Nature- Volunteers and Surprises

As it says in the heading of my blog, it is a random diary of what is going on in my garden. I need to get back to documenting growth of my garden. One of my neighbors said that they thought my garden had really popped this year. Will it be even better next year? Who knows, every year has so many variables  from late frosts to rainfall factoring in to benefit or challenge each year's growth.

The volunteers in my garden are always a treat to see. The various colors of Blue-eyed Grasses pop up in the spring. The blue flowered grass is Sisyrinchium angustifolium. 

The yellow flowered grass is most likely Sisyrinchium rosulatum. It isn't always yellow, sometimes they are pink to lavender. Always a nice little bloom to see in the garden/yard.

Don't you love the seed pods?

A new volunteer this year is Lyreleaf sage, Salvia lyrata. It is a vigorous spreader, maybe even a thug. I am not sure how it entered my garden. There really aren't Lyreleaf sage in our wild areas. Could it have come in on a plant from a plant sale? Maybe. 

 I like the purple and lavender colors together, Sage and Iris. There is a Gladiolus byzantine planted near the Irises, so in the coming years, we will get another color combination.

Why do I have a rose in the volunteer list? Well, this gorgeous deep red rose sprouted from root stock. I had a David Austin rose, Rosa 'Olivia' in a container in this garden bed. Sadly, it was just at deer eating height. When I dug the rose out of the container there were some roots that had traveled out of the hole in the bottom of the container and into the garden. I thought I had dug up all remaining roots, but it looks as though I was wrong. This unnamed red rose is probably a rambler based on its growth habit. This coming winter I will rework this corner of the garden. The rose is fragrant and a gorgeous deep red. I love it against the yellow of the creeping St. John's Wort, Hypericum calycinum 'Brigadoon'.

Surprises in the garden come in fauna form, some with legs and some without. Below is the ladybug/ ladybeetle feasting on aphids. Balance of nature!

We have lots of turtles in our neighborhood area. Being on the lake there are many sliders, this one headed off to the woods to perhaps lay her eggs. I made sure it was well off the road before venturing on.

We also have lots of box turtles in the garden. Love seeing all the turtles.

There are also snakes in the garden, or in this case, in my hose caddy on the patio. This is a Black Rat snake, nonvenomous and beneficial to the health of the garden. Like I said with the aphids and ladybugs, balance of nature. 

Hanging out in the front yard is one of many toads and frogs we have. I believe this one to be an American Toad, Bufo [Anaxyrus] americanus. 

And finally, Bambi was visiting in the backyard garden with her mom. It is a love/hate relationship with the numerous deer. The fawns are so stinkin' cute!

Stay tuned for more observations from my garden. Thanks for stopping by.

©Copyright 2022 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.