My Dear Flora, I was so excited the other day to find a nest in my bluebird box that I thought straight-away about writing to tell you about it. I was out planting some onion sets in the gardem—a little later than I had planned—and decided to peek inside the bluebird box. To my surprise and delight I found a nest inside, already. I just put it up a few weeks ago. You can imagine what I did when I discovered the nest, can't you? Yes, I ran down to the local bird feeding store and bought … [Read more...] about A letter about bird feeding
birds
Enga: Enemy of the Garden
The other day, I had a close up encounter with Enga, short for ENemy of the GArden. Enga a fat squirrel who hangs out around the bird feeders, trying to steal the peanuts I've been putting out for the blue jays. The blue jays love the peanuts. At times I've counted six or more blue jays hanging around the crabapple tree, waiting for their chance to get a peanut from the peanut wreath. Then I saw Enga climb down to the wreath and grab a peanut for herself. One day, she actually knocked the … [Read more...] about Enga: Enemy of the Garden
They say only the best trees are chosen
The birds flew away when they saw the camera. They say only the best trees are chosen... Oh, pardon me. Before I get too far along with this blog post, let me introduce myself. I am Malus 'Guinzam', but most folks just call me Guinevere®. I'm a flowering crabapple tree. Having said that I know just what you are thinking. Diseases! Crabapples dropping everywhere! But that's not me! I have the prettiest dark pink buds that turn pinkish-white as they open around the middle of April. … [Read more...] about They say only the best trees are chosen
All my thoughts are in the garden
Where are my thoughts these days? I never have to wonder too much about where my thoughts are because most of the time, I can find them in the garden. I've been thinking lately about attracting more birds to the garden, not by setting up "fast food" stations like hummingbird feeders, but by planting more plants that provide food for them. One such plant is a Sundenia® Dipladenias. It's in a hanging basket and likes to vine up and all over. I've seen one hummingbird enjoy its blooms and hope … [Read more...] about All my thoughts are in the garden
Thoughts From the Desert
Two flights with a layover in between and I was transported from Indianapolis in the Midwest, where Fall is lowering the temps and changing the leaf color, to Tucson in the Southwest, where it felt like Summer was a permanent resident. On the drive from the airport to the hotel in Tucson where the annual Garden Writers Symposium took place, our shuttle van driver patiently answered our questions about the local life of the desert, including rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and scorpions, oh … [Read more...] about Thoughts From the Desert
I named another garden
When the garden designer laid out the gardens a few springs ago, she described the bed around the locust tree as a "groundcover quilt". What I recall from her description is that it should be a calm sea of greens and because it was by the patio, it would be filled with low growing plants that would not obstruct the view of the rest of the garden. As with the other gardens laid out by the garden designer, I have kept mostly true to her design. In this bed, she specified Epimedium … [Read more...] about I named another garden
