Day Lily

This stand of day lilies in my garden was started from a single fan given to me by my husband's sister-in-law in 1970. I brought a few of the plants to my present home when I moved here in 1990. There are about 60 separate plants in this one bed at present; I'm sure I will have even more when I divide them in a month or so (a long overdue job). Before the digging and dividing can begin, I have to prepare new flower beds to receive them, not a task I look forward to since the soil in my yard is mostly heavy clay. I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Today's Flowers is a new weekly Meme, posted each Monday, which was created by Luiz Santilli, Jr. and may be found here. Please visit to see others' lovely flower photos. If you have a flower photo of your own to share, please join us.